Thursday, May 27, 2010

The "Humanitarians" on Hamas's Side

Israel Prepares to Fend Off Ships Heading to Gaza, Wall Street Journal

"Israel says it intends to prevent, by force if necessary, the ships from reaching port. It has also said that if the ships dock at an Israeli port first, it will allow the full shipment of humanitarian cargo to reach Gaza, after undergoing security checks."

Why didn't the title of this Wall Street Journal article simply state Israel's willingness to allow the aid into the Gaza strip if the "humanitarians" would simply follow the security protocol? After all, Israel is at war with the Hamas ruled Gaza strip whether these people on the aid ships notice that or not. In fact, this aid shipment would not be very different form the daily truck convoys allowed into Gaza by the Israeli military (even during the 2008/9 month-long offensive), despite this ongoing conflict. 

It seems that the main point of this "humanitarian aid" flotilla is not to provide Gazans with the building supplies that they already receive and smuggle daily across the border. The clear purpose of this mission is to declare exactly which side the members of the flotilla are on in this bloody conflict over the right to exist.
The flotilla has chosen to actively support Jihadi Hamas and their entrenched ideology that Israel has no right to exist in the Middle East. 
The flotilla can call their efforts "humanitarian" for the purpose of gaining world sympathy.  But regardless of what is on board, the members of this flotilla are making a declaration of support for one side over another in a protracted and very violent conflict between two peoples not their own.  Both Israel and Hamas will manage this challenge at the front line (make no mistake, world PR is part of the front line of this one)however they see fit. 

It is about time that more of the world recognizes that Israel is not solely to blame for any humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  The tragic narrative of the Arabs in the Gaza strip is filled with a complicated history.  There should be no blame on Israel for putting its own security at the top of the priority list, while trying to cater to world PR during its fight for survival against Hamas.

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