Grab a helmet and get your popcorn ready:
Iranian Aid Ships to Set Sail for Gaza
Summer would be SO BORING without this whole #flotilla scandal. I don’t know what I’d do without it, honestly. If it weren’t for the TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR and/or TOTALLY HATEFUL AND SO RACIST Israeli strike on the so-called “Freedom Flotilla,” all we’d have to look forward to is the inevitable rumor about an Elena Kagan sex tape. (If John Edwards has a sex tape, anything is possible.) Helen Thomas would still have a job, the starving children of Gaza would have their allotment of grenades, and I wouldn’t be getting 10,784 tweets about how much I hate Palestinians. (As opposed to the mere 5,692 tweets I receive about how much I hate black people/immigrants/Blackhawks fans/people who drink Labatt Light as opposed to regular Labatt…)
In all seriousness, it’s about to get real over there. Up until now, the blowback from Israel’s enforcement of its blockade has been pretty standard—just more screaming about how those damn Jews are oppressing our innocent terrorist friends, it’s all a plot to take over the banks, blah blah blah, something about racism, etc. etc. Par for the course, nothing to worry about. But when I read that short news blip about Iran sending aid to Gaza, I got a tiny little “warning” chill down my spine.
I’m not the kind of person that tends to have that sort of reaction to things that cause me concern. A year in law school has trained me to look at things objectively, tease out important facts, and reason through a solution to whatever problems may be presented. So far this summer, I have answered handwritten pleas of murderers, rapists, and drug pushers, and come into contact with people so foul and dangerous the officers at the courthouse are required to shackle them to the wall, rather than risk their escape. I’m fine with that. It’s real life, and I deal with it, warning chill-less.
This, however, is different. This is Iran, and we all know we can trust Iran about as far as Obama can throw a baseball. As I read the article, I couldn’t help but wonder what Iran expects to gain by ruffling Israel’s feathers on this one. Then I realized, that’s all Iran hopes to do—ruffle feathers. Provoke. Threaten. (Because let’s face it, anything coming towards Israel from Iran could be seen as a threat.) If this is really what Iran is thinking, it’s brilliant, because it puts Iran in some big humanitarian limelight, makes Israel look like the bad guy, and helps Iran gain points with the rest of the world–including bleeding heart idiots in the US—by proving that, deep down, Ahmadinejad is all lollipops and pixie dust.
Politicians, pundits, and other supporters of the “Freedom Flotilla” gained major traction by ignoring damning footage of weapons on board that boat, and emphasizing the “humanitarian crisis” that resulted from the loss of the supplies on board. They ignored the fact that Hamas refuses to distribute aid to the people it claims to protect so jealously, and pushed the idea that because of Israel, thousands of Palestinians will die of hunger and disease. These are, of course, all lies, but don’t confuse me with the facts—people were shot! The people of Gaza are dying, and it’s Israel’s fault! If the same dishonest word vomit is allowed to dominate the discussion regarding the Iranian aid ship, the results could be ten times more harmful and dangerous to Israel and her allies. Our current president has already gone to great lengths to bow down and lick the palms of Iranian leaders, all the while distancing himself from the people of Israel, denying Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers even the appearance of having an ally in the United States. Any sort of incident with this aid ship will give the enemies of Israel a perfect excuse to take the tension surrounding the Gaza conflict to the next level.
This country has a choice to make. As for me, I stand with Israel, because I am not the kind of person who allows herself to be manipulated by en vogue social movements in order to avoid screams of protest from borderline-genocidal “peace activists.” As for Obama and his administration, however…I am simply not sure. Time and again, our President and his merry band of thugs have spoken out against Israel, and allied themselves with leaders of countries who would love nothing more than to turn Israel into the world’s largest bazaar.
Israel is strong, and will defend herself to the last man. I fear, however, that even that great amount of heart will not be enough if her allies turn their backs on years of friendship for the chance to kiss the rings of men who would not hesitate if offered the chance to blow an entire nation of people right off the map.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
~Deuteronomy 31:6
that amy miller 