Canadian Boat to Gaza (OpEd in the Calgary Herald)
Ehab Lotayef
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Sending+Canadian+boat+Gaza+moral+thing/3352219/story.html
Sending
a Canadian boat to Gaza
is moral thing to do
The Calgary Herald's July 19 editorial, "Boat trip is exercise in Israel bashing," claims that the idea to charter a boat and sail to the Gaza Strip "reeks of self-aggrandizement and narcissism."
Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been working on this project since its inception and I am but one of a group of Canadians from all walks of life: different professions, different backgrounds and different religions and beliefs, who have come together willing to volunteer months of their lives and work hard to raise funds, recruit a crew and passengers and collect humanitarian aid to help the Palestinians in Gaza, who are suffering under an Israeli blockade. When we started to work on this project we were ready to face criticism and attacks locally and, when we will sail, to also potentially face Israeli violence.
We came together because we share one thing among us: a passion for justice. Here is how the Canadian Boat to Gaza started.
On May 31, Israel attacked an unarmed humanitarian aid flotilla in international waters on its way to deliver aid to Gaza. Israeli soldiers raided the Mavi Marmara under the cover of darkness. They killed nine aid workers in cold blood, kidnapped the rest and confiscated their belongings and vessels. Israeli claims that its soldiers were defending themselves are ridiculous when we consider the facts: Fully armed soldiers unlawfully attack your boat in the middle of the night and when you defend yourself and your property with kitchen knives, they kill you and claim to be acting in self-defence!
Yet the Mavi Marmara incident did not sway the Canadian government one bit from continuing to back Israeli actions even when they clearly violate international law.
The blockade of Gaza in itself is illegal and should not exist. It amounts to collective punishment of a civilian population. Easing it, or claiming to ease it, under Israeli terms, is not a sufficient response.
In December 2008 Israel used the collapse of a ceasefire, which it violated, as pretence to invade the Gaza Strip, kill hundreds of civilians and destroy infrastructure. After the army withdrew, Israel continued to blockade the strip as it did before the invasion. This meant that the collective punishment of the civilian population has been escalated to new levels since they could not rebuild the damage caused by the invasion while the original effects of the blockade continued. Moreover, the blockade prevented materials in no way related to security or weapons from entering Gaza. What do sage, cardamom, coriander, ginger, jam, halvah, chocolate, seeds and nuts, biscuits and sweets, dried fruit, fresh meat, fabric (for clothing), newspapers, toys, donkeys, goats, cattle, chicks (and the list goes on) have to do with security?
The blockade also prevents anything from leaving Gaza, which used to enjoy a successful export trade. This is another goal of our project: to carry exports, even symbolic, out of Gaza, asserting the right of Palestinians of Gaza to trade freely and build an economy, rather than depend on aid.
Does Israel occupy Gaza or doesn't it? The answer cannot be sometimes one and sometimes the other. If Israel occupies Gaza, then it is responsible for the needs of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live there. If it no longer occupies it, then it has no right to block access to it by sea or air, or to restrict the movement of people in and out.
British Prime Minister David Cameron described Gaza as a "prison camp," yet the Canadian government remains silent. In the face of our government's inaction, we, Canadian civil society, have to act. Thus we decided to launch the Canadian Boat to Gaza.
Our mission is a peaceful one aimed at delivering aid and challenging the siege. Yet we neither accept the blockade nor will we remain silent watching its devastating effects. Israel has no right to obstruct us or board our ship in international waters and the Canadian government has an obligation to defend and protect us in every way it can if we are under any threat.
Our mission is a transparent one. We have nothing to hide and we welcome inspection by any neutral entity.
We are part of an international movement, ship after ship and flotilla after flotilla, determined to challenge the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza until it is lifted. This movement started in 2008 and, despite false accusations, was always peaceful and non-violent.
It
is a mission of sacrifice and selflessness driven by nothing other than
our strong belief in justice, freedom and equality of all peoples. When
it comes to the Middle East, peace cannot be accomplished unless both
Arabs and Jews are free and believe that there is a viable future for
their children.
Ehab Lotayef is a spokesman for the Canadian Boat to Gaza. He is a writer and an IT engineer at McGill University in Montreal. He visited Gaza twice in 2009.