As a user who recently commented on my blog noted, it has been well over a month since I have posted on it. Naturally during that time numerous things have happened, that I thought could be weighed in on.
One of these incidents is the Gaza flotilla incidents which occurred recently, in which 9 Turkish nationals regrettably lost their lives. As the news began to circulate based on Twitter, and Facebook, I noted that most of the posts seemed to condemn Israel very strongly. Indeed, I would agree to a certain degree that Israel is responsible for the unfortunate loss of life on board, as they had not planned for such an incident adequately. However, what I found was increasingly neglected was that there were certain activities on the Mavi Marmara the largest vessel which could have hindered a peaceful resolution to the Israeli boarding.
The issue became one of two polarised positions. One in which Israel was entirely correct in what it did, and another in which the passengers of the Mavi Marmara were entirely justified in exercising resistance against the Israeli commandos that happened to come down. One of the main arguers on the side of the Israeli’s was FOX News, which asserted that Israel’s right to defend itself and search the ships was unquestionable, and that there was more the mere aid on-board. Indeed, many Youtubers took up the cause also, with Lee Doren whose channel is called How the World Works arguing for this position (Commentary on the Gaza flotilla starts 2 minutes into the video):
Similar claims that those onboard were terrorist sympathisers were soon circulated, and claims that Gaza doesn’t even require aid were similarly circulated. This claim fails to take into consideration that goods in Gaza cost beyond what many people can afford, and that a lot of people still rely on UN food aid. Similarly concrete is one of the goods banned by the IDF to enter Gaza an area that still needs to reconstruct following Operation Cast Lead in late 2008.
Similarly, the details were not as forthcoming on the pro-Palestinian side as they should have been. People presented this as an unprovoked attack by the Israeli government on the flotilla, when this couldn’t have been further from the reality of the situation. Prior to the interception of 6 of the ships on the flotilla, the IDF had warned them, and even offered them to dock in Ashdod, witness their goods come across the border crossing with Gaza, and return on their own vessels. There is video coverage of this warning:
So the events seem to be from what we know as follows:
In international waters (an issue of contention in terms of legality of the IDF action) about 30km from the Sea of Gaza exclusion zone the Israelis warned the ships that they are about to enter a blockaded area, and that there would be alternative docking arrangements in Ashdod (as in the video above).
Having said this those on the flotilla chose to ignore these orders, and IDF commandos were dropped onto all 6 of the ships while still being in international waters.
On arriving on 5 of the 6 ships they were met with peaceful resistance, and those who were on board at most received minor injuries. On the Mavi Marmara, the IDF troops were met with attack from passengers onboard who in some cases wielded iron bars, and knives. Binyamin Netanyahu also noted that guns were used on IDF troops, while claiming that “this wasn’t a love boat, it was a hate boat” (video below):
The IDF only dropped 8 commandos on the Mavi Marmara, where in similar operations (according to BBC Newsnight – 1st of June) in the US military up to 40 people would be dropped at once. The high resistance on board coupled with the small amount of commandos on board may have resulted in panic and in turn the deaths of those who were killed.
As far as I am concerned, there are two parties involved in this and had the ships heeded the IDF orders, no lives would have been lost. Indeed, if there wasn’t violent resistance on board there would have been no need for the IDF to react as they did, as we have seen if we compare this incident with that of the Rachel Corrie which arrived in Ashdod on Saturday after IDF interception. It was highly unreasonable that those on board would genuinely suspect while Israel has an at-war status with Hamas that they would not search the ships so as to adequately make sure that there weren’t materials to construct rockets.
On the other hand, I believe that the Israelis need to review what goods can and cannot enter Gaza through the border crossings. Indeed, it is not good enough to determine this on a case-by-case basis, but there should be clear standards as to what is permissible. Likewise, the interception was poorly thought out, particularly in respect to how many IDF troops were dropped down, and in respect to where this interception occurred (despite its legality or illegality as that isn’t all that clear). The seizure of video equipment from the other side is also problematic in determining an outcome. Israel does have the right to inspect all goods entering Gaza, but how it does so is perhaps the most difficult question of all.
This, followed by an Iranian offer to escort any aid flotilla coming into Gaza is something that should concern us. Israel has the right to ensure that its citizens will not be attacked by the Hamas government, but at the same time it needs to ensure that humanitarian aid passes in more freely.
As always in the Israel – Palestine conflict, the truth always falls in the middle. If anyone has any comment, I’d love to hear it, and for those reading from Facebook, this blog is at http://www.gpeoples.net (to see the videos you need to click this link).
