Gaza Flotilla and the Shadow over Israel

Retaliation and violence come again and again. For the people who live here, in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the cycles of retaliation and rage must seem all the more defeating and painful. Last year when I moved to Israel, it was just after the firebombing of Gaza that killed more than a thousand Palestinians. This year, it is the violent clashes between Israeli military and activists in the Gaza, Freedom Flotilla leaving nine people dead.

Israelis should be gravely concerned with this incident. Not only is the international reputation of Israel already shaky, but the world is also aware that there is a chink in the armor of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Videos of the incident from both Israeli military sources and from activists are flooding the internet. Regardless of who wins the media fight over “who started it” in the flotilla raid, the activists won this battle. Accidentally or otherwise killing nine international activists was a devastating mistake for Israel, and continues to undermine their failed strategy of isolating Gaza from the world. It undermines U.S. Support for Israel further and makes it extremely difficult for the U.S. to gain support needed to sanction Iran. Also, Turkey is a critical ally both for the U.S., and a partner for Israel in trade and tourism. The Israel-Turkey relationship may be all but ruined now. Israel has to wake up and realize that its actions will not keep it safe. Isolating Gaza and starving its people of dignity only fuel anger and helplessness. It is also slowly destroying the physical, emotional, social and psychological lives of millions of Palestinians. If countries in the world truly care about 'humanitarian crises' they must force Israel to end this blockade. Israel does have the right to defend itself from attack, as any country does. But walling off millions of people is no solution.

Amira Hass, an Israeli prize-winning journalist who writes for Ha'aretz, recently wrote an article pinpointing some of the linguistically misleading phrases used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (See her article in Haaretz here). I want to write more about this topic later as a whole, but one of the routinely used phrases she pointed out was on my mind today. “Israel transfers humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.” As Hass says, what would be more accurate would be that “Israel permits basic commodities to enter Gaza.” These commodities – basic medicines, food bundles, diapers and the like – are paid for by international organizations such as the UN or the Red Cross, and are generally sold to Gaza merchants.

Israel is not taking responsibility for Gaza's well-being, and neither is the world. We are relying on international organizations to keep Gazans alive, while leaving the situation unresolved. There is a reason why these activists are organizing time and time again to break the blockade. If not for them, there would simply be no one listening. As Margaret Atwood recently wrote, there is a Shadow over Israel. (See her article here). I can feel it too.