Wednesday, June 09, 2010
The Israeli blockade of Gaza
In case anyone needs more proof that Israel's blockade of Gaza was (and still is) first and foremost about imposing collective punishment on the people: "Israel is easing its Gaza embargo to allow snack food and beverages into the Palestinian enclave. As of next week, Israel will allow a wider variety of food, such as potato crisps, biscuits, canned fruit and packaged humous, as well as soft drinks and juice, into the Gaza Strip."
And if you needed more proof that in enforcing the blockade, Israel committed countless acts of armed robbery, listen to two Australian journalists describe on Democracy Now! how Israeli commandos stole ("confiscated") $60-$80,000 worth of electronic equipment from them while commandeering the ship they were on, whose passengers, like those on all ships except the Mavi Marmara, provided only passive, not active, resistance to the takeover. Also note their observations that the Israelis A) knew exactly who they were; and B) had as their first priority shutting down communication and photography, rather than searching for alleged weapons or even taking control of the ship itself.
