What a tragic day...

To say that today has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. Over the past 18 hours or so, the mood of Ramallah has gone from business as usual to rage.

This morning around 4:30 am the Israeli Defense Force killed nine international activists and injured dozens on a ship in international waters while seven soldiers were wounded by activist violence. The convoy of six ships from the Free Gaza Movement was carrying humanitarian aid intended to reach Gaza. These ships were working in defiance of the three-year blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since Hamas took control in 2007.

The Freedom Flotilla came from Turkey carry 10,000 tons of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. As I mentioned in my last post, the situation in Gaza is dire at best, things as simple as coffee, chocolate, and coriander are forbidden to enter what is often called the world’s largest open-air prison. Sunday, the flotilla departed Cyprus to Gaza despite repeated warnings from Israel that their ships would be turned away.

This morning around 4:30 am while still in international waters, the largest of the six ships was stormed by commandos of the Israeli Defense Force. Clashes between some 500 activists aboard the ship and soldiers turned deadly as the situation immediately turned violent. The initiator of the violence still remains unknown. Israel claims that soldiers were met with pipes, knives, guns, and axes as they were lowered onto the ship via helicopter. Their reaction to open live fire was in self-defense.

Organizers of the Free Gaza Movement say that this was not intended to be violent and the images released by the IDF show activists defending themselves from unprovoked live fire shot by the Israeli soldiers. The ships were detained immediately after violence erupted so firsthand accounts from activists are not available. It is expected that passengers on the ship will either be immediately deported or detained for an unknown amount time. It will be only a matter of time before the activists’ side of the story emerges and findings from independent investigations including one by the United Nations will draw more conclusions to how this demonstration turned into a massacre, and perhaps more importantly, on whom the blame will be placed.

The international response overwhelmingly condemns the actions of Israel. Ambassadors in Spain, Greece, and Turkey have all been summoned by the respective governments to give a full explanation of this morning’s event. Demonstrations have been happening across the world at Israeli embassies and consulates. The United States has yet to make any pivotal comments calling the deaths “regretful” and that it reserving judgment until more is known about the circumstances of the raid.

The Israeli government response has been “regretful of the deaths” but supportive of the actions of the commandos. While I personally am still on the fence over who is truly at blame for the catastrophic events of the day, I am appalled by the clear propaganda Israel is using to describe the situation in Gaza and the intentions of Freedom Flotilla.

In a speech by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called the flotilla an “armada of hate and violence of the Hamas terror organization” and that “the organizers are well known for their ties to Global Jihad, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas.”

To me this is a clear abuse of the word terrorism and irresponsibly links the mission of humanitarian aid and terrorism. In my mind, Israel is brainwashing their own citizens into thinking that anyone who sympathizes with the Palestinian cause is a terrorist or involved in terroristic activity. I’ve seen it happen time and time again with friends doing development work in Palestine (much like I am doing here) and being deployed for being a “security threat” despite working with reputable organizations with absolutely no history of terroristic or violent activity.

I do believe that the mission of the Freedom Flotilla was to distribute much needed aid to Gaza, not provide Hamas with weapons to use against Israel. Examples of the aid carried by the flotilla were wheelchairs, food, construction materials, and medicine – all of which are not allowed into Gaza through Israeli channels as Ayalon later mentions.

Israel and the Free Gaza organizations both confirm that Israel did extend a diplomatic hand to distribute the humanitarian aid brought by the Freedom Flotilla. The Free Gaza Movement refused because they knew that very few of their supplies would actually reach the hands of Gazans. After Israel would check the aid and dispose of anything that is not included on the miniscule list of 30 items allowed into Gaza, little would actually be delivered – despite these materials being desperately needed. Israel claims that it would have distributed the humanitarian aid aboard, but in actuality, the state has a very narrow definition of humanitarian aid and considers items like tea, concrete, and wheelchairs to be either luxuries or items used to assist terrorism.

Interestingly enough, Israel denies that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, boasting that it provides some 15,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the region on a weekly basis. But according to the UN and other leading human rights organizations, this is about of quarter of supplies actually needed. While not many are going hungry in Gaza, as food is the main form of aid, Gazans have just a few hours of electricity a day, very very very little adequate drinking water, extremely limited access to fuel and most importantly virtually no access to building supplies to rebuild their homes and businesses to build any sort of an economy or infrastructure. Currently there is one functioning hospital (the other three were bombed in 2008) serving over one million people in a region with one of the world’s fastest population growth rates. Furthermore, many people are still left homeless and without proper protection of the harsh weather, extremely hot summers and cold winters. The only country in the world that denies the extreme humanitarian crisis in Gaza is Israel. Even the US government, Israel’s closest ally has not only called for the end to the blockade but initiated USAID projects to help rebuild.

As more details unfold about this current crisis, I am sure tension will rise around the region. Today demonstrations took place throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Palestine has issued a 3-day mourning period where businesses, schools, and NGOs are urged to strike. I am unsure if there will be school tomorrow. Many fear that this could initiate the third intifada that has been brewing for some months due to settlement building in East Jerusalem, the takeover of the Ibrahim Mosque, and stalled peace talks. Only time will tell, especially as the side of the activists becomes public.

As you can imagine, this is a huge obstacle for peace and security in the region. Please pray for the peace in the Middle East.