The Gross Nature of Israel's Violations

June 2009 in Gaza marked two years since the beginning of a blockade of basic goods and six months since the end of one of Israel's most gruesome military onslaughts. The territory, already under occupation and on the steady road towards de-development even before the pummeling strikes of "Operation Cast Lead," could have used the help of the international donor and political community to end the siege and reverse the tragic trajectory of regression. Instead, last week the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that six-months after the conclusion of "Operation Cast Lead," the inhabitants of Gaza were being "prevented from rebuilding their lives." Among the goods prevented from reaching the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza are painkillers, x-ray films, water and cement. The ICRC reports that the Palestinian economy has "nearly collapsed."

The purpose of international humanitarian law is to protect civilians from harm during war. States, like humans, have rights, and among those rights is the right to use force to defend one's national integrity and citizens. That right is circumscribed by the concern for civilians and enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. The entire humanitarian law regime is built on the consensus that civilians should be protected from harm during warfare. And Common Article 3 of the Conventions extends the regime's applicability in those cases where non-state actors wage war. Therefore it is especially frightening that rather than rehabilitate civil society in the aftermath of a horrific offensive that killed 1,400 civilians, including 313 children, Israel is prohibiting the entry of the materials necessary for its reconstruction.

While blockades are not new to the international legal order, think to the decade-long US-imposed sanctions on Iraq or the 49-year US-imposed embargo on Cuba, the blockade of Gaza is unique for including the prohibition of basic goods, being applied against an occupied nation, and persisting in spite of a military attack that left 14,000 homes, 240 schools, and 219 factories destroyed. In Gaza, the otherwise sterile moniker, 'blockade,' amounts to a policy of starvation.

International humanitarian organizations concur. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Relief Works Agency describe the situation in Gaza where 86% of the population is dependent on food aid for survival, as a 'humanitarian catastrophe.'

Israel rejects responsibility for this catastrophe and places the blame at Hamas's feet. The largest nuclear power in the Middle East suggests that if Hamas acquiesces to its political demands or step down all together, then it will lift the blockade. However, humanitarian needs are non-derogable rights and cannot be compromised for political reasons--this principle is epitomized in the unequivocal and global condemnation of terrorism--under no circumstances can Israel manipulate access to clean water, electricity and medicine, to achieve its political goals. The stage of politics is readily available to them for that number.

Israeli citizens, like their Government, have also equated their violation of humanitarian law to a political practice. In a protest against the three-year captivity of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas militants during a 2006 cross-border operation, on June 23rd hundreds of Israelis blocked the passage of basic goods into Gaza. Unaware of the distinction between the freedom of speech and the prohibition on collective punishment, one Israeli protester explained, "We want to stop the supplies, outside of the necessary medical supplies from getting in so that they understand the plight of Gilad Shalit and that he has been denied such human rights for three years." Ironically, Palestinian familiarity with Shalit's plight well predates the imposition of the two-year old blockade on Gaza.

Unfortunately, neither the Israeli government nor the international community dispersed this protest and insisted on the flow of humanitarian aid to a captive population. Instead, dozens of trucks filled with goods necessary to survival in Gaza lined up at the Kerem Shalom crossing for three hours until the Israeli protesters voluntarily dispersed. The luxury of upholding the right to free speech and assembly at the expense of the right to food and shelter belongs to liberal democracies alone.

Bereft of its moral or legal voice, the international community has made its coffers readily available to the Palestinians in Gaza. In early March the international donor community pledge $4.8 billion in aid for Gaza. However, their generosity is hollow absent the political will necessary to secure access of reconstruction materials into Gaza.

Aid pledged to Gaza today is like promising forty acres and a mule to still captive slaves--generosity abounds in such scenarios.

Frustrated by the ineptitude of nation-states, activists spanning the globe initiated the Free Gaza Movement, a sea-based effort seeking to challenge the siege through civil resistance and non-violent direct action by sailing boats filled with humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza. The Movement sent off its eighth boat, the Spirit of Humanity, on June 25th. On June 30th, while still in international waters, eight Israeli naval gunships attacked the Spirit of Humanity, arrested twenty-one of its passengers, incarcerated them in Israeli prisons, and initiated deportation proceedings against them for 'trespassing.' Among the prisoners, dubbed the 'Gaza 21,' are Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire and African-American former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

McKinney and Maguire are not the only international figures directly challenging the siege. On the Fourth of July, the British Parliamentarian, George Galloway, led his second convoy of humanitarian aid and people to Gaza from the United States. Fearing that the significance of their departure date may be lost on some, Ron Kovic, the Vietnam War Vet on whom Oliver Stone based his film, Born on the Fourth of July, is co-leading the convoy.

From the US, to the UK, Ireland, Bahrain, Cyprus, Austria, Jamaica, and Scotland, global civil society is rising to fill the gap left by their national representatives. Their efforts have not sufficiently inspired, nor embarrassed for that matter, a single nation-state to send its own convoy but they have surely reified the principles underscoring international humanitarian law. Their personal sacrifice is the preservation of the spirit of humanity. The ending of the blockade on Gaza will be its salvation.

Comments

[subee2]

I do not know where you get your info from , but try a little truth here and there.
Israel is clearly the victim in all of this. I know I have been there and KNOW what is going on.
Try Hamas as the ones preventing the people in Gaza from getting aid and helping their economy.
Before Israel was so brutely forced out of Gaza they were raising crops and flowers and were one of the big exporters of produce from Israel. Everything was left in place and the Arabs had bussinesses they could have walked into and continued, but what did they do???? They burned it all and bulldozed it. They want the World to think they have been wronged, but they are the ones who did wrong.
Is Israel 100% right, no, but they have not done the atrosities they have been blamed for doing.
Israel has every right in the World to defend itself and do what ever it takes. Get a grip and look at facts, true facts. Not "facts" run through an Muslim viewpoint. (hate)

[alexa07]

Sorry, Israel has already lost the PR war with the international community. Everyone was watching on the international satellite networks how the IDF was beating up & killing Palestinian families in their own homes. Yes, the MSM in the USA did what it could to bury or whitewash the actions of the IDF, but many Americans were able to access events by watching European & other international news online or via satellites. The good old days of commanding the message are gone for the Israelis. The world doesn't like what it sees.

[alexa07]

"On the Fourth of July, the British Parliamentarian, George Galloway, led his second convoy of humanitarian aid and people to Gaza from the United States. Fearing that the significance of their departure date may be lost on some, Ron Kovic, the Vietnam War Vet on whom Oliver Stone based his film, Born on the Fourth of July, is co-leading the convoy.
From the US, to the UK, Ireland, Bahrain, Cyprus, Austria, Jamaica, and Scotland, global civil society is rising to fill the gap left by their national representatives."

Thank you, Noura for helping to publish information concerning the Galloway expedition.
Bravo to George Galloway, Ron Kovic, the contingent of religious leaders & many other heroes who are currently in Egypt & will be going through the Rafa crossing to Gaza with medical supplies! Last night on one the Egyptian satellite networks (Dream), Mona Elshazly conducted a very inspiring interview of George Galloway in which he strongly condemned the abusive treatment of Palestinian families by the Israel govt. This man is a true humanitarian, very articulate & persuasive in his views. He has attracted widespread attention around the world, but is only known to Americans who view Amy Goodman or Laura Flanders or other alternative media as there is a huge effort in our corporate media to bury this story. Noura, the detractors, sour grapes et al won't like your legalistic views of the Gaza blockage, but please keep up the good work.

[greatscot]

By refusing to roll over for the Israeli propaganda machine, we posters are keeping alive the knowledge of the INITIAL CRIME by Israelis , against Palestinians in 1948. That's when the history of the Israeli ethnic cleansing began. Do we expect to change many Israeli minds? No, though it would be nice if we did have some impact. If Israel continues on it's present path it is doomed, long term, and many,many Israelis know that, and are trying to change their government's policies. Eventually, the power balance will change, and the Israelis will be forced to give up the land they have stolen. It would be nice if Israel remained in its own parcel of land that was partitioned to it in 1948, but that will by no means be a certainty. When the day comes for that justifiable retribution, it needs to be remembered why. By constantly reminding readers of the INITIAL CRIME we are helping achieve ultimate justice for the Palestinians.

[myopinion2]

The international community, including the US and the EU, have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, a little detail the columnist conveniently ignores. When Hamas ends its terrorist activities the people of Gaza no longer will suffer because of Hamas. It is easy for the colmnist to condemn Israel's actions against terrorism. If she was a potential victim of terrorism, I bet her attitude would be diametrically different. It's all a question of whose ox is being gored.

Moreover, Gazans are not starving, and are not without medical supplies. Are they suffering? Yes. should Israel ease the blockade to some extent. Perhaps. But the "activists" seeking to run the blockade do so only because they know they cabn rely on Israel's civility. If they undertook direct action in China in support of the Tibetans they would wind up in prison for a lengthy stay.

[GeoffMenendez]

"When Hamas ends its terrorist activities the people of Gaza no longer will suffer because of Hamas"

Right. Israel would find some other reason to make them suffer.

"But the 'activists' seeking to run the blockade do so only because they know they cabn rely on Israel's civility."

No, they do so because they recognize the evil in how Israel is treating the Gazans. And burning children to death with white phosphorus and using human shields in no "civil" in any stretch of the imagination. Maybe if Israel treated the native Palestinians the way they treat foreign activists, they would not have this "terrorism" to worry about.

[greatscot]

An occupied nation has a legal right to resist its occupiers. Using the logic of myopinion2, the French, Yugoslav and Soviet resistance would all have been terrorists.

[MFPhoto]

Occupation? Israel totally pulled out of Gaza. The rocket attacks against Israel soon followed. Your argument is empty.

[greatscot]

Anytime peace looks likely the Israelis start a shooting war, or create some provocation with the Palestinians. It's happened time and again! Israelis want the land, and they'll string the west along pretending they want peace as long as years pass and they can cement their position creating "facts on the ground". The U.S. and Europe need to (1) halt any trade with Israel through sanctions. (2) stop any financial transactions with Israel (3) Halt all aid, private and public (4) Halt all international travel by Israeli passport holders (including those holding dual citizenship anywhere else) and (5) restrict internet, scientific and cultural exchanges. You'd be surprised how quickly Israel would come to the bargaining table to talk turkey, rather than make fools of the West as they have been doing, if the above policies were enacted!

[Ben Dixon]

Here is a thought, maybe after decades of watching the people of Gaza poke Isreal in the eye with a stick the world is tired of it and things the people of Gaza are getting what they deserve.

[GeoffMenendez]

Or, perhaps after seeing Israel's hobnail boot coming down on the Palestinian face for what seems like forever, the world is tiring of Israel and think that they are getting what they deserve. Or at least, they are responsible for what they get.

[Joseph D]

Terrible article. Close-minded deliberate ignorance of the truth and history. You complain about a blockade but can't dig deep enough to ask why it is there? Since 1948 the Israelis have been trying to live in peace with its neighbors, and now (and always) that the arabs aren't productive enough to put up a tiny bit of a fight everybody thinks the Israelis are the bad guys? If mexican drug lords were firing missiles into texas, how do you think the US would respond? You can't hate on one side just because they have a superior military and society, place the blame where it ought to be placed, on the people that call for war and the destruction of Israel. It's funny how, everybody is now talking about the settlements like they are the main roadblock to peace...has anyone asked any palestinian authority leader if they would accept a jewish state? Palestinians shouldn't get a state until every arab leader (including ahmadinejad) accepts the Jewish state.

[greatscot]

Since 1948 Israel has been trying to steal its neighbors' land. Let's call a spade a spade. Israeli propaganda notwithstanding, most of the world outside the United States realizes this. Even Israelis know the truth, and many of them oppose the ethnic cleansing that has been ongoing for 61 years.

[shotei]

What is Hamas' responsibility here? Israel withdrew from Gaza and all Palestinians had to do was get busy with their lives and trying to develop their own society. Hamas, however, chose the opposite. Instead of bolstering Palestinian's development and also strengthening Israel's Left by engaging in dialogue, they immediately started showering Israel with rockets. Everything that came to Gaza went through Hamas, that coveniently kept its fair share of supplies and money. That is why there is a blockade.
The minute Hamas drop its aggressive, suicidal objectives, they will find a willing partner. Jordan and Egypt have made that decision and Israel immediately responded positively.

[GeoffMenendez]

Get on with their lives? They can't; Israel is blocking their ability to do so. Maybe if they ended the blockade and stopped acting like barbarians, the Palestinians wouldn't feel the need to defend themselves, as they've been forced to do for decades.

[pomegrante]

courtb, she IS an african american. an african american that is fearless and truly fights for injustice among ALL people.

[courtb]

So...in articles mentioning Obama, do they preface it with African American President Obama?

No....so why use it now?

[pomegrante]

told you yesterday professor about the other professor (see previous post), he's back.

please keep up the excellent blogs on the inhumane treatment of the pals.

[GeoffMenendez]

"[H]umanitarian needs are non-derogable rights and cannot be compromised for political reasons..."

And that's really the crux of it. Israel viciously uses the lives of the innocent people of Gaza as political pawns. Disgusting, immoral and illegal. Of course, Israel and the Yishuv before it, neither have now nor ever had any respect whatsoever for the human rights of its victims. When they treat others like this, they have absolutely no grounds to complain when someone fights back. They have the nerve to complain about homemade rockets which are hardly more than fireworks when they do stuff like this...

[courtb]

Everyone uses the Palestinians as political pawns. That is all they are in the Arab world.

[GeoffMenendez]

And that is a problem. But that doesn't excuse Israel's actions.

[arvay]

Israelis have a different view of the worth of their people vs. the rest of us.

The bombing of Lebanon in 2006 which killed over a thousand people was undertaken because Hizbollah attacked a jeep, killing some IDF soldiers and capturing two. And Israel still refers to the capture of its two armed combatants as a "kidnapping." You know, how the US kidnapped hundreds of thousands of Wehrmacht personnel during WWII.

Shocking.

So, even though Israel actually broke the truce, it swept into Gaza, killing and destroying much of the place, and now refuses to allow it to be rebuilt. Supposedly to stop those pathetic rockets -- even though it's clear it has the technology to respond with pinpoint accuracy to these kinds of attacks.

But since it considers the Gazans untermenschen, no matter, who cares? Let them eat rubble.

[myopinion2]

You forget to mention that Hezballh killed the two soldiers it "kidnapped", and that it kidnapped them not in battle, but for the intended purpose of exacting ransom. If al quada "kidnapped" two americans, one of whom was your brother, and demanded the release of all of the al quadan prisoners, I bet you would sing a different tune.

[myopinion2]

American soldiers captured German soldiers because they were at war. If hezballah and Israel were at war, why are you complaing that Israel bombed lebanon, just like the US and England bombed Germany.

[pkafin]

Your historical blindness is astounding. Hezbullah killed and kidnapped Israeli soldiers and fired rockets across the border before Israel responded at all. Then, in the ensuing 30 days, Hezbullah fired over 10,000 rockets across an internationally certified border into Israel, many of them into Israeli civilian population centers.

It has nothing to do with what you perceive to be Israeli's sense of their worth relative to that of others. It has to do with not tolerating missiles being rained down upon ones country. Why did you forget to mention those 10,000+ missiles that Hezbullah fired?

[courtb]

Is the author refusing to place any blame on Hamas whatsoever?

Also, why was there the need to place "African-American" in front of Cynthia McKinney's name?

[JerryLevy]

Good question. The idea behind putting a "racial" bent on this is to try and stir up emotions and see if they can generate anger on the part of people who see everything in racial, gender or religious terms. This author is an advocate, factual reporting is not her intent.

[arvay]

Yeah, that's probably why she wrote "Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire" -- a blatant attempt to rile all those Irish nationalists and turn them against israel!

[Freenation]

you mean like Dershowitz's article yesterday...no facts just wash-out....

[longtimegone]

Your last line is true of you as well. Israel doesn't see things in racial and religious terms?

[judithvirginia]

As a Jewish American, I cannot ignore the Palestinians plight.. But the comments to flaunt the decrepit situation where residents are abandonned as much by their own current and past leaders as theIisraelis.. This is, unfortunately, the typical response of many of my own liberal camp. But once you're more deeply touched by the issue at hand, as our family was when my brother was murdered while on his bicycle, cycling back from the citrus groves in his kibbutz near Lebanon in August 2006, you must continue to observe this picture from all sides.

'll uphold the Gazans right to the support of human rights conventions as their leaders must also support the human and humanitarian rights of the Israelis--each one. Hamas' convenant that in the first part promotes and declares their hopeful destruction of the state of Israel should also be on the author's lips as a necessary violation and something that should already be in the dustbin of history...

I'm waiting until a boat with supplies also arrives with the transcript of a humanitarian covenant for Hamas to sign that will alter the protective status of their citizens, if, in fact, they mean to protect them and help them live. Otherwise, they too continue to use and abuse them as pawns. When a scholar misses that fact, we must remind her. She has the eloquence necessary to make and hopefully remake the humanitarian case by including all the facts on the ground and in the documents.

[arvay]

Translation: despite my liberal pretensions, I support this cruel and illegal blockade, until these people do what I want. Someone else killed my brother, so you can't blame me.

[jagahost]

Great article. Israel needs to stop treating Palestinians as people with no rights and no hope for any better future.

[DrZookzook]

Noura Erakat obviously lacks any study of the history of the area either current or historic. Up until 1967 Gaza was administered and ruled by the Egyptians who couldn't care about the Gazans one bit. Prior to then it was the British and before that it was the Byzantine Empire. Many families like Abbas's moved into Palestine in the early part of the twentieth century because of the opportunities brought forth by the Jews who were buying back their land and reestablishing their homeland starting back in the mid nineteenth century. Tel Aviv did not exist until the 1909 and just celebrated its 100th birthday. While one can feel for the distress of the Gazans and West Bank people; however, one cannot feel too badly as they have been offered what they wanted and have turned their backs on the opportunity many times. How badly is Israel treating the people: they supply most of the electricity, oil and gas. Gazans who have medical issues too great for the local hospitals are treated in Israeli facilities. Let the Gazans take responsibility for their plight. Let them throw out the terrorists who bring the retribution of the IDF upon them. Then they will be able to live long and peaceful lives.

[arvay]

This is a good example of Zionist arrogance.

We will continue to violate international norms and collectively punish these people until they renounce the leadership they democratically elected and submit to our de fact rule.

Plus the usual mantra of Jewish racial and social superiority. . . .

Israel is the terrorist here, supported by American money and arms.

Our own government is also occupied by the Israel lobby, which browbeats and bribes our "representatives."

Time for the world yo revoke UN resolution 181 and declare this criminal state null and void.

[shotei]

Hamas are angels, right arvay?

[greatscot]

In 1947, during the British Mandate in Palestine, Jewish Irgun terrorists led by Manachim Begin kidnapped 3 off-duty RAF men and hung them in an orange grove outside Jaffa. Did Britain bomb Jewish areas mercilessly for that act. Did the RAF kill 1600 Jews (including 0ver 800 children)? No, the Palestine CID investigated the act as a crime, but failed to arrest the perpetrators. Case closed. Years later, Manachim Begin admitted he ordered the killings. He was later elected Prime Minister of Israel, when what he actually deserved was a noose. Successive recent Israeli governments have been led by blood-soaked monsters.

[JerryLevy]

How do you write an article on the Gaza blockade without saying why there is a blockade in the first place? It's like talking about the Israeli security barrier (the wall) and failing to mention the suicide terrorism that caused Israel to build it. Why would Israel blockade Gaza? Simple, after they unilaterally ended the "occupation" and withdrew completely out of Gaza leaving behind farms (that were later destroyed by the Palestinians themselves) and factories, the Palestinians did not chose to govern themselves and start building any kind of civilized society. Instead they started importing illegal arms and explosives to fight Israel. They were caught hundreds of times building tunnels and importing guns and arms financed by Iran. These came in the form of materials used to build the katusha rockets that rained down on Israel daily (without cause). Israel's blockade does not include items that are needed for humanitarian purposes but does include materials used to kill civilians in terrorist attacks. When do the Palestinians stop being the victims and start doing something productive instead of always making themselves and others miserable. This is what hate has done to an entire society.

[joe107]

this is a terrible piece. she dosent mention once the rockets fires into israel from gaza, or the suicide bombers sent from gaza. israel dosent want this blockade, they need it

[Darwin256]

Starving the innocent so they will control their own militants is a stupid strategy.

Israel's record of provocations after cease fires should put to rest any idea that peace is all Israeli politicians want.

[GeoffMenendez]

Baloney. Israel covets the land, and the gas resources, and are trying to make life so bad that it forces the people out.

[jagahost]

If this was true that Palestinians in Gaza have so much weapons why during the conflict only ~10 Israeli people died versus 1200 Palestinians????
Do you think that it is justifiable to kill and starve the nation and to keep the nation hungry and without books and education only so that the other nation can be happy?

Is a life of 10 Israeli worth as much as a life of thousands of Palestinians - including women and children (which you may call "future terrorists"?

[BrettBorders]

Jagahost,

It doesn't matter the numbers. If you mess with Israel, America, China, the UK or any other powerful state - they will take action to prevent you from rocketing and terrorizing them again.

Look at the number of full-fledged wars and "war crimes" America created after the terror attacks on 9/11.

What Israel has done to defend itself is extremely moral and moderate in comparison.

[Darwin256]

For BrettBorders

It is very easy to turn your statements around, as Palestinians rightfully do.

Palestinians are getting rained on by Israeli bombs, kidnapped ("arrested"), and thrown into secret prisons where they are tortured.

A tit-for-tat argument that keeps the violence going on both sides.