'We never thought there would be any violence'

A dozen or so of the Freedom Flotilla are dead, the Israelis have received another black mark in world opinion, and the flaming idiots who backed the blockade runners have had their illusions shattered. "We never thought there would be any violence," says the wonderfully named Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement. No, of course she didn't. They never do. They lie down in front of bulldozers, curse at National Guard troops, and throw stones at police, and then express astonishment when someone gets hurt.

Channel 10, a private television station in Israel, quoted the Israeli trade minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, as saying between 14 and 16 people had been killed. He said on Israeli Army Radio that commandos boarded the ships by sliding down on ropes from a hovering helicopter and were then struck by passengers with “batons and tools.”

“The moment someone tries to snatch your weapon, to steal your weapons, that’s where you begin to lose control,” Mr. Ben-Eliezer said....

Indeed. There were some on board who wanted that to happen. Ms. Berlin should have known that, if indeed she wasn't one of them herself. So, of course, should the Israeli military have known it. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford