Israels Blockade and banned items

A blockade to stop weapons from entering an area is one thing, but to ban humanitarian aid is another issue.
I was curious as to what Isreal considers contraband and have found little information on line , any help would be appreciated.

Here is what I have found


joulesbeef.newsvine.com...
Items banned by Israel from entering Gaza, otato chips, biscuits, fishing rods, foriegn newspapers, chocolate...Source Israeli humanitarian org Gisha



althayyib.wordpress.com...
“Wooden handles for brooms, metal rulers for graphics classes, study books and public library books, refrigerators, musical instruments and needles.


www.kansascity.com...
Military bureaucrats enforcing Israel's blockade of Gaza allow frozen salmon filet, facial scrub and low-fat yogurt into the Hamas-ruled territory. Cilantro and instant coffee are another matter - they are banned as luxury items.



This article is a good read.
news.bbc.co.uk...
Among the large range of goods currently forbidden are jam, chocolate, wood for furniture, fruit juice, textiles, and plastic toys.


The banning of many of these items seems more like punishment to the people who democraticly elected Hamas as their political party leaders.

How would all americans accept it if either political party was elected to office and punished all who voted for the other party.
There are extremists in every political group.
There are many Jews who do not support everything that Israels government does as there are many Americans that do not support everything Americas government does.

But, as is past history proves (Germany) the whole country and all it's people pay the price, for the mistakes,transgresions and atrocitys of it's countrys leaders .

My hope is that humanity has advance enough to realize that speaking up against what is wrong is a good thing, even if it is your own country and that blaming a whole country and all it's people for the decisions of it's political leaders and the actions of it's military leaders is wrong.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by OLD HIPPY DUDE]

reply to post by OLD HIPPY DUDE


Oh but don't you know? All those weapons that Israel says the blockade is meant to block, could be hidden in a Hershey bar. Or camouflaged as cilantro leaves.

And heaven forbid that books be allowed. They might inspire more thought.

[edit on 2/6/2010 by Chamberf=6]

It's a good thing that Israel is blocking these items. I mean, somebody could make a suicide bomb out of two Hershey bars and a USA Today.

Partial List of Items Prohibited/Permitted into the Gaza Strip

Prohibited Items include:
sage
cardamom
cumin
coriander
ginger
jam
halva
vinegar
nutmeg
chocolate
fruit preserves
seeds and nuts
biscuits and sweets l
potato chips
gas for soft drinks
dried fruit
fresh meat
plaster
tar
wood for construction m
cement
iron
glucose
industrial salt
plastic/glass/metal containers
industrial margarine
tarpaulin sheets for huts
fabric (for clothing)
flavor and smell enhancers
fishing rods
various fishing nets
buoys
ropes for fishing
nylon nets for greenhouses
hatcheries and spare parts for hatch
spare parts for tractors
dairies for cowsheds
irrigation pipe systems
ropes to tie greenhouses
planters for saplings
heaters for chicken farms
musical instruments
size A4 paper
writing implements
notebooks
newspapers
toys
razors
sewing machines and spare parts
heaters
horses
donkeys
goats
cattle
chicks

Sad that this thread has gotten so little attention. There can only be one reason for the banning of items such as fresh meat and other foods: to beat the Gazans into surrendering. Banning food is a crime against humanity.

Essentially, the people living in Gaza are prisoners. Prisoners are better controlled with lack of food. Lack of food means population control and makes life a living hell. Get it?

I wonder what is the crime of these people. I really don't know the full story.

Yeah, I really don't see the connection between sage and coriander and terror. This is bull#, punishing the entire population for the kidnapping of Gil'ad Shalit is stupid- Not only will it not help you get him out, it'll also make hamas stronger, by making the people hate Israel.

But on the other hand cement bags are used as sand bags and fortifications, iron is used to build bombs and rockets..
I wish there was a way to just get them in and make sure hamas doesn't take control of it as they sometimes do with humanitarian aid trucks..

Bottom line- I agree.
Naval blockade still important tough, for different reasons..

With respect,
Eliad.

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross


I agree. It seems like the threads that get noticed and flagged are usually those with hateful, misleading, or subjective content and on the other hand the ones that do have some validity to them don't get any attention, or get swayed off topic right off the moment they start.

Also I'd like to correct you- They're not banning food, they're banning luxuries, they still have meat, it's just frozen (not rotten or anything).
Still stupid, still pointless...

Also Israel is not trying to control the Gaza strip, nor is it trying to control its people, there are 0 Israelis in the Gaza strip, you know...
Not having coriander, sage and chocolate will not make them weaker.
It will however make them hateful.

This won't stop hamas, it will only make them stronger.
This is already being rectified by the Israeli government who says this has nothing to do with international pressure... Even if it didn't initiate this process, it definitely gave it a push forward..

With respect,
Eliad.

'The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger'
Dov Weisglass, adviser to Ehud Olmert, 2008.

"An army marches on it's stomach"
Napoleon.

The real point is that if the terrorists and the supporters of terrorism in Gaza are weakened by denying adequate nutrition & shelter, then their capacity to murderously threaten peace loving Israelis will be diminished.

Malnutrition will also lower the birth rate and shorten life expectancy which is of strategic benefit to both Israel and America in the long term war on terror. The F16's & white phosphorus shells can be used to finish them off when they are weakened.

Terrorists & supporters of terrorism must be punished. Even Obama must realise this?

The terrorist supporting "aid" flotilla providing food and medicine only serves to strengthen these murderous brutes, this is why they must be stopped.

Yet again it seems that Israel is the only nation which is denied the right to defend itself?

reply to post by Eliad

I do think that they've gone overboard with the items they are restricting. I don't see how restricting ginger will help anything unless the goal is to make everyone miserable to the point that they'll do anything to kick out Hamas. That is most likely their goal. While this is probably better than bombing the place* I don't think they're going about it the right way. They can do enough damage restricting building materials which puts unemployment through the roof. At that point it doesn't matter what they allow in. No one can afford it.


*To clarify: Better than continued bombing i.e. Cast Lead II



[edit on 14-6-2010 by dbates]

Originally posted by dbates
reply to post by Eliad

 

I do think that they've gone overboard with the items they are restricting. I don't see how restricting ginger will help anything unless the goal is to make everyone miserable to the point that they'll do anything to kick out Hamas. That is most likely their goal.

Yeah, that is pretty much it.
Although Hamas was democratically elected, this of course outraged Israel.

While this is probably better than bombing the place I don't think they're going about it the right way. They can do enough damage restricting building materials which puts unemployment through the roof.

That is the problem, because they already have bombed Gaza, even went so far as to illegally use white phosphorus munitions, and still no one is allowed to rebuild. What is worse is that their food supplies are extremely limited and since they apparently aren't even allowed to have refrigerators, this squeezes innocent people even more.

I don't want to get into the stats from the U.N. or other humanitarian aid groups but innocent people, including children are suffering.

At that point it doesn't matter what they allow in. No one can afford it.

Are they going to be charged for using the aid or do you mean after the people in Gaza get back on their feet and are in a position to be purchasing consumers once more?

I was under the impression that the supplies would be given freely, and that humanitarian aid workers would help them rebuild if allowed. If you meant the latter, I think after the struggling people in Gaza move away from the status of "food insecure" through assistance from the nations more than willing to help, then we should discuss their eventual buying power.

Gaza is a mess.
Right now the humanitarian crisis needs to be properly addressed.

Allowing the free aid to come in, specifically certain harmless things like food items/storage devices banned by Israel, would allow the Palestinians a chance to stabilize, move up to the normal standard of living and get the ball rolling.

- Lee

Have they banned baby food !

Tony Blair would love to tell the world he saved the world by forcing Iserail to allow baby food into gaza and all little old iserail needed in return was that the sanctions be reconized by the whole word instead of telling iserail to stop the sanctions or else.

Yeah Tony thats because the zionists keep paying you is it not, some great deal.

This thread needs more attention.
As does the quoted post.

Originally posted by NotTooHappy
Partial List of Items Prohibited/Permitted into the Gaza Strip

Prohibited Items include:
sage
cardamom
cumin
coriander
ginger
jam
halva
vinegar
nutmeg
chocolate
fruit preserves
seeds and nuts
biscuits and sweets l
potato chips
gas for soft drinks
dried fruit
fresh meat
plaster
tar
wood for construction m
cement
iron
glucose
industrial salt
plastic/glass/metal containers
industrial margarine
tarpaulin sheets for huts
fabric (for clothing)
flavor and smell enhancers
fishing rods
various fishing nets
buoys
ropes for fishing
nylon nets for greenhouses
hatcheries and spare parts for hatch
spare parts for tractors
dairies for cowsheds
irrigation pipe systems
ropes to tie greenhouses
planters for saplings
heaters for chicken farms
musical instruments
size A4 paper
writing implements
notebooks
newspapers
toys
razors
sewing machines and spare parts
heaters
horses
donkeys
goats
cattle
chicks

reply to post by Lionel


Look, I don't see real food on this list, just chocolates and #, and farm animals.
I do agree that it's stupid, but it isn't like preventing produce, and rice and stuff from entering...
I don't see how preventing chocolate starves them...
It's still all stupid and pointless as I said, but you're exaggerating.

reply to post by dbates


That's exactly what I said...

With respect,
Eliad.

Pens and paper.

Jam. Salt?

Not right by any standards.

Who gives THEM the right?
Really shouldn't even respond to your post but its worth the bump.

Originally posted by Eliad
reply to post by Lionel

 

Look, I don't see real food on this list, just chocolates and #, and farm animals.
I do agree that it's stupid, but it isn't like preventing produce, and rice and stuff from entering...
I don't see how preventing chocolate starves them...
It's still all stupid and pointless as I said, but you're exaggerating.

reply to post by dbates

 

That's exactly what I said...

With respect,
Eliad.

reply to post by Stella Lotus


No one. They don't have the right.. That's exactly what I'm trying to say.
At the same time I'm saying that you should not confuse spices and chocolate with actual food.

With respect,
Eliad.

reply to post by Eliad


Maybe it would be OK if the choclate is cosha.

Facts are they have no right to ban such items and they are worse than the facists that controlled the getto in 1940's germany and yet they keep bring this period of history up every time anyone say a war agaist iserail.

Time uncle sam took the nukes back from iserail instead of using the veto against any UN resolutions else people might start to ask questions the next time the USA invades a country to say it is trying to free the poor people from a dictatorship.

reply to post by dbates


totaly agreed with you
can you imagine if they started using those books as weapons
paper cuts sting like hell and could lead to an infection on the person its thrown at, and those sharp rulers, those could take out an eye if thrown at a soldier.

Originally posted by LieBuster
they are worse than the facists that controlled the getto in 1940's germany

Reductio ad Hitlerum - This is where the anti-Israel crowd loses the support of people (like myself) who would be willing to discuss this rationally. Personally I would love to point out everything that Israel was doing wrong in this scenario. Just see my previous post in this thread. I so want to find fault with their actions but I never get the chance to talk about specifics. It always comes down to this extremism and now we'll just spend out time arguing about if the Jews are worse or equal to Nazi Germany, if the holocaust really happened, etc. *sigh*