difference in perception

Submitted by Jake Robinson (Germany), Jun 3, 2010 at 09:53

It seems to me that part of the problem is the disjuncture in how public opinion views incidents like these from within Israel and from without. Israel has won a general strategic battle over the last decade in being able to label a range of enemies as terrorists and have a large number of others agree with that. But people in general are very unused to thinking of Turks as terrorists, especially since they have been an ally of the West and Israel for so long. And for other Westerners on the flotilla, people may think of them as lefty ratbags, but they certainly dont think of them as terrorists. Its not very useful to just shrilly insist that all opponents are terrorists; a more nuanced response is necessary

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".