Sacré bleu! French are Shocked by Gaza Flotilla Incident

by Nidra Poller (June 2010)

It would be a mistake to think that breaking the Gaza blockade is the only kind of grievance that can lead to this kind of violent confrontation. It is a tragic error to disconnect what looks like a humanitarian operation from what looks like common crime.

It is taboo to describe and analyze this process as jihad in France and other European countries and now in the United States as well. And many will think it is far-fetched to connect it to the Gaza Flotilla. But then did they ever imagine, when two Israeli reservists were bashed to a pulp and torn limb from limb in Ramallah in October 2000, that their citizens would risk death for taking a walk in a university town like Grenoble? Bombed to smithereens in buses and trains in London and Madrid? Incinerated in the skyscraper ovens of the WTC?

If the French Foreign Minister is deeply shocked to see a handful of Israeli soldiers shoot their way out of a murderous ambush on a ship with 600 passengers armed to kill or willing to stand by and let them be lynched it is because he is not shocked to know that the citizens of his own country are defenseless in the face of thousands of little flotillas sailing out from the same heartland.

To comment on this article, please click here.

here.

If you have enjoyed this article and want to read more by Nidra Poller, please click here.

Nidra Poller also contributes to our community blog, The Iconoclast. To see all her blog posts, please click here.