There are several reports on the deaths on the flotilla of ships in the eastern Mediterranean that are worth reading. And I don’t just mean those that condemn Israel’s actions – it’s also important to read those that take other views. The BBC has a selection here, which includes links to Israeli newspapers and bloggers. But even they tend to be more critical than some of the right-wing UK press.

Even though the US shamefully toned down the UN security council response, pressure for an independent inquiry is mounting. The Israeli state have been attempting to divert attention from the real issue into one looking at which side fired first. If the debate is conducted on those terms then it will be one side’s view versus the other’s. But this risks losing the wider picture. (see the interview with UN HRC’s Richard Falk). Not only were the ships in international waters, but paratroopers were coming on board, at night, from helicopters. That’s effectively an invasion, and so what happened next is in some senses irrelevant. That at least nine people died is, of course, not.

But the key issue, which the flotilla was meant to address, is the situation in Gaza itself. Three years of a blockage have killed many more than nine people. It would be regretable if the killings of these activists gained more attention than those of the people whose plight they were trying to highlight and alleviate.