Why is the flotilla heading for Gaza to break the blockade?

In May, Egypt announced that it was lifting the blockade of Gaza from its side. This has prompted many to wonder why the upcoming Gaza flotilla is necessary. We found some compelling reasons.

Dr. Anne de Jong from the Gaza flotilla’s organizing committee says that only Palestinian men younger than 18 and older than 40 are allowed to pass freely through the Rafah checkpoint. All other Palestinians are required to present invitation letters and many other official documents in order to get through.

According to Dr. de Jong, cargoes of building materials and medical supplies are still failing to reach Gaza through either the Rafah or the Eres checkpoints. She notes that some of the many consignments of expensive spare parts and replacement medical supplies destined for Gaza’s hospitals which were seized by the Israeli authorities a year ago still have not been handed over.

Doctors in Gaza have repeatedly urged the international community to help, saying that these materials are essential. Without them, the equipment in operating theatres and intensive care wards remains incomplete and therefore unusable.

Doctors in Gaza say they cannot obtain these materials independently.It is impossible to smuggle them in through the tunnels. Dr. de Jong says this is why the flotilla is trying to break the sea blockade: Gaza needs these cargoes.

Anne de Jong revealed that over the past year, the Israeli authorities had been forced to hand back 70 per cent of the medical supplies they had seized, under strong pressure.

“But how did it do that? For example, we carried an entire shipment of electric wheelchairs meant for children and adults who cannot walk or are partly paralyzed. The Israeli side handed over those wheelchairs to Gaza, but only without electric motors, which made these wheelchairs absolutely useless.” Anne de Jong was just a passenger on last year’s flotilla.

rt.com...

Many here have asked what purpose does the Gaza aid flotilla serve other than a political interest? This article highlights the reason for another aid flotilla and it also adresses the alegations people here have made of defect weelchairs being supplied by the aid workers: It appears that Israel actually removed the electric motors of these wheelchairs rendering them useless.

The article continues to highlight the advanced interogation (or torture) techniques that were utilized on the aid workers. I don't deny that the aid flotilla may be politicised, however it would be stupid to deny the fact that it also serves practical and rational purposes as well.

reply to post by SpeachM1litant


Reasonable people want the blockade broken because it is illegal and repressive..

Also, who's to say the Egyptian route will stay open anyway and obviously the cost and time involved docking in Egypt and transporting goods to Gaza is inefficient..

s&f

No Humanitarian crisis my arse

Wikileaks document on Gaza puts Israels flotilla hasbara to shame

Israeli officials have confirmed to Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis… While the [Israeli government] believes that maintaining the shekel as the currency of the Palestinian Territories is in Israel’s interests, it treats decisions regarding the amount of shekels in circulation in Gaza as a security matter. Requests by Palestinian banks to transfer shekels into Gaza are ultimately approved, partially approved, or denied by the National Security Council (NSC), an organ of the Israeli security establishment, not by the Bank of Israel (BOI). As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to econoffs on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge

mondoweiss.net...

As the Gaza blockade moves into its fifth year, a new report by the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, says broad unemployment in the second half of 2010 reached 45.2 per cent, one of the highest in the world. The report released today, finds that real wages continued to decline under the weight of persistently high unemployment, falling 34.5 per cent since the first half of 2006. “These are disturbing trends,” said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness, “and the refugees, which make up two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.5 million population were the worst hit in the period covered in this report. It is hard to understand the logic of a man-made policy which deliberately impoverishes so many and condemns hundreds of thousands of potentially productive people to a life of destitution.”

mondoweiss.net...

Israel wishes to reduce the control and power of Hamas using this blockade: However this has proven to be counter-productive as the blockade has reduced, damaged and destroyed the private economic sector of the Gazan economy while strengthening the public sector controlled by Hamas.

Firstly, here's some food for thought;





I'm quite sure iphone 4's were not released when the blockade was first imposed...




Now, let me address the question that the OP has made in his title;

"What we’ve been doing over the last ten years with the International Solidarity Movement, Free Gaza, and all the other outgrowth organisations and movements and groups is to ...work with Palestinian society to ramp up the resistance. This is all part of a Palestinian movement for Palestine...This is truly an international movement ... It’s only Palestine, this cause that has been going on for over 60 years, that generates this kind of activism, this kind of resistance...

Free Gaza is but one tactic of a larger strategy, to transform this conflict from one between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and the Arab world...to one between the rest of the world and Israel... [applause]

It’s not just the conflict, it’s not just the siege, it’s not just the home demolitions, it’s not just the wall on the West Bank, it’s not just the effort to continue to dispossess Palestinians of their land...it’s also the attempt to define a place where 20 per cent of the population is Palestinian, to define the land underneath their feet as Jewish, to further dispossess them and subject these people to permanent second third or fourth class citizenship...Free Gaza is a tactic...all of it is part of a strategy now to transform the conflict and internationalise it and really undermine Israel where it gets its most support..."
-Adam Shapiro, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement and a board member of the Free Gaza Movement

"So from the horse’s mouth we learn that the prime aim of the flotilla is not to provide humanitarian supplies to Gaza. It is not even to protest Israel’s ‘siege’ of Gaza. It is instead a tactic in a campaign to undermine Israel itself on account of its 60-plus year existence as a Jewish state. In other words, the flotilla is part of a strategy designed to destroy Israel altogether." - Melanie Phillips, British journalist and author.

Source

Regards, Skellon

reply to post by SpeachM1litant

You truly are obsessed with attacking me. You should know I do not even sympathise with the Palestinian cause. I just want the factual record to be brought forth and to see Israel adhere to international law

Want to change your story ?
Now would be a good time.

Originally posted by gravitational
reply to post by SpeachM1litant

 

You truly are obsessed with attacking me. You should know I do not even sympathise with the Palestinian cause. I just want the factual record to be brought forth and to see Israel adhere to international law

Want to change your story ?
Now would be a good time.

Change my story? I don't see how this means I sympathise with the Palestinian cause by providing the other side of the story and reasons for the aid flotilla: From what I understand, a maratime blockade on Gaza is illegal, unless Israel moves to occupy the strip, however, Israel constantly reverbarates the fact that they are not occupying Gaza.

So no I don't sypmathise with the Palestinian cause. They are just another group of people to me and their nationality is arbitrary.

If you want my honest opinion of this aid flottila, I'll tell you, I would not take part in it, I honestly find protest in many cases such as this in some sense desperate and I'd prefer if those who were protesting were actually Palestinian or atleast Arab: that is why I have never taken part of a protest movement, and only will I if it is somthing that directly relates to me (call me selfish). However, as I believe in both free speech and international law, I would not stop them from conducting this action of protest and I will continue to present the facts in regards to this situation. If any information I posted is false please tell me and prove to me it is, so I can remove it.

So in conclusion: I am aiming to present the facts and I still want Israel to adhere to international law while at the same time I do not sympathise with the Palestinian cause.

reply to post by SpeachM1litant

“Change my story? I don't see how this means I sympathise with the Palestinian cause by providing the other side of the story and reasons for the aid flotilla”

Sure, that's why all the posts you write about are obsessed with Chinese killing Tibetan, Sundanese Arabs killing black Sundanese, Turks gassing Curds, Hamas killing PLO, PLO killing Lebanese.

From what I understand, a maratime blockade on Gaza is illegal, unless Israel moves to occupy the strip, however, Israel constantly reverbarates the fact that they are not occupying Gaza.

Wrong. Read the San Remo manual – blockade and parties in conflict.

So no I don't sypmathise with the Palestinian cause. They are just another group of people to me and their nationality is arbitrary.

Arbitrary? Right. It's just so happens that their enemy is Israel which you constantly attack while giving pathetic excuses for the “Palestinian actions.

So in conclusion: I am aiming to present the facts and I still want Israel to adhere to international law while at the same time I do not sympathise with the Palestinian cause.

International law again. Do you mean like when Hamas is firing rockets at Israeli civilians, or maybe when they target a school bus. Oh, maybe you mean the Israeli prisoner in the hands of Hamas, that for the past five years did not receive a letter from his family or visitation rights, denied Red Cross inspection and in complete isolation in some hell hole ?

reply to post by Skellon


well the malls were a little small and i didn't see any gucci or croc outlets either.

also no barbed wire or bombed out cities in this vid.

you sure this is gaza?

where are all the dead blown up bodies?

tanks? this is BS!

reply to post by gravitational

International law again. Do you mean like when Hamas is firing rockets at Israeli civilians, or maybe when they target a school bus. Oh, maybe you mean the Israeli prisoner in the hands of Hamas, that for the past five years did not receive a letter from his family or visitation rights, denied Red Cross inspection and in complete isolation in some hell hole ?

Any people have the RIGHT to repel and attack an INVADING force which is what Israel is..
No one can deny that with the continual Israeli settlements..

The bus was NEVER proven to be targeted,,,

Maybe you should check out the Israeli prisons and see how many Palestinians are in them including women and children..

Anymore points you'd like addressed??

Oh yeah, the San Reno Treaty is NOT a LAW and Israel don't fit the scenario anyway as they refuse to state their position on Gaza..

This is not just about imports but also exports and the zionists switching the water and electric off when they like to the people in gaza.

My freinds don't need anyones permisson when they come to visit me .

I have the right to eat my dinner whilst standing on my head and if anyone tries to take that right away then don't go thinking i will be happy.

reply to post by Skellon


You know what scares me about your post? The second video in particular that keeps flashing those words that there is no humanitarian crisis?

You know why it scares me? Because it parallels history. Screw Godwin in this case. You know what's suspicious about these videos? They are shot from a steady angle, hope this doesn't help would-be propagandists more than I helps people seeking to deny ignorance.

Wiki Link - Nazi Propaganda

And lets pick a piece out that always stayed with me since my history classes in elementary school...

On June 23, 1944, the Nazis permitted the Red Cross to visit concentration camp Theresienstadt to dispel rumors about the Final Solution, which was intended to kill every Jew. In reality, Theresienstadt was a transit camp for Jews en route to extermination camps, but in a sophisticated propaganda effort, fake shops and cafés were erected to imply that the Jews lived in relative comfort. The guests enjoyed the performance of a children's opera, Brundibar, written by inmate Hans Krása. The hoax was so successful for the Nazis that they went on to make a propaganda film (Theresienstadt) at Theresienstadt. Shooting of the film began on February 26, 1944. Directed by Kurt Gerron, it was meant to show how well the Jews lived under the "benevolent" protection of the Third Reich. After the shooting, most of the cast, and even the filmmaker himself, were deported to the concentration camp of Auschwitz where they were killed.

I can't find a youtube clip of these things as fast though, typing nazi propaganda yields tons of videos so hard to sift through them quickly.

I'm not condoning transgressions against Israeli citizens though! Never!

reply to post by Skellon


No response? Figures. Nice post history mate.

reply to post by Zamini


Last year a new water park was built in Gaza, later it was burned down by Hamas.

Lately, another water park has been built, it is still intact as far as I know.

Regards, Skellon.

Originally posted by Skellon
reply to post by Zamini

 

Last year a new water park was built in Gaza, later it was burned down by Hamas.

Lately, another water park has been built, it is still intact as far as I know.

Regards, Skellon.

It must use sea water..
Israel doesn't let enough fresh water into Gaza to fill a bath tub..

In a statement issued by its political leadership in Damascus, the militant group described the action as "inhumane" and said Greece had played into Israeli hands.

"This is inhumane action, is contrary to international regulations and norms," said the statement by Hamas, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

"Barring this aid from reaching the Gaza Strip is done as a result of pressure imposed by the Zionist occupiers," referring to Israel.

Hamas also called on the EU parliament and human rights organisations "to put pressure on the Greek government" to allow a planned flotilla of aid boats to set sail from Greece to Gaza.

The Israeli-imposed blockade of Gaza "is unjust... and a mark of disgrace on the forehead of humanity," it said.

Earlier Friday, Greek coastguard officials intercepted the Audacity of Hope as it tried to set sail for Gaza in defiance of a Greek ban, to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave, an activist on board said.

The boat, which is carrying 3,000 letters of support for Palestinians, left behind nine other ships which had planned to join the 2011 "Freedom Flotilla" which hopes to leave for Gaza on Sunday.

Israel has repeatedly said it is determined to stop the flotilla and has urged defiant organisers not to create "new friction" in the region.

Source


If I was part of a terrorist organisation like Hamas, I would also be peeved that the Freedom Flotilla 2.0 had not been given a chance to set a new precedent and therefore allow my organisation to import arms without restriction.

Poor guys....

Regards, Skellon.

reply to post by Skellon


Do you have any actual EVIDENCE that this or any other flotilla are carrying weapons or any other dangerous goods?

Or are you just sprouting BS for BS sake??

Everybody knows Israels agenda is to force the Palestinian resistance to break down, and accept their existence as a norm.

But forcing anyone to accept anything is kind of...wrong.

Originally posted by nusnus
Everybody knows Israels agenda is to force the Palestinian resistance to break down, and accept their existence as a norm.

But forcing anyone to accept anything is kind of...wrong.

I disagree..
Israel knows Palestine will NEVER accept Israeli actions and therefore the battle will continue while Israel continues it's settlement expansion..

reply to post by backinblack


My point is not what they are carrying!

It is what they would represent IF they managed to 'break the blockade'.

Essentially setting a precedent and opening the Gaza Strip to unrestricted arms imports yet again.

If you want me to spell that out; More arms to Hamas means more 'Palestinians' will die.

Operation Cast Lead obviously displayed how heavy handed Israel can be with retaliation, and this was whilst the blockade was in place. Without the blockade..... you can just imagine.

So, it is a valid point to argue that the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt is actually saving lives on both sides.


Regards, Skellon.