Catherine Ashton, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice president of the European Commission, visited Gaza last March and left without gaining any insight. But, as with Nicholas Kristof, her experience was enough to allow her to write a clueless editorial for the New York Times.
She's scheduled to visit Gaza again later this month, so we can expect more of the same - from "fact-finders" who already "know" the facts before they arrive.
