Israel als Schurkenstaat 241

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/01/gaza-blockade-bloodshed-editorial


Gaza: From blockade to bloodshed

Nothing has done more to establish Israel's status as a pariah state
among its neighbours than the actions of its armed forces


* Editorial
* The Guardian, Tuesday 1 June 2010

If an armed group of Somali pirates had yesterday boarded six vessels
on the high seas, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring many
more, a Nato taskforce would today be heading for the Somali coast.
What happened yesterday in international waters off the coast of Gaza
was the work of Israeli commandos, not pirates, and no Nato warships
will in fact be heading for Israel. Perhaps they should be.

Nothing has done more to establish Israel's status as a pariah state
among its neighbours than the actions of its armed forces. Israel's
navy said it met with "pre-planned violence" when it boarded the
ships and opened fire in the middle of the night. Their intention was
to conduct a mass arrest, but the responsibility for the bloodshed
was entirely theirs. Having placed themselves in a situation where
they lost control and provoked a riot, the Israeli navy said they
were forced to open fire to avoid being lynched. What did the
commandos expect pro-Palestinian activists to do once they boarded
the ships - invite them aboard for a cup of tea with the captain on
the bridge? One of those shot and severely wounded was a Greek
captain, who refused medical aid in Israel and demanded to be flown
back to Greece. Presumably he, too, was threatening the lives of
Israeli naval commandos.

There was nothing on board those ships that constituted a threat to
Israel's security, so Binyamin Netanyahu's argument that his troops
were acting in self-defence has no validity. They should not have
been there in the first place. The convoy was carrying construction
materials, electric wheelchairs and water purifiers for Gaza's
people. This was recognised by the Israeli navy, who said in a
statement that it had offered to transfer the aid by land to Gaza.
Four years into a blockade mounted ostensibly to prevent weapons from
being smuggled into the enclave, this claim, too, is utterly
specious. Two years of pressure from Washington failed to persuade
Israel to let these construction materials in, for the benefit of the
5,000 families still in tents after the ruin wreaked by Operation
Cast Lead. If Israel was so obdurate to the entreaties of its ally,
why would it now acquiesce in the demands of its enemies? The fact is
that Israel has used its blockade not only to prevent Hamas from
rearming, but also to impose collective punishment - as a boot which
it applied to the Palestinian throat. This pressure on the jugular
has the opposite of its intended effect. Defiance has only grown in
Gaza, and the Islamic resistance movement is reaping the benefits -
as any Fatah man will admit.

In one operation Israel has destroyed whatever hold it had over the
international community on Gaza. It is not simply the fury that it
has created in Turkey, which will only grow as the bodies of its dead
are buried. Egypt too is complicit, because its government has sealed
the southern border of the Gaza strip. It has done so amid mounting
popular opposition, and as a nervy transfer of power in Cairo is
about to take place. The Egyptian government will not welcome the
intense embarrassment that Israel has caused it. There were many
calls yesterday for the siege to be lifted, notably from Britain's
new foreign secretary William Hague. After what Nick Clegg, his
coalition partner wrote in this newspaper about Gaza last year, he
could hardly do otherwise. But as Mr Clegg said, it is action, not
words, that counts now.

The blockade should end, but that will only be the start of the
U-turn which is now required. Closely allied to Gaza's physical
isolation is its political one. The international consensus is also
crumbling on isolating Hamas by insisting it recognise Israel before
it is allowed to join a national unity government with Fatah. Russia
broke the taboo first two week ago when its president, Dmitry
Medvedev, met Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader in Damascus, but other
countries in Europe are now planning to follow suit. Brick by brick,
this policy is coming apart, and in a strange way Israel is helping."