The Coastal Journal Edition Forecaster · 25 June 2010

CP-2010-027

Questions, answers about the Gaza blockade

Perry B. Newman

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Transcribed from the clipping

This much we know. On May 31, a convoy of six ships bound for the Gaza Strip was intercepted by the Israel Defense Force and ordered to stop. Five of the ships complied. Passengers were taken ashore in Israel and cargo unloaded. The sixth ship, the Mavi Marmara, did not comply. Israeli naval personnel alerted the captain that he was in violation of Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

The captain defied orders to stop. Israeli troops boarded the Mavi Marmara. A melee ensued as Israeli troops rappelled onto the deck and were beaten and stabbed. Nine persons on board the Mavi Marmara were killed and numerous soldiers and others injured.

Beyond this bare recitation of the facts, however, there is little agreement, or at least little acknowledgment of additional facts relating to the ships bound for Gaza, their passengers, their motivation and their cargo.

If one relied only upon mainstream media reports one would come away with the impression that the ships were manned by a handful of sandal-clad pacifists and conscientious objectors whose only goal was to deliver food and medicine to a needy and grateful Gaza.

But things are not always what they seem, and this is particularly true in the context of Israel’s actions with respect to Gaza and its Palestinian neighbors and citizens. For those interested in a fuller depiction of what happened before, during and after the interdiction of the May 31 flotilla, this Q-&-A may be helpful.

Question: How can you tell when an aid mission isn’t really an aid mission, but a calculated political provocation? Answer: When its organizers announce from the beginning that the goal isn’t actually to deliver aid, but to break the blockade of Gaza. Q: When does a political action cease to be a harmless political provocation?

A: When the ship’s crew is overcome by terrorists wearing flak jackets, bearing weapons and stun grenades, and carrying more than 1 million Euros hidden on their persons. When bags of flour among the cargo conceal dozens of grenades, rocket launchers and other armaments sourced from Iran. Q: How can you tell that delivering the aid on board the ships was never a priority?

A: When Turkey refused to intervene and the flotilla organizers refused Israel’s offer to offload and deliver all humanitarian aid, medicine and food on the ships. Q: How can you tell terrorists from activists?

A: The terrorists are those who boarded the Mavi Marmara separately, commandeered the ship, sequestered those with more peaceful intent, cut metal railings into iron rods, refused to stop their vessel and told an Israeli officer seeking to defuse the situation to “go back to Auschwitz.”

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