Palin on Flotilla: Don’t Take Mainstream Media Coverage at Face Value

Gov Palin's second Facebook Note of June 1, 2010 addressed purposeful distortion of the Israel Flotilla story by the mainstream media, specifically those outlets with leftist and/or anti-Israel leanings. Gov. Palin preceded her Note with a Tweet, urging her followers to read columns written by Charles Krauthammer, David Horowitz and others regarding the flotilla incident. US for Palin author Gary P. Jackson detailed how terrorist Bill Ayers and Obama's top campaign bundler Jodie Evans are activists involved with the flotilla group.

The Real Story about the Flotilla

The second paragraph of Gov. Palin's Note synopsizes the flotilla incident nicely.

As far too many in the media, and in various governments, rush to condemn Israel, we must put the recent events off Israel’s coast into the right perspective. This “relief” convoy was not about humanitarian aid, as the liberal mainstream media keeps reporting. The whole operation was designed to provoke Israel, not to provide supplies to Palestinians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Anyone who sees the video of Israeli commandos being attacked as they land on that ship knows the people aboard were vicious thugs, not “peace activists.” The media insults our intelligence with their outright mischaracterization of who these enemies are.

How Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Really Works

In paragraph three, Gov. Palin goes on to delineate precisely how humanitarian aid to Gaza works.

Israel delivers thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies every week to Gaza. These ships could have offloaded their cargoes at a nearby Israeli port if they really wanted to help the people of Gaza. Instead, they chose to incite confrontation and violence. Israel has a right to prevent arms shipments to Gaza that will be used to target innocent Israelis, so they were legitimately checking the cargo on the flotilla. Turkey has chosen to condemn Israel but we should be asking some serious questions about Turkey’s role in this whole affair. Why is a fellow member of NATO sponsoring such a dangerous publicity stunt? As one expert points out: “Three ships of that six-ship pro-terror convoy flew Turkish flags and were crowded with Turkish citizens. The Ankara government – led by Islamists these days – sponsored the ‘aid’ operation in a move to position itself as the new champion of the Palestinians. And Turkish decision-makers knew Israel would have to react – and were waiting to exploit the inevitable clash. The provocation was as cynical as it was carefully orchestrated.”

In her closing paragraph, Gov. Palin exhorts the Obama administration to stand by Israel.

We can only hope the Obama Administration does not join the anti-Israel chorus in the aftermath of this staged confrontation. Please, Mr. President, we need to let Israelis know we stand with them in their fight against terrorists and those who arm and support them. America and her ally, Israel, stand by waiting for your response.

- Sarah Palin

Conclusion

Anyone who continues to harbor doubts about Gov. Palin's knowledge of foreign affairs can lay them to rest. Gov. Palin has clearly done her homework on this issue. Unfortunately, Obama's handling of foreign affairs has been less than stellar, to put it kindly. I share in Gov. Palin's hope that he'll stand by Israel, but I honestly would be very surprised if he does, for Obama has demonstrated numerous times that his loyalty lies elsewhere.