If you believe the Israeli and US pro-Israel media, the new US Secretary of State, John Kerry (above) is "confused" in his new job.
What led to the confusion? To those who embrace his negative media coverage, the Secretary forgot the rules.
He forgot what US Diplomats must never forget. What is that? To paraphrase a quote from the movie Fight Club:
The First Rule of US diplomacy: You do not question the Sacred Israeli Narrative.
The Second Rule of US diplomacy: You DO NOT question the Sacred Israeli narrative.
Kerry was attacked by defenders of these Rules when in a fit of compassion, he questioned one verse in one chapter from the Book of The Sacred Israeli Narrative. Under the headline: Kerry likens Boston victims to "Mavi Marmara' victims, Annie Robbins reports:
"At a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, US Secretary of State John Kerry referred to the deaths of nine Turkish citizens on board the Mavi Marmara in [May] 2010."
Kerry responded to a question from Bloomburg's Nicole Gaouette, who asked him about "the importance of a rapprochement between Turkey and Israel."
Behind the question are these facts:
Turkey broke diplomatic relations with Israel following the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident in which nine passengers, including one Turkish-American citizen, were killed when Israeli soldiers attacked the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying peaceful protesters attempting to reach Gaza to protest Israel's blockade.
Turkey responded by breaking relations with Israel.
Kerry connected the deaths aboard the Mavi Marmara with the dead and wounded in last week's Boston Marathon explosions. Both experiences brought grief and anger to their respective nations.
Kerry's response was personal, an expression of compassion from a Bostonian to the people of Turkey, linking the Mavi Marmara to the City of Boston. Here is his response which comes late in the press conference text, released by the US State Department:
"I think Turkey is working in very good faith to get there [i.e., restoring broken relations between Turkey and Israel]. I know it's an emotional issue with some people [i.e.,Turkey's decision to break with Israel after the Mavi Marmara deaths]. I particularly say to the families of people who were lost in the incident we understand these tragedies completely and we sympathize with them.
"And nobody -- I mean, I have just been through the week of Boston and I have deep feelings for what happens when you have violence and something happens and you lose people that are near and dear to you. It affects a community, it affects a country. We're very sensitive to that."
Those are the words of a compassionate man making a connection to others. What could possibly be wrong with that?
The literalist keepers of the Sacred Israeli Narrative knew what was wrong.
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