horse of george

I'll be accused of being ever the contrarian, but the 'optimistic' takes I'm reading regarding Israel's easing of Gaza sanctions in wake of the flotilla of peace debacle entirely miss the point: what Israel's easing of sanctions says to me is that they're expecting the worst as more 'activists' sail towards the embargoed coast and therefore want to look like they made some effort at concessions sensitive to the disingenuous concerns of the world community. I'd be highly surprised, shocked if this 'easing' morphed into a more accommodating and therefore conciliatory posture by Israel - to me it's obvious they're expecting more violence, possibly much more violence, and this is them positioning themselves accordingly knowing full well the vast ignorance of world opinion will be arrayed against them when it comes.