July 8, 2011 | 5:15 pm

A Flotilla of Fools

Posted by  Joe R. Hicks

Follow JewishJournal.com on

Sometime before the end of this month, and barring some fortunate happening, a motley collection of about ten boats is set to sail from a port in Greece, bound for Gaza, despite a long-standing Israeli naval blockade.

On board the flotilla will be an equally motley collection of leftists, Pro-Palestinian activists, and self-styled peace advocates carrying placards with messages like “free Gaza” and “end the siege.”  The lead boat will be called “The Audacity of Hope.”

This attempt to evade the Israeli navy’s blockade of Gaza is being described as a “relief operation,” and is a carbon-copy of last year’s similar attempt that was also a transparently political effort.

That attempt ended with nine dead activists when Israeli commandos fought back after boarding one of the boats – only to be greeted by armed and violent “peace” activists.

This year, about thirty Americans – including a number of American Jews – are scheduled to sail with the flotilla, and the U.S. State Department has warned the band of Americans that they may face “arrest, prosecution, and deportation by the government of Israel.”

Who are these Americans?

Among them are hard-core left activists like Medea Benjamin, retired lieutenant colonel Ann Wright-turned activist, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.  Of course, she’s best-known for her book

.  Walker says she’s been a Pro-Palestinian activist since the days following the Six Day War in 1967.  She also thinks Israel “Is the greatest terrorist” in the Middle East. Not stopping while she was behind, Walker added, “And I think in general, the United States and Israel are great terrorist organizations themselves. If you go to Gaza and see … the general destruction ... that’s terrorism. So these countries are terrorist countries.” 

Okay, if I were her … I’d stick to writing.

I suppose she has looked right past Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan government, and the brutal, repressive Syrian regime to identify the Jews as the “greatest” terrorists in the region.  I suppose the fact that Israel is the only democracy in that region fails to register with her.

This gives insight into the politics of the activists on board this flotilla of fools.

Since the residents of Gaza are literally awash in all sorts of goods that Israel has allowed in – despite the blockade – the ongoing claim that this flotilla’s aim is to deliver “humanitarian aid” is one large joke.

This flotilla really has only one aim … to deliver a propaganda victory to Hamas.

Christopher Hitchens recently informed his readers at Slate that – beyond being the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood – Hamas has endorsed the

, one of the oldest anti-Semitic screeds in existence that was used by Hitler as a rationale for his attempts to exterminate Jews.

Hamas was also the world’s only government body to officially express sympathy to – and outrage – over the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The Americans on board these boats won’t be able to claim ignorance if the Israeli military decides to put the “smack down” on this so-called flotilla.  If they set sail for Gaza they do so in support of Hamas - a political movement with blood on its hands.  Hamas has glorified suicide bombings and the random killings of innocent Israeli men, women and children.

Alice Walker and her comrades deserve whatever fate awaits them.