Unseizing Gaza

In an interview with National Public Radio aired on August 30,
2010, Israeli Deputy Foreign
Minister Danny Ayalon said that the three-year blockade on most
foodstuffs and other materials was "a mistake" and that "denying different
items or products into Gaza was not effective."

For three years, Israel and Egypt, supported by the United
States and the European Union, have restricted travel and trade and have allowed
only the most basic humanitarian aid into Gaza as collective punishment for the
Palestinians of Gaza electing Hamas as their government. The purpose of the siege, blockade,
quarantine of Gaza is to put pressure on the people to overthrow the government
of Hamas.

But, sieges and sanctions seldom effect the change that other
governments want. Instead, the sanctions
make life miserable for the average citizen while the political elite live
their lives with little impact. The United States has had a 50 year blockade on
Cuba to get the people of Cuba to revolt against Fidel Castro and the revolution-and
it didn't work. The ten years of
sanctions on the people of Iraq didn't result in their taking up arms against
Saddam Hussein's regime. And the ever
increasing sanctions on the people of Iran are doomed to fail in the same way-they
are all "ineffective" for the purposes for which they were created-putting such
economic, medical and daily food pressure on civilians that they will take up
weapons against their own heavily armed military force.

I went to Gaza three times in 2009 and after each trip tried to
get our United States government to respond to the extreme conditions caused by
the blockade which were greatly deepened by the December 2008-January 2009
Israeli pounding of Gaza that killed 1440, wounded 5000 and left 50,000
homeless and most water and sewage infrastructure in rubble and most industries
destroyed. Israel said its actions were
to stop the thousands of homemade unguided rockets from Gaza that have killed
30 Israeli citizens in six years. However,
the disproportionate use of force on Gaza by the most sophisticated, high-tech
military in the region that receives $3 billion in military aid from the United
States each year, elicited condemnation from human rights groups, but little
from governments.

The partial lifting of the blockade came because of another
Israeli disproportionate use of force, this time on the passengers of the May
2010 Gaza flotilla. It took the Israeli killing
nine persons and wounding 50 others and the resulting outrage of citizens of
the world that forced their governments finally to strongly condemn Israel's
actions and demand that Israel to end its blockade.

Tragically, it was not the long history of deaths of
Palestinians during the siege (particularly 1440 killed in 22 days) that
brought pressure on the Israelis to change their policies, but the deaths of internationals
on the flotilla.

Ayalon commented that the Gaza flotilla "expedited"
the decision to ease the blockage but that he believes "the decision would
have come up anyway," and added, "Action like a flotilla certainly is
trying to put Israel in a no-win situation."

Tens of thousands of citizens from all over the world are
funding ships for the second flotilla (www.freegaza.org),
including a ship to represent the citizens of the United States (www.ustogaza.org).

As a survivor of the Gaza flotilla, I can assure Deputy Foreign
Minister Ayalon that there will be a second flotilla to continue to pressure
the Israeli government to totally end the blockade of Gaza and break down the
walls to the open air prison called Gaza.

It will be a win for the people of Gaza and for us all.