Though this would hardly be earth-shattering news in any other coastal area, it is hoped that this time Israel will blink, and not scuttle this modest attempt to help beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza stand on their own feet. "Israel always claimed that the blockade was meant to prevent the smuggling of illegal weapons into Gaza. In that case, it should have no problem with a boat leaving the Gaza Strip," said Mahfouz Kabariti, head of Gaza's fishing and marine sport association.
Efforts
to end the siege really got underway following Israel's 22-day assault
on Gaza in 2008--2009, first trying to reach Gaza from the Rafah crossing
with Egypt in December 2009, on the Gaza Freedom March. This failed,
but led to the Freedom Flotilla in May 2010, which held the world in
thrall, as Israeli commandos dropped from helicopters, killing nine
Turkish activists, arresting the others, and seizing the boats and cargo
of food and medicine.
Three years later, the siege continues and
the movement against it is stronger than ever, the focus now Gaza's
Ark. This time, it is not internationals trying to bring aid to Gaza,
but internationals helping Palestinians export their products -- breaking
the siege, but in reverse. Gazans, with a modicum of international
assistance, are at this moment converting the old fishing boat into a
cargo vessel using Gaza's meagre resources. Later this year, a crew of
internationals and Palestinians will sail it out of Gaza -- the only
Mediterranean port closed to shipping -- carrying Palestinian products
destined for international buyers, in the process, breaking through the
Israeli blockade.
Though it is paying wages to boat builders and
providing business opportunities to traders, Gaza's Ark is not an aid
project, but an attempt to support Palestinians' right to fish and
operate in their territorial waters, where at present they are hounded,
stripped, robbed and killed by Israeli patrols, intent on forcing them
to give up and leave their homeland. Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights
notes that "it is common for the [Israeli] navy to open fire on
fishermen, pursue them in Gazan waters, and destroy and confiscate their
equipment, including their nets and boats. Such acts constitute
flagrant violations of Israel's legal obligations as an occupying power
under international law, and violate the fishermen's rights to life and
work." Almost all fishing has ceased under the blockade. Even a mile
from shore, Israelis have killed Gazan fishermen for sport.
Prior
to the imposition of the blockade, Gaza had a healthy export market,
including garments, furniture and agricultural products. Gazans are
renowned for craft items such as embroidery. Since 2007, there has been a
near total ban on exports, 85% of which went to the West Bank and
Israel. Goods are only allowed in and out of Gaza through one, severely
limited gate on its border with Israel; its airport is no longer
functioning and cannot be rebuilt; and for the past seven years, all
ships were banned beyond three nautical miles from the Gaza shore.
Thanks to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement signed in November
2012, Gaza fishermen were allowed to venture six miles out from shore,
still drastically short of the 20 miles allocated in the 1993 Oslo
Accords. Even that agreement is often violated by the Israeli navy.
Sadly,
the allowed area has done little to improve the fishermen's intake as
most fish are more than ten miles from the shore. The restrictions have
converted a once-productive economy into a dependent society where 80%
of the people rely on UN handouts to live. National governments and
international organizations have refused to hold Israel accountable. It
is up to civil society to take action on its own. Hence Gaza's Ark.
Organizers
hail from Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia, and
supporters include Noam Chomsky, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
six Nobel peace laureates, British, Australian and Canadian former and
current members of parliament, two former UN assistant secretaries
general, and Hedy Epstein and Suzanne Weiss, both Holocaust survivors.
The allusion to Noah's Ark is to "build a revitalized feeling of hope
for a better future among Gaza's people, a safe one." Their fervent hope
is to waken the international community to the plight of the 1.6
million people in Gaza, to make sure that, "No more flotillas will be
necessary because the Israeli blockade of Gaza will end and the economy
of Gaza can once again flourish."
The action is intended to raise
consciousness not just among the committed, but among businesses who
believe in free and fair trade. Organizers are securing orders for
Palestinian products -- date products, embroidery, crafts from the
Atfaluna society for Deaf Children -- from international businesses and
individual buyers. "All Palestinian producers will be paid in full for
their goods before we sail. All purchasers will do so knowing that there
is real risk that the goods will be confiscated by the Israeli
military, and thus perhaps will not reach their markets. However, the
risk will be worth the relationships they will build and the visibility
the project will generate."
Organizers insist that helping Gazans
earn their own livelihood is what is needed, not just more handouts.
Said Canadian organizer David Heap, a linguistics professor at the
University of Western Ontario, "Aid is only a palliative remedy and does
not address the root cause of why the Palestinians of Gaza are in need:
the Israeli blockade. We believe that aid provides a cover for the
Israeli occupation, alleviating the consciences of international powers
while leaving the blockade in place."
Even as Gaza's Ark is
preparing to bring Palestinians a lifeline, the fight to bring Israel to
account for killing activists in 2010 received a boost when Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to his Turkish counterpart
Tayyip Erdogan in March, promising compensation to the bereaved and
agreeing to ease a six-year blockade on Gaza.
There is no
evidence that the blockade is easing, however, so the Israeli crocodile
tears have not dampened the anger of activists. There are legal
proceedings in Turkey and elsewhere, including the International
Criminal Court, demanding that the Israelis who killed the activists be
identified and brought to justice. An Istanbul court is hearing charges
against four of Israel's most senior retired commanders, including the
ex-army chief, which could lead to life sentences. Ahmet Varol, a
journalist who was on the Mavi Marmara, said Israel must provide a
timetable for ending the blockade of Gaza, and suggested Turkey could
monitor the process. "Our efforts are for the full lifting of the
blockade. While an apology may have diplomatic meaning, it means nothing
to the victims," he said. Musa Cogas was shot in the shoulder by
Israeli marines and his friend of 30 years, Cengiz Songur, was killed in
the raid. "Unless these soldiers are punished and the blockade is
lifted " we won't accept compensation."
The Canadian and Irish
boats, the Tahrir and Saoirse, repeated their trip as Freedom Waves in
November 2011, and were of course seized by Israel. This time their
boats weren't returned. Heap, who was on board the Tahrir both in May
2010 and November 2011, told Al-Ahram Weekly: It is important to demand
justice from Canadian authorities, although we know that the Harper
government supports Israel's crimes unconditionally. Israel can steal
our boats, as they steal Palestinian boats all the time with impunity,
but Freedom Flotilla Coalition will keep challenging the blockade until
Palestinians win full freedom of movement.
In June 2012, the
Canadian Boat to Gaza steering committee officially requested the return
of the Tahrir and its cargo. A year later, Israel still hasn't
responded. The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade washed its hands of the intrepid sailors, stating that they
consider it a "private matter".
As Canada's Conservatives
continue to ignore the plight of the Palestinians, Canadians continue to
react. Shamed by the government's support for Israel's invasion of Gaza
in 2008 and its litany of crimes since, last October Canadian retired
New Democrat Jim Manly, a former United Church minister, frail at 79
after two heart bypass operations, nonetheless joined 30 people from
eight countries, including Israeli activists, abroad the most recent
boat to attempt to break the blockade, the Swedish registered Estelle,
last October, and spent three days in an Israeli prison for his
troubles. (The Estelle was also stolen by the Israelis.) Upon his return
he vowed: "We will continue our efforts until the siege has been broken
and the Palestinian peoples can once again live with freedom and
dignity."
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/10/308212/made-in-gaza-breaking-the-siege/
