

A crowd attacks participants in Ben Gurion Airport (Photo: Joseph Dana)

Joseph Dana has been stationed in Ben Gurion Airport all day reporting on the “Welcome to Palestine” initiative. The scene he has shared can only be described as chaos. Israel has barred journalists from entering the airport, arrested Israeli activists who came to Ben Gurion in solidarity and stood aside as Israeli passerbys cursed, spit on and punched “Welcome to Palestine” travelers arriving from abroad.

In an piece on +972 titled “Air Flotilla” successful in exposing Israeli blockade of West Bank, Noam Sheizaf has described Israel’s response to the protest as “panic” and added, “it seems that the whole country has gone mad.” That looks about right, and it appears the “air flotilla” has also been successful in exposing the delusional siege mentality that seems to be governing Israel and the vast majority of its citizens these days. The government’s existential fear of tourists visiting the occupied territories is yet another sign that the delegitimization of Israel is a self-fulfilling prophecy that Israel’s leaders seem bent on bringing to fruition.

Below is Dana’s live twitter stream from this morning and be sure to read over the last few hours.