Israel’s Posturing and Misery in Gaza

As Gaza suffers with the continued blockade restricting even humanitarian supplies to reach its people, the international community seems to watch in a suspended state of stupor Israel’s flagrant violations of the most basic humanitarian principles.

In the latest show of strength, avowed at setting a precedent against such future attempts at challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the Israeli navy intercepted and practically ‘abducted’ a Togo flagged, Lebanese ship — The Brotherhood Ship — carrying about 60 tons of food supplies, medicines and toys to Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni said that the Israeli action has, “proved things will be done differently from now”; a clear message, in view of previous attempts challenging Israeli blockades that were made by activists determined to reach Gaza. Even as the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora strongly condemned the actions and called on the international community to persuade Israel to allow the shipment through, Israel chose to do what it deems correct in keeping with its national security interests.

Denying allegations of firing at the ship by the Israeli army, Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defence Minister, defended Thursday’s actions of forcing the ship towards the Israeli port of Ashdod for holding and questioning. Israel maintains that the ship had been forewarned to return to Egypt after it attempted to cross Israeli blockades earlier. Pretending to change course, it made another attempt when it was intercepted, boarded and escorted by the Israeli Army 32 kms of the 
Gazan coast.

A search operation by the Israeli army could not discover any Gaza-bound weapons. However, the ship carried about 20 passengers that included 8 journalists and activists. One of the passengers, the 86-year-old activist Hilarion Capucci was a former Greek Catholic Archbishop, who had served 2 years in an Israeli prison on being convicted of smuggling weapons from Lebanon to Israel in 1975.

The incident itself serves a reminder to the world conscience that Gaza continues to be blockaded since June 2007, when Hamas won a civil war against Fatah. The latest three-week Israeli offensive against Hamas that started in December 2008 led to more than 1300 Palestinians being killed.

The United Nations and other groups have been crying hoarse over the continuing plight of the Palestinians people who after having gone through a bloody conflict, now have to contend with conditions of severe deprivation and misery at the hands of Israel.

President Obama, who promises to reach out to the Muslim world and help the deprived people, needs to look into such Israeli acts, which are a clear violation of international law. The bigger question, however, is what the rest of the Muslim and Arab states intend to do to build pressure on Washington to check Israel from further atrocities against the Palestinians.