Freestyle on the Gaza Boat Show

"The goal is to use the international law on our side to enter Gaza. If Israel wants to resist, like a pirate state, it can resist. If we are detained, more ships will come in a month or two."

Israeli expatriot Dror Feller as quoted in "Cyprus bans Free Gaza boats," YNet News, May 27, 2010: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895287,00.html

Perhaps I'm having a little fun here, not really writing or searching (although I searched and waited for the Cyprus story to break after reading a short note on it elsewhere on the web), but reading where a timely curiosity takes me, grabbing a zinger, and pasting it up for readers to chase back to the journalism from whence it came.

In the inverse mirror that becomes the internationalist's cause, the still handful of boats with crews intent on running Israel's blockade of Gaza ports, a sort faux blockade because Israel, after inspection of cargoes for war materials and supplies, trucks tons of aid through to Gaza weekly, has given itself the banner "Freedom Flotilla".

I'm calling it the "Gaza Boat Show."

Other boats (and submarines) have been floating into the neighborhood, and if not so close, close enough given moving landing strips and guided missiles.

The Gaza Boat Show makes a pretty ribbon for fastening to an explosive package that includes recently targeted missiles in Syria (for a more up-to-the-minute brief in a Janes-like wrapper, head to www.debka.com).

The belief in some kind of sadistic Israeli siege or Gaza has had its own zany religious mysticism for decades. 

What started with profitable Arab land sales to Jewish interests and the tedious draining of swamps, not to mention successful efforts to reduce the incidence of malaria in the neighborhood, and has gotten to the point of sharing electrical grid and water system infrastructure, not to mention provisioning an as yet politically angry and incoherent neighboring population (well, probably not really, but at least several of those, including Hamas, who claim to speak for it) has been flipped through the dark mirror of language and come out as a display of naked "Zionazi" aggression: shame on the Jewish state for opening more border crossings this year, improving the transit of tourists into Bethlehem to facilitate their spending their money there, and hosting a slew of political and religious organizations critical of the state in its own capital!

The carte blanche given to Israel by the United States has been dangerous for Israel's national security as well as for the national security of the United States.

Wright, Ann.  "The Audacity of the Free Gaza Flotilla: Breaking the Israeli Siege of Gaza May Lead to an Attack at Sea, Detention Camps and Deportation."  Common Dreams.org, May 27, 2010: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/27-1

I believe "depotation" in this context refers to the return of foreign nationals, including several Americans, to their native countries.

Sounds scary.

Wright's article goes on to note, "Those passengers include Hedy Epstein, an 85 year old holocaust survivor, Parliamentarians from Germany and Ireland, two former diplomats from the United States, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, authors, journalists, activists, businesspersons and clergy."

My suggestion: after diverting the Gaza Boat Show and sorting through its coterie of passionate attention seekers, Israel should refrain from sending any home, but rather release them into Gaza with the mission of providing its 1.5 million souls with an accountable, fair, inclusive, responsible, responsive, tolerant, and transparent democratic government.

Given all that the boat show's good hearts have done so far for Gaza, I should think that Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria's President al-Assad, and Iran's President Ahmadinejad will be ever so happy, no Christian need doubt this, to receive them and provide the imprimatur for 700 experienced western activists, bureaucrats, businesspersons, clergy, diplomats, former military, politicians, and so on to takeover and show the world how much better they can do with the same community and its associated social, political, and religious legacies, loyalties, and resources.

Other Reference

Ann Wright Palestine Journal: http://www.route-online.com/read/ann-wright-palestine-journal.html

Sherman, Martin.  "The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War." Review of James L. Gelvin's book bearing the same title (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2007).  The Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007: http://www.meforum.org/2609/the-israel-palestine-conflict

Wikipedia.  "Ann Wright": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Wright

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