great thread, good posts by everyone.
lets step back a second and look at this micro to semi-macro, without going all the way back to 1947.
1.
the boarding: everyone agrees it was not handled well, poor intelligence, poor planning and people died. It should never have happened and hopefully when the
Rachel Corrie is stopped, it wont.
2.
the decision to board: that is a no brainer, once the decision is made to have a blockade, you have no choice but to enforce it, which includes stopping ships which try to force it and not submit to a search. Any naval power on earth enforcing a blockade would do exactly the same thing.
3.
should we have a Blockade? that is a more thorny question which is tied in with how do you deal with Hamas. Israel has tried various methods to deal with Gaza and/or Hamas: military occupation (pre-2005), unilateral pullout including removing Israeli settlers (2005), negotiated ceasefires (2009 and 2010), military offensive (2009), indirect negotiations with Hamas through Egypt and Germany, none have worked.
If Hamas would act as a responsible power and prevent the launching of attacks on Israel from its territory, we could have a deal. Israel has made deals with terrorist organizations before, namely Arafat's PLO, but how do you deal with a government that does not recognize your right to exist and encourages or actively launches military weapons at your territory?
The Blockade, where basic hunanitarian aid, such as food and medicine is let through, but weapons are stopped, appears to be the only practical and least destructive alternative. It is not the perfect solution. Everyone realizes it is a blunt instrument, but the only other option is to do nothing and hope Hamas will realize it is doing a bad thing.
