Ed, I agree with some of what you've said, but in this situation (the only one I'm referring to) there is evidence that activists prepared to confront the IDF violently (it can be found on dozens of YouTube clips), and hence the tragic outcome. The soldiers were provoked, and the flotilla knew the blockade was in place and had received ample warning to turn around and dock safely in an Israeli port to leave off humanitarian aid. The soldiers were hit with clubs, metal rods, etc..and finally 2 soldiers had their pistols stripped by the activists who fired upon the soldiers. The resulting counterfire by the soldiers I think is justified if they were in fear for their lives, and they were. It was not an unprovoked attack against the flotilla ship aimed to kill the activist passengers. Ultimately,with this outcome world opinion once again is directed against Israel, which may have been the underlying motive of the mission in the first place. As to the whole Middle East conflict and the actions of Israel, the Palestinians, Hamas etc. past and present... we're not gonna solve that here.