Original: The problem with writing hagiographic paeans to the indefatigable spirit of anti-Israel resistance is that sometimes you reveal a little too much. Example: this 2,000+ word contribution, from anti-Israel partisan and Palestinian mouthpiece Amira Hass, documenting the repeatedly thwarted attempts of Code Pink and their Gaza Freedom March ilk to enter Gaza from Egypt.

There's all kinds of stuff about how the protesters spontaneously coordinated with each other: "direct democracy in action," "without secrets, without orders from on high, without hierarchies," "a message of militant pacifism and feminism," "popular, non-hierarchical action and its ability to bring about change," and so on. The daughter of Jews murdered at Auschwitz makes an appearance. So does a Nelson Mandella banner. There's a actually a section labeled "Jewish Mother," within which there's a quote about how 80% of the protesters were Jewish (Hass graciously allows that 80% "is probably an exaggeration").

And then there's the part about how Hamas controlled the GFM down to the very last detail, the better to demonize Israel from within the strict confines of their pathological anti-woman bigotry. You have to read into the middle of the article to find the relevant passage - it's buried just above a description of how Gaza children get nightmares because of Israel - but some might call it evidence of active international collaboration:

The American feminist and peace group Codepink signed on, and [the GFM] gradually spread to other countries.... [But] "From the outset, Hamas set conditions: No more than 5,000 marchers, no approaching the wall and the fence, how to make speeches, how long the speeches should be, who will make speeches. In short, Hamas hijacked the initiative from us and we gave in." Hamas, or its Popular Committee, brought 200 or 300 marchers. The march turned into nothing more than a ritual, an opportunity for Hamas cabinet ministers to get decent media coverage in the company of Western demonstrators... There were no Palestinian women among the marchers - a slap to the many feminist organizers and participants, both women and men... Their variegation and the transparency of their behavior did not suit the military discipline the official hosts tried to impose.

Of course media outlets still largely treated the GFM as a grassroots pro-Palestinian protest, neglecting the more straightforward "Hamas media stunt" angle. They didn't go as far as lefty outlets - "Gaza Freedom March challenges Israeli siege" or "Collective world consciousness stirring Gaza protest" - but they didn't exactly rush to document Code Pink's de facto terrorist collaboration.

Not that Code Pink is particularly choosy about the fascists and thugs to whom they make themselves available. But there's something particularly unseemly about ostensible feminists shamelessly marching in a gender-apartheid protest. If journalists were wary about mixing it up with the left they could even have pursued an Egypt vs. Hamas vs. Europe geopolitical angle, with protesters' faked visas "providing a window" into the "convoluted dynamics" stymieing "efforts to bring peace to the Middle East." But not so much.

Eh. They probably just ran out of time (h/t: Kerry H)

Update: The original version of this post incorrectly identified anti-Israel partisan and Palestinian mouthpiece Akiva Eldar. That was incorrect. The article was in fact written by anti-Israel partisan and Palestinian mouthpiece Amira Hass. I can't imagine how I came to mix the two up.

References and previously after the jump...