The killing of unarmed civilians was devastating news to us all. They were not terrorists--they were human beings. Like me, they believed that Gaza should no longer be a place of suffering and isolation for its inhabitants.
And like me, and all of the other activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, they believed in peace.
In the 1970s people told me that peace would not come to Northern Ireland, just as they now tell me that peace is not possible in Israel and Palestine. I lost my niece and two nephews and my sister to the violence in Ireland, and it breaks my heart to see the same fate fall upon so many Israeli and Palestinian families. I have hope and believe that peace will come to Palestine and Israel because I have met so many people there on the ground working to make it happen.
And, just as it brought peace to Northern Ireland, nonviolent resistance will bring peace to this war torn region. That is why I keep coming back to Gaza, much to the Israeli government's dismay. The last time I attempted to deliver humanitarian aid, in June 2009, I was detained for one week.
On this trip, the world was watching. Many, myself included, believed the tragic events of May 31 would finally open the world's eyes to the even greater tragedy--Israel's collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians. The violations of international law committed by Israel are well documented by the United Nations and many independent human rights bodies.
Even so, the violations continue under the guise of "national security", and a policy of isolating Gaza to weaken Hamas.
It is a policy that clearly is not working. Instead, it has turned Gaza into what has rightly been described as the largest open-air prison in the world. The blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza for the past three years has only punished innocent Palestinians. Lack of access to medical supplies and hospital treatments leads to a loss of life. Bright and eager students are unable to accept spots offered at international universities. Families are unable to rebuild homes destroyed during Israel's crushing assault on Gaza that killed over 1,400 people in the winter of 2008 and 2009.
And Hamas, Israel's intended target and the elected representative of the Palestinian people, grows stronger.
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