MIDEAST UPDATE – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:  The usual ritual dance is underway at the UN and in the capitals of the European Union, condemning Israel before any facts are known.  The U.S. reaction has actually been reasonably decent.  From The Politico:

A delicate diplomatic maneuver by President Barack Obama to smooth frayed relations with Israel without alienating America’s Arab allies may have been blown out of the water Monday morning by Israel’s botched attempt to enforce the Gaza blockade – and by the lack of condemnation from Washington that followed it.

For while much about the incident remains unclear, a day of carefully parsed statements from the White House and State Department left at least one irrefutable aftershock: With much of the world expressing fury over the raid, the contrast with Washington’s muted response could not have been more striking.

“The situation is that they’re so isolated right now that it’s not only that we’re the only ones who will stick up for them,” said an American official. “We’re the only ones who believe them – and what they’re saying is true.”

COMMENT:  That, of course, is the point.  The video of the incident at sea clearly shows "peace activists" attacking an Israeli party seeking to board a "relief" vessel heading for Gaza, part of a larger "humanitarian" convoy.

It wasn't a relief vessel and the convoy had no humanitarian goals.  If it really wanted to deliver supplies and food to Gaza, it could have followed protocol and docked at the Israeli port of Ashkelon, where the cargo could have been checked for weapons and contraband, and sent through to Gaza.

But these "peace groups" are anything but.  They are organized by radical Islamists and their Western Marxist allies.  They are no friends of peace, and are militantly anti-American. 

One of the problems here, once again, is the poor quality of much of journalism.  Individuals and groups, if they are part of the international left, are permitted to identify themselves as "peace activists" or "human rights activists" without so much as a question from "journalists," who should know better.  This is a journalistic failure that became institutionalized during the Vietnam War, when we permitted the term "anti-war movement" to flourish without asking who was behind it, and the true nature of its goals.  To this day, those questions remain unasked by the biggest names in news reporting.

June 1, 2010