Israel has no right to stop Gaza aid flotillas
Israel cannot be hurt by any imaginary danger the ships pose. Here from Sweden comes a final appeal to those who would block the flotilla: Please, just once, act with prudence, and abide by international law and simple justice.
By Gideon LevyIt's late at night in Sodra, a fashionable suburb south of Stockholm, and it's drinks all around. There's cheese from Italy and Scandinavian fish on the table; and an extremely alert, diverse crowd is gathered around the table. There's a well-known Swedish academic whose field of expertise is the history of religion; a lecturer in economic history; and there's also a young Iraqi who was imprisoned in Saddam Hussein's era in Abu Ghraib prison and who now works in Sweden's supreme court.
The house belongs to a former Israeli, Dror Feiler, and this gathering is the Swedish steering committee for the next Gaza flotilla. It is a historic dwelling: In the 18th century, the house served as a beer hall, and then later functioned as an institution for the mentally ill. Hermann Goering convalesced here, at the insistence of his Swedish wife, after becoming addicted to pain medication when wounded during World War I; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin also stayed here, en route to the Russian revolution (he is said to have purchased his famous cap at a nearby street corner ). Now the musician and artist Feiler lives here; after being deported from Israel last June as a result of the first Gaza flotilla controversy, he is no longer allowed to visit his aging mother on Kibbutz Yad Hanna.
Feiler likes to reminisce about his days serving in the infantry's 50th Battalion, in the late 1960s. He shares his memories with members of the Gaza flotilla. Prof. Mattias Gardell, who also took part in the first flotilla, claims the first two casualties were killed before IDF soldiers boarded the Mavi Marmara last May. They now wonder, in a mood of naive fear, how Israel will relate to them this time. Together with a Swedish-Jewish physician, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Hungary who is married to publisher Dan Israel, the group is meeting late at night to plan the next flotilla adventure. Whereas Israelis are wont to describe the flotillas as a Turkish enterprise and a threat, members of this group describe the flotilla as an international, peace-oriented, project.
It's impossible not to be impressed by this determined group. They will convey 500 tons of cement, a mobile hospital and an ambulance on their boat, one of ten planned for the flotilla. They know there are other ways of bringing these items to Gaza, but they want to remind the world of Gaza's fate. That is their right, and perhaps even their duty.
Had Israel not behaved with such wanton stupidity, and not attacked the previous flotilla and allowed it to reach the Gaza coast, it's possible that this new flotilla would not have mobilized - at any event, the eyes of the world would not be peeled as they are now, watching the flotilla closely.
I told members of the group that Israel is determined to attack. One of them has already purchased a bulletproof vest. Israel well understands that these are people are not threats, and that no weapons will be smuggled on the boats. Nonetheless, Israel makes threats, and the IDF naval commandos train for the flotilla's arrival. The result: Requests to sail on the boats skyrocket, and the flotilla vessels will be jam-packed.
When you meet such people, you understand the terrible international damage Israel inflicts upon itself as a result of its violent behavior. How simple (and just ) it would be to allow these well-intentioned people to reach their goal; in contrast, how idiotic, violent and unnecessary it would be to release the commandos once again, to go after them.
"A toast to the darkness that swooped on the ships ... Godspeed to the small, wooden boats," the poet Nathan Alterman wrote in his "Response to an Italian Captain," in praise of the ship that broke through the British blockade and brought Jewish immigrants to Nahariya in 1945. And let's have a toast to the Swedish (or Turkish ) captain, and for the boats en route to Gaza, on a mission no less just; let's hope that Israel will change its course and, for a change, surprise the world be taking a wise step and allowing the ships' passengers to reach their destination.
Israel cannot be hurt by any imaginary danger the ships pose. Here from Sweden, at a time when the sun does not set at night, comes a final appeal to those who would block the flotilla: Please, just once, act with prudence, and abide by international law and simple justice. These people have the right to reach Gaza; Israel lacks the right to stop them.
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4,942 truckloads weighing 127,353 tons of food, fuel, and other materials, including construction materials entered the Gaza Strip last month. During the month, there was a 128% increase in the volume of truckloads entering the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing compared to last month, and an 31.5% increase in the number of patients that exited the Gaza Strip for medical reasons. In addition, 929 truckloads of cement, iron, aggregates, and other building materials have been transferred for the purpose of a variety of humanitarian aid projects in coordination with international organizations. These include water treatment plants, greenhouses, agricultural plots, schools, a medical center, and housing units.
They want to bring a mobile hospital, presumably to allow the Hamas military leadership greater mobility the next time there are hostilities.
Dear Mr.LEVY. I thank you very much for your article !! Till now I didn't know those Details. . Felicitations !!
Feiler must be aware of his flotilla friends : IHH, the Turkish "NGO", laundering Ahmadinejad's blood money. Association Génération Palestine, etc. Guess : what is the real reason behind the Gaza obsession... ?
yes, this is true. there are several facts that constitute a "casus belli" and one of them is aiding your enemy. it doesn't matter if they are humanitarian supplies. by international law, israel can sink this ship. by israeli consciense, it won't but still will stop it because of it's completely unpeaceful actions, which are shrouded under a message of peace, which of course isn't true if you look at it straight:
'Looks like the blockade is legal: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/02/us-israel-flotilla-gaza-idUSTRE65133D20100602
Thank you Gideon Levi. You provided me with all the necessary arguments. Now I am convinced about my position concerning the Naval Blockade. Thanks again.
only false historical parallels, like stories of refugees trying to find refuge, something this isn't at all. this is a propaganda mission - a media stunt. i find it quite absurd that you might even be so naive to think that you have been supplied with "proper" arguments. the only argument provided is that these people are naive fools. good for them. and who is the fool. the fool, or the one that follows him?
Yesterday, I heard Alice Walker an American Peace Activist and poet who hopes to be on the Flotilla--akin the voyage of the flotilla to Gaza to The Freedom Riders of the 60's who opposed the Jim Crow laws of the old South..... She mentioned many jews were on that Bus and risk their lives and livlihood for the sake of justice for her people and this is what she is doing today for the Palestinian people who are deprived of their rights daily rights too. . How shameful!!!!!! .Dutch
that is what international law dictates. thanks.
Lenin & Goerring? Good company. Mr. Levy, we have naive people in our country , too. We call them democrats. I hope they blow them out of the water if they try to get anywhere near the coast.
Your comment is truly frightening for the future of an allegedly democratic state. But obviously democracy is not at the top of your hit parade.
500 tons of cement? That is already a banned import into Gaza due to Hezbollah using it for military purposes. Cement is allowed into Gaza but only under strict control which must accompany approved building projects. Despite maritime international law regarding Israel's blockade and its legal rights Mr Levy keeps BS'ing his readers of these facts. Just the admittance of a banned import from the flotilla organizers has already marked this quest a sure failure.
By Jonathan Saul LONDON | Wed Jun 2, 2010 9:16am EDT Reuters 2.; Why Is Israel’s Blockade of Gaza Legal? (Updated) by Kevin Jon Heller I know that will sound like a provocative question, but it’s not meant to be. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel justifies its interdiction of the “Freedom Flotilla” by reference to Article 67(a) of the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflict at Sea, which permits the attack of neutral merchant vessels that “are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.” The interdiction thus depends on the legality of the blockade of Gaza — and I am genuinely confused as to why that blockade is legal. The Jerusalem Post says the Israeli government is arguing that “Israel was in a state of armed conflict with Gaza and therefore entitled by international law to blockade Gaza.” But that defense ignores a critical question: what kind of armed conflict? If the conflict between Israel and Hamas is an international armed conflict (IAC), there is no question that Israel has the right to blockade Gaza. (Which is not to say that the manner in which Israel is blockading Gaza is legal. That’s a different question.) The 1909 Declaration Concerning the Laws of Naval War (the London Declaration), the first international instrument to acknowledge the legality of blockades, specifically recognized the right of belligerents to blockade their enemy during time of war. Article 97 of the San Remo Manual does likewise. And there is certainly no shortage of state practice supporting the legitimacy of blockades during IAC (the US blockade of Cuba, for example).
Israel would be breaking international law if it would allow unchecked cargo to be shiped to a terrorists organization.
I've heard Dror Feiler on the radio before the 1st flotilla. In the most sweet voice he swore that there will be no violence and all they want is peace. It turned out that the flotilla consisted of armed islamic terrorisst on one hand and some European collaborators that declared openly on radio (I heard it live) that their goals are: 1. To help Arabs to kill Americans like in 9/11 2. To get Jews back to Aushwitz So this is as much credibility that one can attribiute to Dror Feiler. I suggest that no one has any illusions about the real goals this time.
Perhaps the radio to which you were listening was tuned to another planet, and not the one on which most normal listeners reside.
He would have sufficed with "Israel Has No Rights
By what law do these people have the 'right' to reach Gaza? If Gaza is occupied territory then Israel is allowed to take measures to ensure its security. If Gaza is free territory then it hosts a hostile government to Israel that attacks it militarily and Israel can legitimately blockade it. So, by what law do you assign these 'rights' of yours?
Gotta love the inescapable connection between Hermann Goering and today's flotilla militants -- both out to harm Jews for no good reason. There is no need for flotillas -- no one falls for the "humanitarian crisis" claims any more, and there are many legal ways to supply Gaza with virtually anything -- except weapons capable of powerful destruction.
Apart from the fact that no-one is out to harm anyone but is instead seeking to prevent harm to the imprisoned Palestinians, this has nothing to do with Jews as I am sure many followers of the religion who are citizens of other nations will inform you. This is about Israelis... it is about a nation, not a religion.
There are striking similarities between the Nazi rocket bombings of British civilians and the Hamas rocket bombing of Israeli civilians.
These people are looking for a confrontation with Israel, that is what they care about and want.
I see you are wise only when answering your own questions
Also, if you remember the only people killed in the flotilla were those on the Mavi Marmara that attacked soldiers.
a blocade is an act of war and so is breaking a blocade. If you attempt to break a blocade this means that you joined one side of the war as a soldier - this means that it is legit to defend against you in the same way as defending against any other Hamas or Al Kaida terrorist.
crude and tasteless parallel between a boat with jewish survivors in 1945 and today's provocative, politically motivated flotillas heading to gaza. since there is obviously no humanitarian crisis in gaza and israel permits good transport to gaza by land , these flotillas are becoming sports to the leftists wannabe-humanitarians and islamists who gladly mingle among them. when will they send off a flotilla to lybia, where people really find themselves in a humanitarian crisis? oh wait, thats a bit too dangerous and won't attract so much publicity..
israel has a legally declared blockade on gaza. those who want to give goods to the civilian population of gaza can easily do so by sending the goods through israel or egypt. cement will not be allowed in since it is used for military purposes by hamas terrorists. any attempt to break the blockade will be stopped by israel.
Internationally Gaza is only important when there's nothing else in the news