Those who have criticized Israel’s attack on the Mavi Marmara and thought Israel was unable to investigate its own conduct have some ‘splainin’ to do. As the New York Times reports today, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet has unanimously (!!) appointed a crack commission of experts to perform this task. Moreover, this is not a purely Israeli affair, as two internationals will be allowed to act as “observers.”
Netanyahu announced that the commission would demonstrate clearly “to the entire world that the state of Israel acts according to law, transparently and with full responsibility.” I anticipate that the usual chorus of nay-sayers, useful idiots, and plain old anti-Semites will object that Netanyahu has pre-ordained the conclusions of the commission. They’re not paying attention. Netanyahu did not even appoint himself to the commission!
While the Times article offers a plethora of valuable information, its unbiased reporter, Isabel Kershner, fails to mention the best part. One of the international observers is none other than Lord David Trimble– who won the Nobel Peace Prize bringing peace to Northern Ireland.
Some may fear that a Northern Irish peacemaker like Lord Trimble, despite his impeccable integrity, is too unfamiliar with the Middle East to bring any expertise to his observer position. Not so!
Just last month, Trimble and a group of his international colleagues launched the "Friends of Israel Initiative," self-described as a new project in defense of Israel’s right to exist. Trimble and his fellow sponsors, including former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, an icon of rationality in the field of international relations, acted out of outrage and concern about the "unprecedented delegitimation campaign against Israel, driven by the enemies of the Jewish state and perversely assumed by numerous international authorities."
The statement added that it differs from previous similar efforts in that this initiative "is promoted by people who are not Jewish and whose motivations are based on the deep conviction that Israel is part of the Western world. In fact, today Israel is a fundamental actor for the future of the West. Although the peace process is important, the members of Friends of Israel Initiative are more concerned about the onslaught of radical Islamism as well as the specter of a nuclear Iran since these are threats affecting not only Israel, but the entire world."
But that’s not all. Trimble and his crowd remind us that Israel "is a fully sovereign and responsible nation.”
Here’s where I got the info on the “Friends of Israel Initiative” of Lord Trimble. I went to google.com and typed in "Trimble" and "Israel," and got to this: ——-. Go ahead, click on it; don’t be shy. Now it did take me about 27 seconds to find this article, but if you work for the MSM and your day was just too busy, you can always delegate such tasks to your staff.
Lord Trimble’s background of knowledgeable impartiality on the Israel/Palestine conflict stands in sharp contrast to that of Professor Christine Chinkin, the femme fatale of the Goldstone Commission, who had condemned Israel’s conduct months before accepting her position. While the Goldstone hacks supposedly were gathering “evidence” in Gaza, Chinkin reportedly spent her evenings wining and dining her way through the best resorts and restaurants of “the Strip”, as it is called by Luxury Travel Magazine.
It is rumored that her favorite dish was Iranian caviar, which Gazans consume in abundance, proving that Chinkin fell victim to the “Stockholm Syndrome,” identifying with her captors (who would have murdered her and her family had she come to an unsatisfactory conclusion).
And, I almost forgot to remind everybody of the Nobel Peace Prize scoreboard:
Trimble 1, Chinkin 0.
So now we can relax, knowing that Israel’s very own impartial commission, with impartial foreign observers, will impartially get to the bottom of the surprise Turkish assault on Israeli sovereignty. In a world starved for good news, who can complain?
