Israel’s brilliant handling of the ‘flotilla’ affair

It was supposed to be a grand act of defiance—another headline-grabbing spectacle in the ongoing campaign to vilify the Jewish state. Instead, it became a floating punchline.

The so-called “freedom flotilla” set sail earlier this month from Sicily, bound for Gaza, carrying meagre amounts of food and other forms of aid. Aboard the lone boat, the British-flagged schooner Madleen, was a small cast of sanctimonious “humanitarians.”

Chief among them was Swedish climate crusader Greta Thunberg. Joining her was French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan and another 10 or so activists trying to make themselves relevant.

What they billed as a noble mission was actually a farce. Wasting no time in exposing the charade, the Israeli Foreign Ministry mockingly christened the vessel the “selfie yacht.”

And with good reason.

From the moment the motley crew departed, the journey resembled an influencer retreat more than a relief operation. Social media lit up with snapshots of a gleeful, keffiyeh-clad Greta and her companions beaming with self-congratulatory pride.

Responding with neither alarm nor outrage, Israel chose an approach that blended humour with restraint and just the right amount of ridicule. When the ship was some 120 miles away from its destination, Israeli naval forces intercepted and boarded it—bearing refreshments.

Yes, really.

Rather than arrest the dozen pro-Hamas agitators, the men and women in uniform handed them braided challah rolls and bottles of water. Even Greta grinned as she accepted the sandwich, which happened to be wrapped in non-biodegradable cellophane.

Naturally, the world-famous eco-scold couldn’t refuse. After all, hypocrisy pairs well with carbs.

This wasn’t Greta’s first environmentally inconvenient moment. On the contrary, she’s often been observed violating her own hyped-up code of phony ethics. In fairness, building her brand on shaming others for behaviour in which she herself indulges is part of the politically correct scam.

But her transition from planet saviour to Palestinian “resistance” warrior has taken omni-cause theatrics to a whole new level. Luckily, she didn’t have to find a different colour to represent her latest iteration, since green is also Hamas’s signature hue.

Greta isn’t as clever at her antics as she and her admirers seem to think, however. Prior to her encounter with the Israeli military, the former child climate star and current infantile adult taped a short video in anticipation of the event.

In the pre-recorded clip, she declared that anyone watching it should know that she’d been “kidnapped by Israeli occupational [sic] forces” and urged that pressure be put on the Swedish government for her release.

That she dared invoke abduction in this context—with 55 hostages still in Hamas captivity—as a TikTok ploy wasn’t merely cringe-inducing; it was abominable.

This made what ensued all the more delicious, particularly as it caused her video to go viral for none of the reasons she’d intended. Having your “abductors” greet you with hospitality, not handcuffs, will do that.

And that was only the beginning of Israel’s brilliant move. After the pampered progressives were escorted to the port of Ashdod, they were given medical exams and arrangements were made for return trips to their home countries. In the meantime, they were shown the 43-minute film of the atrocities committed by Hamas and Gazan “civilians” on Oct. 7, 2023.

Yes, these paragons of virtue-signalling, filled with hubris and armed with hashtags, were shown the mass murder, sexual violence, torture, and kidnappings carried out and proudly documented by the Palestinian perpetrators whose flag they love to wave.

Talk about a punishment fitting a crime—though educating a group of ignoramuses on the justice of Israel’s war against the sadistic, Iranian-backed barbarians along its southern border should be seen as a prize, not a punitive measure. In a sane universe, that is.

In Greta-land, there’s no room for sanity. Or integrity. It’s no wonder, then, that as soon as she and her cohorts realised what they were watching, they refused to continue. Heaven forbid they should be confused by inconvenient facts, especially bloody ones, which might put a damper on their mendacious narrative.

Still, Israel handled the situation with class by exposing the “flotilla” pretence as an attention-grabbing ruse orchestrated by people who know little and care less about the region they presume to champion. In other words, it took the opportunity to turn the tables on its haters—with kosher snacks and an equally kosher response to the entire episode.

Doing so served as an example to the world that quiet confidence and moral clarity are superior to performative outrage. Through the calm dismantling of a contrived provocation, Israel upheld its dignity while letting its detractors reveal their own absurdity.