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:: Issues > Eye on IOF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Pirates in the Mediterranean: Israel’s shameful justification for murdering peace activists
Neve Gordon considers the flaws and contradictions in Israel’s justification for attacking the Gaza-bound international aid flotilla and murdering innocent peace activists on board.
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Thursday, June 3,2010 12:25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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“Why didn’t they greet us with muffins and orange juice?” was my friend’s facetious question after listening all morning to the Israeli media’s coverage of the assault on the relief flotilla heading for Gaza, the navy assault that left nine citizens dead and many more wounded. Like a group of pirates in the Mediterranean, the Israeli navy attacked humanitarian aid ships in international waters, and yet Israeli officials and commentators were totally surprised when the passengers did not receive them with open arms. Going through the talkbacks on news sites, it seems that most Jews in Israel were also taken aback.
Israel has to decide once and for all whether or not it withdrew from Gaza in August 2005. If it did and Gaza is an autonomous entity as Israel claims, then the attempt on the part of these humanitarian ships to reach the Gaza sea port is not an infringement on Israeli sovereignty. If, on the other hand, Israel considers the flotilla’s entrance into Gaza’s territorial sea line as a violation of its own sovereign borders, then Israel needs to admit that it has never given up its sovereignty over Gaza. Lieberman’s statement discloses, in other words, that Israel has fashioned itself as a unique creature in the international arena: the non-sovereign sovereign. When it suits its interests, the government claims that it has relinquished sovereignty over Gaza, but when it does not, the government reasserts its sovereignty. Lieberman should keep in mind that with sovereignty comes responsibility. Thus, if Israel was indeed defending its borders yesterday morning then as sovereign, Israel is also responsible for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip – for their livelihood as well as their security. Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation. He can be contacted through his website, www.israelsoccupation.info. A version of this article originally appeared in The Nation. The version on this website is published by permission of Neve Gordon. Source: Redress Information & Analysis (http://www.redress.cc). Material published on Redress may be republished with full attribution to Redress Information & Analysis (http://www.redress.cc) |
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tags: Gaza / Freedom Flotilla / Siege on Gaza / Palestinian People / IOA / IOF / Israeli Media / International Waters / Lieberman /
Posted in Eye on IOF , Palestine |
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