By: Michael Gillespie
United for Justice and Peace, the largest peace coalition in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, met at the Friends Center in Cambridge on June 19 to explore responses to Israel’s continuing siege of Gaza in the aftermath of the massacre of peace activists taking part in a Free Gaza flotilla on May 31. About 50 activists attended.
The three-hour meeting featured a panel discussion with Ann Wright (Col. U.S. Army, Ret.), a distinguished U.S. foreign service officer who resigned in protest from the Department of State in March 2003, the day before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and Husam Zomlot, a Palestinian scholar and diplomat. Zomlot served as PLO Representative to the UK from 2003 to 2008 and is currently a Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The discussion was moderated by Jeff Klein, a retired machinist, union leader, and activist with Dorchester People for Peace.
“The sequence of events has been quite remarkable in the last two years,” said Wright. “The international community is putting pressure on the Israelis and the Egyptians and the American government to end the siege of Gaza.”
“It’s taking the people of the world, it’s a citizens’ action that is forcing governments to listen to the people. We in the United States have had a particularly bad run of governments listening to us over the last 10 years. The Bush administration didn’t listen to us on anything, and, tragically, the Obama administration is not listening to us much either,” said Wright.
“I’ll tell you what: When the citizens of the world start getting together on these things, well, things happen. What happened with the Gaza Flotilla, where we had six ships that finally started sailing toward Gaza, was tragic. All were attacked in international waters 70 miles off the coast of Gaza in an act of piracy, an act of kidnapping, an act of murder, an act of theft, all crimes by anyone’s estimation.
“That’s what happened on six ships, three of which were passenger ships, two of which were cargo ships. Passengers numbered 600 on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ferry boat that was leased by a huge Turkish international NGO, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH). If you go on their web site, www.IHH.org.tr, you’ll see that in contrast to what the Israeli government talks about this IHH as being a terrorist organization that does nothing but support Hamas, you’ll see that that organization that brought over 400 people from Turkey and over 200 people from other countries in the region, it is an organization that has world-wide reach similar to CARE, Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, all of those organizations that work internationally, IHH is one of them,” the retired U.S. Army Colonel and foreign service officer told her audience.
“[IHH] does work in Gaza, and, like virtually every organization that works in Gaza, it has to have dealings with the government, and that’s [the basis of the false Israeli charge that] IHH is an international terrorist organization.
“Actually, the U.S. government calls other people terrorists. We have three Congressmen and women now who are calling people like me, who were on the flotilla, and like you, who have been to Gaza, people like you all who support the right of Palestinians to have a life, we are called terrorists by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA-27), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-14). Sherman demanded that we be arrested and that we be charged with crimes of terrorism for taking part in the Gaza flotilla, so, last Thursday we had a giant protest in his office, but they refused to arrest us!
“It was really good. We had media like you wouldn’t believe. They were there to see what was going to happen when a U.S. Congressman calls for the arrest of American citizens. So we said, ‘OK! Arrest us! Come on!’ We had a press conference in the hallway. The police [that] were there, said ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that,’ and we said ‘We’re going in the Congressman’s office. He wants to arrest us. We’re presenting ourselves!’
“It all goes to show that now we’ve got people on the run. We’ve got an Israeli government that, after that attack—it was a criminal attack—it was an attack that did not have to happen. If the Israeli navy wanted to stop those ships, there were other ways. As a military officer, I know there are other ways to stop ships besides boarding them forcefully and using live ammunition and killing people—killing nine unarmed people!
“There were no weapons on any of those ships. If there had been, we would have seen them. The Israeli military would have been parading them. Instead the only photos are of kitchen knives that were on the ship because they part of kitchens to feed 600 people. There was one ax that was onboard, an ax that every boat is required to carry because in case lines get tangled you have to chop them,” explained Wright.
Wright said there was violence on the Mavi Marmara after fire from the Israeli helicopters killed and wounded unarmed activists on the ship. Three masked Israeli commandos who rappelled onto the upper decks were overpowered and beaten, but the Captain of the ship and the director of IHH put a stop to all physical resistance and ordered that the three Israelis be treated by doctors onboard and promptly returned to Israeli control, said Wright.
“The tragedy on the Mavi Marmara was that the Israeli commandos killed people, shot people. They could have stopped the boat in a variety of other ways but the Israeli government chose to have a major confrontation, a confrontation that has really backfired on them, a confrontation that has governments of the world, to include by some miracle the United States government, finally saying that the blockade, the siege of Gaza is ‘unsustainable’ and that the deaths were ‘regrettable.’
“That’s in contrast to what the White House has been saying about Helen Thomas’s comments that [have been described as] ‘reprehensible.’ You would think that perhaps murdering people would be called ‘reprehensible,’ but no, that’s not quite where the U.S. government has gotten yet,” said Wright in part.
Zomlot began by offering his heartfelt thanks for all the people who have given their lives for the sake of a resolution of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, and condolences to their families.
“The attacks on the flotilla and what happened with Ann and her group have really broken through to the core of the issue of the blockade of Gaza. These heroic acts of universalism, people coming together as civilians to break the siege, one of the most draconian sieges of modern history, are already bearing fruit. The siege, as we speak, is crumbling,” said the Palestinian scholar and diplomat.
“The moment I heard of what happened on the high seas off of Gaza I knew that it was the end of one of the most illegal, inhumane blockades of modern history. Your message has been heard. While your goods, your humanitarian supplies, your gifts for the Palestinian babies of Gaza, your pencils and tablets for schools, your medicines did not arrive, your message has arrived.
“It is a very loud and clear message. The message is that the agony and the suffering of the Palestinians is not only Palestinian. It is universal,” said the Palestinian diplomat, who noted that he was born in Gaza and lived there for many years.
Zomlot offered a brief overview of Israeli policy in Gaza, which he noted had always had two elements. One has been the effort to stifle Palestine’s economy.
“The Israeli policy has always been to ensure that Palestinians, as a political society, would not have an economy they could rely on. From 1991 onward until today, there was a policy of closure, a policy of individual deprivation and collective deprivation. … All those who wish to leave or enter Gaza, all those who wish to import or export from Gaza, would have to obtain an Israeli permit. And believe you me, that was not easy to get. It was extremely difficult. The last three or four years has only witnessed a heightening of that system of closure,” said Zomlot.
“The second goal of Israeli policy is political and geographical fragmentation. This is a classic policy of divide and rule as we all know. This policy has been in place at least since the Oslo Accords. Unfortunately, with the help of some major international actors, it has borne fruits of Palestinian political and geographic divisions,” said Zomlot, who added that rather than speak about the morality or the legality of Israel’s policies, he would address instead the practicalities.
“What is it you seek by creating a poor, deprived, leaderless, divided neighbor? What is it? Is it really to soften their position to strike a deal with them? It doesn’t work. You can always defeat an army, but you can’t defeat a nation, a society of mothers and teachers and lawyers. And even if you want to soften their position and you want to crush their will and their determination, what is the alternative you are offering? What is it that Palestinians are asked to concede? More than they have done so several years ago, conceding 70 percent of their land? It is very impractical, because we are all witnessing the backlash!” said Zomlot.
The Israeli goal was to isolate Gaza from the West Bank and divide the Palestinian people, said the Palestinian diplomat. “That’s the main policy!”
“I believe that if Israel intends to liquidate the Palestinian polity, the Palestinian society, for the sake of finishing off the job they started in 1948, then [Israeli policy] makes sense, and what is happening now makes a lot of sense. But if Israel intends to really strike a deal with its neighbor and create the two-state solution that Israel has been talking about all these years, then what is happening does not make sense,” said Zomlot.
The Palestinian scholar and diplomat told his audience he fears that Israeli leaders have no intention of striking a deal with Palestinians on any terms, that they have no intention of allowing a viable, peaceful Palestinian state.
Zomlot identified four principles as a way forward. Palestinians, he said, are moving toward national unity. “Everybody realizes that fragmentation of our polity and out land is only playing into the hands of those who do not wish us well.”
As Palestinians move toward national unity, they are adopting a policy of non-violent popular resistance, said Zomlot. “It’s a universal Palestinian conclusion that non-violent resistance that is popular and peaceful—the best example is the flotilla and what happened—is the most effective way of confronting Israel.”
Third, said Zomlot, is national institution building. “The most important thing right now is to try and empower Palestinians to continue living on their land by creating institutions for health, education, etcetera that will enable Palestinians to survive, to be steadfast where they are.”
“And last, and most important in my opinion, is you,’ said Zomlot. “All of you. That is, the International Solidarity Movement, justice groups, peace groups. This new movement, that we see everywhere in Europe, in the U.S., in Australia, in Asia, and in Africa is forming and taking a very solid shape. Believe you me, the more assertive you are, the more vocal you are, the more strong you are, the more united you are, the more Palestinians are reaching into the non-violent side of the story. Because this alliance brings strength to face the violence that Palestinians are suffering,” said Zomlot.
“This movement is growing,” declared moderator Jeff Klein, “not as big and as fast as we would like, but nevertheless it is clear that this movement is growing.”
Klein reminded his audience that it wasn’t so long ago that many activists who recognized the importance of a just resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict were reluctant to speak out and engage on the issue in the larger peace movement and at the big antiwar rallies.
“I’m happy to say I think that’s largely over with. The Palestine issue has become one of the core issues of the activist community on the Left, and that’s a big step forward,” said Klein.
One result of the solidarity movement to break the siege of Gaza its unexpected and powerful effects in the Middle East, noted Klein.
Subsequent events underscore Klein’s remarks and those of Wright and Zomlot. As counterproductive wars and a failed U.S. foreign policy driven by a bloated defense industry and the malignant influence of Tel Aviv and its pro-Israel lobby play havoc with Washington’s legitimate interests in the Middle East, Ankara’s principled policies and diplomatic initiatives are finding favor as Turkey’s influence in the region and beyond increases.
On July 8, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to London that Israel would have to lift its blockade and be “held accountable” for its attack on the aid ships of the Gaza flotilla or face gradual stages of disengagement if it did not respond to Turkey’s demands. Ankara has closed Turkish airspace to Israeli military aircraft, withdrawn its ambassador to Israel, and said the envoy will not return until Israel meets Turkish demands.
“Time is running out for a two-state solution. It is in Israel’s interest to make sure that it is still possible,” warned British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Hague described the blockade of Gaza as “unacceptable and unsustainable,” according a report in the Guardian (UK) by Ian Black, Middle East editor.
Wise diplomats and statesmen are now working for the welfare of all humanity, even as they strive to promote the interests of their own national and racial groups. They recognize that selfish political sagacity is ultimately suicidal, destructive of all those enduring qualities that insure planetary group survival.
