On May 31, 2010, a flotilla of six ships set sail from Turkey in an attempt to break the blockade Israel put on Gaza, which is controlled by the terrorist group, Hamas. Israel offered to pass on any humanitarian aid on board the ships to Gaza if the flotilla would agree to dock in the Israeli port of Ashdod for inspection. When the offer was refused, Israeli naval commandos of Shayetet 13 boarded the flotilla, where they were met with passive resistance on five of the ships, and nothing of note occurred. On the sixth ship, the MV Mari Marmara, 40 extremists brutally attacked the commandos, stabbing them in the stomach and bashing in their helmets. The Israelis then obtained permission to use live fire. In the ensuing struggle, nine of the extremists were killed, along with injuries on both sides.

Criticism was immediately and plentifully doled out on Israel. People waived the banner of oppressor and oppressed, claiming Israel used disproportionate force on those much weaker than them. That claim was adopted by the Palmer Report, though it found the blockade and Israel’s actions to be otherwise legal.

Disproportionate force? The activists were looking for a fight and attention, which is exactly what they got. On no other ship boarded by the Israeli commandos was there any fighting. The only people who got a fight out of Israel were those who attacked first. And though their weapons were indeed less sophisticated than those of the Israelis’, should Israel then not have fought back? The activists managed to stab a commando in the stomach, crack one’s skull and shoot another in the knee. Do people really believe Israel should not have acted in self-defense because their weapons could do damage more easily than the initiators’ weapons?

Netanyahu expressed regret over the loss of lives in the event, because despite the brutality of the activists and their antagonistic intentions, loss of life is always regrettable and Israel is a humane country that profoundly understands that. Any criticism put on Israel for its situation with its neighbors comes from ignorance of historical context. Before claiming that Israel is oppressing Gaza, people must first understand the history of the region. Gaza was a territory of Egypt up until 1967, when several countries attacked Israel in the Six-Day War. Israel managed to come out victorious, and gained control of Gaza. For years, the area was populated by both Arabs and Israelis. In August of 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the region, handing autonomy to the Palestinian National Authority in an attempt to engender peace. Instead, Israel got thousands of rockets shot into its borders, countless civilian casualties and one captive soldier. The soldier remains in captivity to this day — Hamas has denied him Red Cross visits, a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

We must first understand the reason for Israel’s blockade of Gaza before we condemn it. We must first understand that the history of Israel and Gaza is complicated before we expel Israeli diplomats from our nations. We must first understand that Israel is being held to much higher standards than any other country in the world. We must understand that if we want peace, we must address the likes of Hamas, who instigate and kill, and not the likes of Israel, who value humanity above all else.