By Charlie Hislop, Opinion, In–Common, 5 August 2023
“The fishers in the sea off Gaza, if they go out beyond six nautical miles, they’re shot at. Some of them are badly injured; some are killed; their boats are destroyed. They have no way to make a living off the fish in the sea that that they should have access to. They are trapped like a mouse in a cage.”
Two weeks ago, the Handala, a Norwegian fishing boat, docked in Southampton, sharing information about the Israeli blockade of Gaza, “the world’s largest open-air prison”, according to Wendy, a Canadian social worker, and one of the crew, who was speaking at a local Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting at October Books.
Travelling around the UK and mainland Europe, the Freedom Flotilla is seeking help on their mission for the people, and especially children, of Gaza. They are sharing information about the conditions there and building support for a further attempt to break the illegal sea blockade. Freedom Flotilla is a multi-national campaign that will be embarking on a further mission in the Mediterranean next year.
“It’s the only country in the world with a sea shoreline where the people have no access to their own sea. And what does it mean?” asks Thomas, the captain of the Handala. “Okay, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, all that stuff. But communication. I mean, you live in Southampton, you have been a port city at all times, you know how important communication is over the sea. That’s where goods are exported and imported. It’s how we meet other people. It’s the way we travel. But the people in Gaza are not in a position to travel from their own coast.”
At Thomas’s comparison with Southampton, I can’t help but think of the perennial complaints that we Sotonians also have little access to the waterfront. But imagine getting shot at on the Isle of Wight ferry unless it turned round, or commandos landing on cruise and container ships coming up past Fawley. It puts it into perspective.
“It’s not a fence, but you can’t cross it. The boats are shot at. They are they’re putting their lives at risk when they go out in the boat. And remember, there is no fish from zero to six nautical miles from the coast, the fish are outside, where the boats are prevented from going. That’s what the blockade looks like from the inside.”
Although a daily occurrence for Palestinians, the blockade is only news when people try to get to Gaza through the blockade from the world outside.
“Five years ago, there was a ship to Gaza, a Norwegian vessel 14 nautical miles outside the coast. It was attacked by the Israeli naval forces, with heavily armed soldiers and Marines. 14 nautical miles – that’s international waters.” Wendy added that in 2016, the women on a Freedom Flotilla boat that was boarded illegally in international waters, were “taken to Israel against their will and imprisoned for four or five days. They were 13 women, and the IDF boarded with guns in full riot gear.”
The only time that there has been any international response was when the Israel Defence Forces assassinated 9 people aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters in May 2010. Although even that was weak and short-lived. Most countries just ignore the fact that Israel is violating international law and the Geneva Conventions, they’re just simply ignoring it and allowing Israel to get away with it.Thomas and Wendy speaking at October Books
“What if it happened off the coast of Somalia?” asks Thomas, “It would be a very different response.” He suggests that the support and $3.8bn aid from the USA each year is what enables Israel, pointing out that the UK always sides with the USA regarding Israel. He points to the large market in security and arms in Israel for western firms, selling through third parties.
The Freedom Flotilla’s next attempt to break the blockade will happen next year.
“We are not sailing there to put a Band Aid on the problem. The Israelis will say ‘We will take aid from you and deliver it for you (although they probably won’t), but we are not letting you go to Gaza. What we are doing is a political act, attempting to breach the blockade. This is about human rights.”
The ships of the flotilla are crewed by ordinary people, showing great bravery in light of the previous violent experiences, but they are not deterred.
The banner on the side of the Handala reads ‘For the children of Gaza.’ Half the population of Gaza are now children under the age of 18.
“This is a war on children,” says Wendy, as she and Thomas give evidence of children as young as 11 being shot is the leg. Of a recent trip to the occupied West Bank, Thomas says “They shoot and harm kids. They are stealing land, and they are also stealing their future.”
Wendy describes the sight of Gaza at night from the sea – lights all round in Israel, but Gaza in total darkness. “There is no power, no light, no electricity.”
It is not just the sea border to Gaza that is effectively blockaded. Travelling in and out of Gaza is controlled by permits, which only some residents are eligible to apply for. Even for those eligible, it can be a lottery, or in some cases fatal. Six year old Abu al-Naja died last year after the Israeli ‘Gaza Co-ordination and Liaison Administration’ spent 8 months decided whether to permit him to travel to Jerusalem for life-saving treatment.(2) According to the World Health Organisation, in July 2022 1,898 patients from Gaza were referred to health care services in the occupied Palestinian territory in July, of whom 36 percent were delayed access to care, 11 patients were called by Israeli intelligence officers for security interrogation, and 371 were forced to travel without companions.
The need to travel for healthcare is critical because of the Israeli destruction of health facilities in Gaza. According to the British Medical Journal, in the May 2021 bombardment, Israeli airstrikes damaged six hospital and nine primary healthcare centres; a Covid laboratory, the Ministry of Health, killing doctors and other health workers.(3) In the 2014 bombardment Rafah Hospital – which was treating the wounded – had to be evacuated. Three ambulance workers were burned to death.
Imports to Gaza are tightly controlled. A long list was introduced in 2006 by the Israeli government, when it decided “the movement of goods into the Gaza Strip will be restricted; the supply of gas and electricity will be reduced; and restrictions will be imposed on the movement of people from the Strip and to it.” Initially it included items such as musical instruments and hearing aid batteries, which could be seen as simply punitive, as well as construction materials and most importantly : food. At various times according to the United Nations this has included staples such sugar and pasta, lentils, tomato paste and juices.
In 2012, the Israeli Government (Ministry of Defence) was forced by the courts to release a 2008 report Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – the Red Lines that calculated how many calories Palestinians needed to consume to avoid malnutrition. The government decided that 106 lorry loads plus wheat per day would allow for a ‘daily humanitarian portion’. According to Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, only an average of 67 lorries per day on the ground were actually allowed to enter Gaza (5).
The Israeli Co-ordinator of Government Activities in the Territories set up a monitoring unit with ‘sensors’ to warn them of impending malnutrition and food shortages. The United Nations – which supports a million people in Gaza through its UNWRA food aid programme – declared that the policy went against humanitarian principles. In 2020, The United Nations declared Gaza ‘Uninhabitable’.
Asked what people can do in the face of government inaction, Wendy is clear: “Our mission is to continue to sail until Gaza is free. We do that in the face of violence, and we need to stand strong. You don’t have to sail with us to Gaza but please follow us. Do not be silent. You all have social media, you all have voices. Follow us, support us locally, and speak up for the children of Gaza.”
Compared to the commitment and bravery of those sailing in the Freedom Flotilla to confront the injustice, it seems a reasonable request.
Footnote:
- The crew of the Handala reported that as they moored overnight in Ocean Village, harbour officials asked what they were doing, and said that they wanted ‘no politics here’. Later, they said, two police approached, asked the crew how they had got on in Liverpool, saying that their every move around the UK coast had been followed by police.
- middleeasteye.net/news/israel-delays-exit-permits-kills-gaza-patients
- bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1300.full
- haaretz.com/2012-10-17/ty-article/.premium/israels-gaza-quota-2-279-calories-a-day/0000017f-e0f2-d7b2-a77f-e3f755550000
- bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19975211
Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition. For more information: freedomflotilla.org
Facebook: facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition
Twitter: @gazafflotilla
For more local information: PSC Southampton: facebook.com/southamptonpsc/
Report on #Handala’s visit to #Southampton: https://www.in-common.co.uk/2023/08/04/gaza-the-freedom-flotilla-visits-southampton/?
The above report was posted on: http://www.in-common.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition/posts/pfbid0RAumjshZPoSDPszB4WE1vo5PzopGrafboHvXD5zv5VVXJqWNm8kzX5GJgP2U9mnrl
and on Twitter:https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1688545292465926144
Photos: Southampton PSC and Charlie Hislop
Kia Ora Gaza 