Gaza, human solidarity to shake consciences

Tomorrow, Monday, July 30, 2018, a new flotilla of freedom will arrive on the outskirts of Gaza. Will it arrive safely, or will it be the victim of a new act of piracy by the Israeli authorities? International solidarity with the Palestinians does not falter.

By Dr. Salem Sahli *

Since June 2007, in almost total indifference, an Israeli blockade has strangled the Gaza Strip. Israel has unilaterally decided to make this strip of land – 40 km long by 9.5 km wide and inhabited by nearly a million and a half people – a "hostile entity."

Similarly, the United States and Europe did not seem to be moved when the Israeli army launched three wars on Gaza in less than six years: Operation Cast Lead 2008, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 and the Operation Protective Edge in 2014. These attacks resulted in the death of thousands of civilians, more than 20% of them children, and destroyed much of the infrastructure of the narrow territory.

The Freedom Flotilla

However, in 2010, it seemed to us that the lines were beginning to move a little, and that with the bloody boarding of the humanitarian flotilla on May 31, 2010, the world was rediscovering the misfortune of Palestinians and seemed to look again at the fate of a defenseless population locked up in the open. On that day, the Israeli army killed nine Turkish peace activists who were trying with others to carry food, medical badistance and support to the Palestinian populations.

Other fleets have attempted to break the blockade imposed on Gaza. They were all attacked and boarded in international waters by the Israeli navy. The boats are stolen, the crews and participants kidnapped, brought by force to Israel before being expelled.

An umpteenth flotilla, the Flotilla of Freedom left two months ago Northern Europe by making several stops in many countries, including four in France, to regroup in the Mediterranean before sailing to Palestinian waters. It will be at the gates of Gaza on Monday, July 30, 2018. Will it arrive safely, or will it be the victim of a new act of piracy by the Israeli authorities? We will see.

Flotilla participants and crews bring medicine to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but above all carry a message of human solidarity against the military violence and blockade inflicted on Gaza for 11 years. 19659007] Let's talk about the blockade of Gaza?

In Gaza, the Israeli strategy is relentless. Barely kept afloat, 80% of Gazans live on humanitarian aid. They receive just enough to not starve. "Neither prosperity, nor development, nor humanitarian crisis" . These are the instructions. Cynicism and the Grotesque …

Every week, the Israeli military authority in charge of the occupied territories meets to determine what food is allowed to enter Gaza. Ok for apple or banana, niet for "luxury" products such as apricot, grape and avocado. A year ago, pumpkin and carrot appeared on the stalls of fruit and vegetable sellers, but cherry, kiwi, green almond, pomegranate remained banned.

A few months ago, Israel and its usual hardliners boasted of the easing of the blockade of Gaza. Indeed, the Hebrew State had then allowed sodas, fruit juice, jam, spices, shaving cream, biscuits, french fries and especially chocolate. Strategic is not it? Perhaps we should thank them.

We know that the paths to awareness are long and sinuous. But the tragedies endured by the Palestinians in Gaza have so shaken the conscience that large sectors of international public opinion now express their rejection of the everlasting and hypocritical reaction to Israel's crimes. This time we will not be able to replay them the comedy of indignation, protest or the request for an inquiry. It does not take anymore.

* President of the Association of environmental education of Hammamet.

Articles by the same author in Kapitalis:

Hammamet: No to the Privatization of the Yasmina Space!

In the Waiting for the Elections: The Municipal Action, the Cape and the Compbad

Alternative Tourism in Tunisia, a Slogan We Gargle on