Guy Rundle, with thoughts on Israel that have been brewing away for days now:
…in defending the flotilla, as one does and must, it would be pretty foolish to give a simplistic account of the events, which appear to be wreathed in bad faith from both sides. Chief among these is a single narrative conspired in both sides, suggesting that Israel is unitary and strong and the Free Gaza, and the entire Palestinian movement, a well-regulated non-violent movement. All of that is nonsense.
If this crazy raid made anything clear, it is — as suggested earlier by the 2006 Lebanon invasion and Cast Lead — that Israel is a country whose leadership is fractured and quasi-hysterical, with many of these provocations (including the Dubai assassination) more likely to be a product of elite disunity in Israel than of any firm or collective sense of purpose of decades earlier.
It’s messy, complex, frustrating — but Rundle reserves his biggest swipe for the current Israeli government. We suggest you read the full version below.
The sad fact is that the extremists in both Israel and Palestine need each other. Without the other, neither would be in power.