The world dropped what it was doing when newsrooms opened their broadcasts with the earth-shattering headline: Israeli army officer loses cool, hits a left-wing International Solidarity Movement activist. No information was given about the ISM, only Israeli army brutality was reported.

Let there be no doubt: Hitting a protester, even a provocateur, is a serious matter, especially for an Israel Defense Forces officer charged with maintaining the army’s purity of arms and setting a personal example. The incident must be carefully examined and addressed. And yet, some Israeli media figures still gloated as if to say, "we told you so."

The ISM was founded in the early 2000s by Adam Shapiro, a Jew from Brooklyn, and a small group of Israelis and Palestinians. The group´s declared goal is "peaceful resistance to Israeli occupation" by what it calls "nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles" (which often lead to violence). Furthermore, the ISM´s leadership and its members have expressed an understanding of the need for armed struggle against Israel.

In 2002, Shapiro and his Palestinian wife, Huwaida Arraf, wrote: "Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both violent and nonviolent. But most importantly, it must develop a strategy involving both aspects. Nonviolent resistance is no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation."

The ISM was one of the groups which organized the "Free Gaza" flotilla in which IDF naval commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara ship were lynched by an armed mob. The ISM also supports the international campaign to boycott, divest and sanction Israel (BDS) and persistently publishes slanderous material against Israel.

One of the ISM´s tactics is to provoke Israeli soldiers and then release video footage to the world to reaffirm its thesis about the thuggish Zionist. It succeeded in its mission this time.

To this we can add the media´s consistent history of reporting whenever security forces try to nip in the bud the arrival of left- wing activists seeking to delegitimize Israel under the guise of humanitarianism. Israel "makes a mountain out of a molehill," some argue. We can reasonably guess what their reaction would be if things spiraled out of control into something much worse.

Israel decided to prevent the arrival of left-wing activists by blacklisting them and by placing undercover policemen at the airport. What is the problem? Here, during an Army Radio broadcast, radio personality Tali Lipkin-Shahak decided to find something positive about these innocent activists and almost reprimanded Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Beitenu) for the state´s preventative measures.

She suggested organizing a seminar for the activists, where Israel could explain its position. What will Israel explain – its right to exist as the home of the Jewish people somewhere on this planet? This is what lies behind the humanitarian disguise worn by this hate group.

This is the test for these activists: Do they recognize Israel´s right to exist as a Jewish state within the 1967 borders? Most of them do not recognize us in any borders. "Welcome to Palestine" is not just a slogan on a sign – this is how they see the entire space between the Mediterranean and Jordan. So who is creating history, the security forces or the media?