Gaza not represented in blockade whitewash

By Stuart Littlewood * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

"Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law... the flotilla acted recklessly in attempting to breach the naval blockade."

That's the conclusion of the Palmer inquiry, brought to you by that freak-show the United Nation, under its Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

It's completely at odds with what other experts have said. The UN itself has already accepted that Israel's blockade is illegal. One of its own fact-finding missions declared that it constituted collective punishment of the people living in the Gaza Strip and thus was illegal and contrary to Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The action by Israel's military in intercepting the Mavi Marmara on the high seas was "clearly unlawful" and couldn't be justified even under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations [the right of self-defence]. "No case can be made for the legality of the interception and the Mission therefore finds that the interception was illegal".

The Centre for Constitutional Rights also concluded that the Israeli blockade was illegal. "Due both to the legal nature of Israel's relationship to Gaza – that of occupier – and the impact of the blockade on the civilian population, amounting to 'collective punishment', the blockade cannot be reconciled with the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law... The flotilla did not seek to travel to Israel, let alone 'attack' Israel... Israel could have diplomatically engaged Turkey, arranged for a third party to verify there were no weapons onboard and then peacefully guided the vessel to Gaza."

Craig Murray also knows a thing or two about such matters, having headed the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was responsible for giving political and legal clearance to Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, to enforce the UN authorised blockade against Iraqi weapons shipments. He commented: "Right of free passage is guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas... Israel has declared a blockade on Gaza and justified previous fatal attacks on neutral civilian vessels on the High Seas in terms of enforcing that embargo, under the legal cover given by the San Remo Manual of International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea."

But, he explains, San Remo only applies to blockade in times of armed conflict. "Israel is not currently engaged in an armed conflict... San Remo does not confer any right to impose a permanent blockade outwith times of armed conflict, and in fact specifically excludes as illegal a general blockade on an entire population."

Furthermore, Security Council resolution 1860 (2009) emphasizes "the need to ensure sustained and regular flow of goods and people through the Gaza crossings" and calls for "the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment". Israel has imposed a land blockade for decades and until very recently had a hand in keeping Gaza's land crossing with Egypt closed. The 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access between the Palestinian Authority and Israel is also ignored. So the only sensible channel for "unimpeded provision and distribution" is by sea.

Panel "cannot make definitive findings"

The Terms of Reference for the inquiry handed down by Ban Ki-Moon set out a 'method of work', which is described in the report this way...

"The Panel is not a court. It was not asked to make determinations of the legal issues or to adjudicate on liability...

"The Panel was required to obtain its information from the two nations primarily involved in its inquiry, Turkey and Israel, and other affected States.... the limitation is important. It means that the Panel cannot make definitive findings either of fact or law. The information for the Panel's work came primarily through its interactions with the Points of Contact designated by Israel and Turkey."

So it could not summon individuals or approach individuals or organizations direct. It could only do so through the Points of Contact designated by Israel and Turkey.

"The legal views of Israel and Turkey are no more authoritative or definitive than our own. A Commission of Inquiry is not a court any more than the Panel is. The findings of a Commission of Inquiry bind no one, unlike those of a court. So the legal issues at large in this matter have not been authoritatively determined by the two States involved and neither can they be by the Panel."

The 4-man panel included a representative each from the governments of Turkey and Israel, and was headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer (Chair) and Alvaro Uribe, 58th president of Colombia. Palmer was the 33rd prime minister of New Zealand if that's any consolation.

Note the absence of anyone to represent the views of the party targeted by the blockade. Ban Ki-Moon didn't think it necessary to invite someone from (horror of horrors) the government of Gaza. Can you imagine, if the tables were turned, the merry hell Israel would kick up if not represented on an inquiry about the legality of a blockade on one of its ports?

Limited to this, couldn't do that... Ban Ki-Moon's inquiry was warped from the start. "This Panel is unique. Its methods of inquiry are similarly unique," says the report, slitting its own throat.

Key passages from Palmer's nonsensical 105 pages speak for themselves:

"The naval blockade is often discussed in tandem with the Israeli restrictions on the land crossings to Gaza. However, in the Panel's view, these are in fact two distinct concepts... the land crossings policy has been in place since long before the naval blockade was instituted. In particular, the tightening of border controls between Gaza and Israel came about after the take-over of Hamas in Gaza in June 2007. On the other hand, the naval blockade was imposed more than a year later, in January 2009. Second, Israel has always kept its policies on the land crossings separate from the naval blockade. The land restrictions have fluctuated in intensity over time but the naval blockade has not been altered since its imposition. Third, the naval blockade as a distinct legal measure was imposed primarily to enable a legally sound basis for Israel to exert control over ships attempting to reach Gaza with weapons and related goods.

"Israel has faced and continues to face a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. Rockets, missiles and mortar bombs have been launched from Gaza towards Israel since 2001. More than 5,000 were fired between 2005 and January 2009, when the naval blockade was imposed. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians live in the range of these attacks.... Since 2001 such attacks have caused more than 25 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The enormity of the psychological toll on the affected population cannot be underestimated. In addition, there have been substantial material losses. The purpose of these acts of violence, which have been repeatedly condemned by the international community, has been to do damage to the population of Israel. It seems obvious enough that stopping these violent acts was a necessary step for Israel to take in order to protect its people and to defend itself."

Did they never consider the most obvious step of all - ending their illegal occupation?

"The Israeli report to the Panel makes it clear that the naval blockade as a measure of the use of force was adopted for the purpose of defending its territory and population, and the Panel accepts that was the case.

"Although a blockade by definition imposes a restriction on all maritime traffic... the Panel is not persuaded that the naval blockade was a disproportionate measure for Israel to have taken in response to the threat it faced.

"The Panel considers the conflict should be treated as an international one for the purposes of the law of blockade. This takes foremost into account Israel's right to self-defence against armed attacks from outside territory."

What about Gaza's right to similarly defend its territory and population? It sounds like the Panel regards Gaza and the West Bank as the aggressor.

"It would be illegal if its imposition [i.e. the blockade] was intended to starve or to collectively punish the civilian population. However, there is no material before the Panel that would permit a finding confirming the allegations that Israel had either of those intentions or that the naval blockade was imposed in retaliation for the take-over of Hamas in Gaza or otherwise. On the contrary, it is evident that Israel had a military objective. The stated primary objective of the naval blockade was for security. It was to prevent weapons, ammunition, military supplies and people from entering Gaza and to stop Hamas operatives sailing away from Gaza with vessels filled with explosives... The earliest maritime interception operations to prevent weapons smuggling to Gaza predated the 2007 take-over of Hamas in Gaza. The actual naval blockade was imposed more than one year after that event. These factors alone indicate it was not imposed to punish its citizens for the election of Hamas."

A catalogue of distortion

There are several things wrong with these assertions. Israel's unending acts of violence have also been repeatedly condemned by the international community and there's a string of UN resolutions to prove it. But they are never implemented.

Israel slapped a naval blockade on Gaza long before January 2009. Israeli gunboats were shelling Gaza and shooting up Gazan fishing boats in 2007 when I was there. An Interim Agreement signed in 1995 allowed the Israelis to weave a tangled web of security zoning in Gaza's coastal waters and to dictate what happens off-shore and who comes and goes. It's the sort of agreement no Palestinian would have signed except with a gun to his head.

Being "interim" these restrictions were not expected to last beyond 1999. But they are still in force. They predate rockets from Gaza, speaking of which why doesn't Palmer, instead of trotting out details of these home-made missiles, tell us how many Israeli bombs, rockets, shells and prohibited ordnance have been fired at the Gazan population by Israeli jets, tanks and warships? Palmer talks about the 25 Israeli deaths and hundreds of injuries and "the enormity of the psychological toll" on the Israeli population. Regrettable as those casualties are, they are nothing compared with the mega-deaths and countless thousands maimed, the wholesale destruction of infrastructure and the psychological toll inflicted by Israel on the Gazans.

The people of Gaza couldn't care less whether Israel keeps its policies on land and naval blockades "separate". It's the combined effect that counts.

As for the claim that the primary purpose of the blockade is security, the Panel clearly hasn't studied the Wikileaks cables from 2008, one of which reads: "As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to (U.S. embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge." Israel wanted it "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis".

And according to documents released under a Freedom of Information petition by Gisha, an Israeli law centre, Israel operated "a policy of deliberate reduction" of basic goods in the Gaza Strip. Gisha's director accused Israel of "paralyzing normal life in Gaza". The documents confirmed that the siege was not for security reasons but aimed at keeping Gazans at near-starvation level. Since around half the population are growing children this act of collective punishment has meant that hundreds of thousands are undernourished.

The Panel might have asked why, since no rockets have been fired from the West Bank, the shredded remains of that part of Palestinian territory is still under occupation, blockade and cruel restriction?

Palmer, Uribe and Ban Ki-Moon need to wake up to Israel's never-ending campaign of disinformation. Palmer for example repeatedly refers to "the takeover of Gaza" by Hamas when Hamas, as everyone else knows, was democratically elected.

"It is Hamas that is firing the projectiles into Israel or is permitting others to do so. The Panel considers the conflict should be treated as an international one for the purposes of the law of blockade. This takes foremost into account Israel's right to self-defence against armed attacks from outside its territory."

There's nothing about Gaza's right to self-defence or even self-preservation. Then this warning...

"Once a blockade has been lawfully established, it needs to be understood that the blockading power can attack any vessel breaching the blockade if after prior warning the vessel intentionally and clearly refuses to stop or intentionally and clearly resists visit, search or capture. There is no right within those rules to breach a lawful blockade as a right of protest. Breaching a blockade is therefore a serious step involving the risk of death or injury.

"Given that risk, it is in the interests of the international community to actively discourage attempts to breach a lawfully imposed blockade.

"The imposition of a blockade involves the use of force, which can only be employed in the exercise of a right of self-defence. Measures taken by States in the exercise of their right of self-defence are required under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to be notified to the Security Council."

Occupier is the victim of resistance?

So Palmer's bizarre re-framing of the situation - that the illegal occupier Israel is the victim of the Palestinians' lawful resistance and that Israel's security must be given priority over everyone else's – will have given Tel Aviv something to smirk about. Worse, it gives Israel and its stooges around the world reason to think they have a green light for imposing a permanent blockade, for Israel will always dream up bogus threats to its security.

But the Palmer report, surely, cuts both ways. By the same token it gives the green light to Palestine, if ever it obtains the weaponry to impose a blockade of its own, and to Lebanon, Syria, Iran and maybe Free Egypt to play the naval blockade game against Israel, whose unsupervised nuclear arsenal, scant respect for international law and liking for armed trespass pose a much greater threat to the region than random garden-shed rockets from Gaza ever did.

And what does this whitewash mean for the Palestinians' UN bid for statehood? Is the newly fledged state to begin its young life with a land and sea blockade in place because Palmer and Uribe say it's all legal and above-board and Israel's security comes first? Let us not forget that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are under blockade too.

The Turkish representative on the panel, Mr. Süleyman Özdem Sanberk, has rightly dissociated himself from some of Palmer's key 'findings': "On the legal aspect of the blockade, Turkey and Israel have submitted two opposing arguments. International legal authorities are divided on the matter since it is unprecedented, highly complex and the legal framework lacks codification. However, the Chairmanship and its report fully associated itself with Israel and categorically dismissed the views of the other, despite the fact that the legal arguments presented by Turkey have been supported by the vast majority of the international community. Common sense and conscience dictate that the blockade is unlawful.

"Also the UN Human Rights Council concluded that the blockade was unlawful. The Report of the Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission received widespread approval from the member states.

"Freedom and safety of navigation on the high seas is a universally accepted rule of international law. There can be no exception from this long-standing principle unless there is a universal convergence of views."

The Palmer report deserves condemnation and is getting it. Such dangerous tripe belongs in the wastepaper basket. At the outset the inquiry Panel said it couldn't make definitive findings and was not competent to determine the legal issues, yet it immediately set about concocting its own distorted judgement based especially on the dubious legal views of Israel, which it admitted are "no more authoritative or definitive than our own".

So what is the Secretary-General's mischievous game in setting this up?

As if we didn't know...

* Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Read other articles by Stuart.

Related posts:

• As Turkey Freezes Israel Ties, Critics Decry “Whitewashed” U.N. Report on Gaza Flotilla, Blockade
• Beyond The Gaza Flotilla Attack: What Needs To Be Done, And How
• Guilty As Charged: UN Report on Gaza Flotilla Massacre

By Mohamed Khodr* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

The Honorable President of the United States Barak Obama
The Honorable Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
The Honorable Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon
The Honorable President of the General Assembly Joseph Deiss
The Honorable Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Sperry
The Honorable Director of UNRWA Chris Guiness
The Honorable President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek
The Honorable High Representative of the E.U. for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton
The Honorable Acting Head of the EU Delegation to the U. N. Pedro Serrano
The Honorable Ambassadors of the U.N. Security Council
The Honorable Ambassadors and Representatives of Palestine

"May the United Nations ever be vigilant and potent to defeat the swallowing up of any nation, at any time, by any means-by armies with banners, by force or by fraud, by tricks or by midnight treachery."
--Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

The Palestinian Authority plans to submit a resolution to the U.N. Security Council to approve and recommend to the U.N. General Assembly the recognition and admission of a Palestinian State that will represent close to 11 million Palestinians made refugees by the west, the U.N., Zionist terrorism (see Report submitted to Dr. Ralph Bunch, U.N. Mediator for Palestine titled: 'A Summary of Zionist terrorism in the Near East-1944-1948" documenting 259 acts of Terrorism against the British, American and Arab populations and the amply documented Israeli crimes against their humanity and land. (Recall the shelved Goldstone Report discredited by Israel and the U.S.)

This September is the moment of truth for the United Nations Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly, despite the threatened U.S. veto.

Members of both the Security Council and General Assembly are presented with a most unique of historical opportunities that rarely resurrect themselves to right a historical wrong and tragedy inflicted upon the Palestinian people living in refugee camps in the most deplorable misery in and out of their native land.

This opportunity can redeem the United Nations in the eyes of billions of people around the world who've lost hope and trust in the organization. It is a glorious opportunity to fulfill the divine and human mandate that all people are equal in the eyes of God and humanity and are endowed from birth to live in liberty, independence, with guaranteed human rights, and free from the subjugation and oppression by any other people or nation.

Does the world have the courage of its conviction, the will, the honesty of thought and compassion of heart for once to defy Israel and its American benefactor and declare its independent vote to support a besieged, brutalized, and occupied people who yearn to join the community of nations as a people living in dignity and honor in a State they call their own?

To the majority of the world nothing less than the very credibility and relevance of the United Nations is at stake regarding the rightful recognition and admission of a Palestinian State into the fold of U.N. membership.

A failure to do so will further inflame a world already unhappy with the minimal role and influence of the United Nations, perceiving it as solely an extended arm of U.S. and Israeli foreign policy. In the Arab and Muslim world undergoing dramatic and rapid changes such a failure will seal any future role of the U.N. in the region and will exponentially inflame animosity against the U.S. and Israel.

Now is not the time for the U.S. and the Security Council to continue the policy of surrendering to Israel's demands and its constant ironic proclamation of an "existential threat" that arises from a stone in a Palestinian child's hand as he faces the most modern American tank in Gaza.

Now is the Audacity for Hope and Courage for a world to make its post-colonial voice heard that the surest way to world peace is a Free Independent Palestine.

A Jew from the depth of Latin America's jungle can immigrate to Israel and automatically become an Israeli citizen, but a Palestinian living in his native land is denied by Israel and the United Nations of being a citizen in his own state.

This is the greatest injustice of our time and the world can no longer afford, nor accept and surrender the fate of millions of Palestinian families to Israel's whims, brutal military occupation, and war crimes such as was committed in Gaza in 2008-2009.

How shocking that for decade's the world has simply acclimated itself to accepting Israel's occupation as a de facto existence for the Palestinians and swallowing in whole any justification Israel presents for its rule over a people in their own land.

While Israel's influential tentacles reach all western governments the most active, moral and just opposition to Israel's policies arise from its own citizens and conscientious Jews around the world, the far majority of whom are not associated with the powerful wealthy minority that constitute the Israel Lobby.

A powerful example of an Israeli's view on the illegality and immorality of Israel's occupation comes from Israel's former Attorney General, Michael Ben-Yair, in his article in Haaretz titled "The War's Seventh Day", March 3, 2002. He wrote:

"We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one - progressive, liberal - in Israel; and the other - cruel, injurious - in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day."

How shameful for the world that it accepts Israel's mythological narrative that justifies the four year total siege of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, the world's largest open air prison, which the U.N. calls a "humanitarian catastrophe", allowing Israel to prevent even a Flotilla of food and medicines to hungry malnourished children.

No nation but Israel can get away with such war crimes and not be held accountable for its policies. On the contrary in many western governments it is praised for its tolerance, patience, care not to harm civilians by the "most moral army in the world", and democratic values.

Israel and soon the U.N. Security Council will recognize the new State of Southern Sudan to be the 193rd member of the U.N., but the Palestinians are denied that same right because Israel has succeeded in dehumanizing, demonizing, marginalizing them, manipulating the media narrative, and denying their very humanity, even their very existence as Gold Meir proclaimed.

What will the world body decide on the issue of a Palestinian State? Will it continue to succumb to the Israeli-American threats or will the nations of the world bestow upon the Palestinians the same rights, recognition, and privileges every member of the United Nations enjoys.

The real question is not should the Palestinians be admitted to the United Nations, but should be, is Israel a legal member of the United Nations given its defiance of U.N.G.A. Resolution 273 that allowed Israel's conditional admission based on its acceptance of U.N.G.A. Resolutions 181 and 194 and its obligations under the U.N. Charter? The answer is NO. But, this is Israel, it was admitted nevertheless.

Here's just one of the countless U.N.G.A. Resolutions, 38/180 of December 19, 1983, that emphatically answers that question in the negative.

"Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming its resolutions 36/226 B of 17 December 1981, ES-9/1 of 5 February 1982 and 37/123 A of 16 December 1982,
Determines once more that Israel's record, policies and actions confirm that it is not a peace-loving Member State, that it has persistently violated the principles contained in the Charter and that it has carried out neither its obligations under the Charter nor its commitment under General Assembly resolution 273 (III) of 11 May 1949"

Any other U.N. member state that has repeatedly violated the U.N. Charter and hundreds of U.N. Resolutions would be considered for expulsion, but this is Israel, a nation above the laws of mankind.

Ariel Sharon stated the governing principle of the Jewish only State when it comes to its accountability to International Law. He said (BBC: March 25, 2011)

"Israel may have the right to put others on trial, but certainly no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of Israel on trial"

Netanyahu's remarks during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2009 bashing the U.N. for not standing up against Iran more accurately applies to the U.N. should it incredulously reject the Palestinian people's right to an independent State of their own

"Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"

Perhaps the famed British historian Arnold Toynbee most aptly described the western infatuation with Israel and the hidden brutality it inflicts upon millions of innocent Palestinians.

"Right and wrong are the same in Palestine as anywhere else. What is peculiar about the Palestine conflict is that the world has listened to the party 
that has committed the offence and has turned a deaf ear to the victims."

May God guide you as members of the U.N. Security Council and guide the General Assembly to do right by a population who lost lives and land due to the very actions of the United Nations to legitimize the State of Israel in Palestine.

To a Free Palestine. Amen.

Note from Author:

This article will be sent as a letter to the persons addressed above. Please consider writing the U.N. Security Council as soon as possible urging them to live up to the founding principles of the U.N. and their convictions as governments and peoples that all mankind deserves to live free from subjugation and occupation in an independent nation they call home.

Thank you for caring and supporting the Palestinian people as they struggle to emerge from the most brutal of military occupations.

* Mohamed Khodr is a political activist who frequently writes on the plight of Palestinians living under the brutal occupation of Israel, U.S. Foreign Policy, Islam, and Arab politics.

Related posts:

• The Audacity to Recognize a Palestinian State is Now
• The Palestinian Authority’s historic mistake – and opportunity
• Today is the 58th anniversary of the Nakba, or the “Catastrophe”

By Lawrence Davidson * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Civil society movements versus corrupt politics

When it comes to the struggle against Israel's policies of oppression there are two conflicting levels: that of government and that of civil society. The most recent example of this duality is the half dozen or so small ships held captive in the ports of Greece. The ships, loaded with humanitarian supplies for the one and half million people of the Gaza Strip, are instruments of a civil society campaign against the inhumanity of the Israeli state. The forces that hold them back are the instruments of governments corrupted by special interest influence and political bribery.

Most of us are unaware of the potential of organized civil society because we have resigned the public sphere to professional politicians and bureaucrats and retreated into a private sphere of everyday life which we see as separate from politics. This is a serious mistake. Politics shapes our lives whether we pay attention to it or not. By ignoring it we allow the power of the state to respond not so much to the citizenry as to special interests. Our indifference means that the politicians and government bureaucrats live their professional lives within systems largely uninterested in and sometimes incapable of acting in the public good because they are corrupted by lobby power. The ability to render justice is also often a casualty of the way things operate politically. The stymying of the latest humanitarian flotilla to Gaza due to the disproportionate influence of Zionist special interests on US and European Middle East foreign policy is a good example of this situation.

There are small but growing elements of society which understand this problem and have moved to remedy it through organizing common citizens to reassert influence in the public sphere. Their efforts constitute civil society movements. Not all of these efforts can be deemed progressive. The "Tea Party" phenomenon in the United States is a radical conservative movement that aims at minimizing government to the point of self-destruction. But other movements of civil society, in their expressions of direct action in the cause of justice, are much healthier. The worldwide movement for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning (BDS) of Israel, of which the flotilla movement is an offshoot, is one of these.

The forum of international law

The resulting struggle between the corrupt politics that keeps the West aligned with the oppressive and racist ideology that rules Israel and the civil society movement that seeks to liberate the victims of that ideology goes on worldwide and in many forums. One is the forum of international law. Presently, the debate revolves around the legality of Israel's blockade of Gaza and the effort of the flotilla movement to defy it. Let us take a look at this aspect of the conflict.

1. The well known American lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, a strong defender of Israel, has blatantly stated: "Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal under international law – anyone who tries to break it can be arrested and prosecuted in a court of law." Of course, Dershowitz is not an expert on international law. Rather, he has made his reputation as a defence lawyer with a passion for murder cases (which makes him quite suited to defend the Israeli state). This being said, what is the basis for his assertion that the Gaza blockade is legal?

2. The argument for the legality of the blockade is based on the 1909 Declaration of London and the 1994 San Remo Manual on Armed Conflict at Sea. Both are part of an international treaty system that sets down the parameters of much international law. According to these documents, two states engaged in armed conflict can legally blockade one and other for clear military reasons. However, any blockade would cease to be legal if "damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade". Defenders of Israeli actions, such as Dershowitz, do a very superficial reading of the documents and reason that Israel is in an armed conflict with Hamas, which is the ruling authority in Gaza, and so Israel can legally blockade Gaza so as to stop the importation of weapons and "terrorist" fighters.

3. The holes in this reasoning are big enough to sail a flotilla of small ships through (if only they were not imprisoned in Greek ports). Thus, Israel certainly does not consider itself engaged in an armed conflict with another state. If you doubt this just ask any member of the present Israeli government whether he or she would define Palestine, including Gaza, as a state. In truth, the proper definition of Israel's presence in the West Bank and Gaza is that of an occupying colonial power whose policies and actions are stark violations of the Geneva Conventions. That is, by virtue of its colonizing actions and treatment of residents of the occupied territories, its presence in Palestine beyond the 1967 borders is not legal (one can also argue over the legality of Israel within the 1967 borders). That means those they are in armed conflict with are those resisting illegal occupation. There is no international law that makes it legal for Israel, itself acting illegally, to blockade those legally resisting its actions. The arbitrary labelling of those resisting as "terrorists" does not change this legal situation.

4. As noted above, "legal" blockades must have a military objective and must not do excessive harm to the civilian population. Yet there is evidence that Israel's goals for the blockade are not primarily military but are, instead, aimed at committing excessive harm to the people of Gaza. The Gaza blockade was not done out of fear of weapons smuggling or terrorist infiltration, but rather constituted a conscious act of economic warfare against the people of Gaza for having the audacity to be ruled by Hamas, the winner of a 2006 free and fair election.

There is documentary evidence for this interpretation of events. For instance, in 2006 Dov Weisglass, an adviser to then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, publically stated that the goal of Israeli policy in Gaza was to "put the Palestinians on a diet, but not make them die of hunger". Then, in June 2010 McClatchy Newspapers published Israeli government documents attesting to the fact that Jerusalem primarily saw the blockade as an act of economic warfare, and not as a security measure. To this you can add the fact that Israeli gunboats keep shooting at Gaza fishermen [video] who they know are doing nothing except fishing. What we have here is the collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians. As such it is not legal, it is illegal – a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, usually so responsive to US demands, momentarily broke free and in his 2009 annual report told the Israelis they should end their unwarranted blockade. He was ignored.

We cannot count on governments or international law

So how is it that the Israelis can get away with these crimes? It is because, at the level of government, their lobbyists and advocates wield enough influence to successfully warp the policy formulation of Western governments. Against this corruptive influence, international law means very little. Even embarrassing historical analogies mean little. Nima Shirazi, who blogs at Wide Asleep In America, wrote a very good piece entitled "The deplorable acts: the 'Quartet comments on Gaza". In this piece he points out the relative similarity between the Gaza blockade and the blockade of Boston set up by imperial Britain in late 1773. The Americans of that time labelled the action, "the Intolerable Acts". Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and her boss in the White House ought to consider this analogy, but then there is that lobby power factor that would prevent them from ever acknowledging it.

As a consequence, those who seek justice for the Palestinians must, for the moment, not place much hope in government or international law. They must act within the realm of civil society, building the BDS movement and its offshoots. Where government moves in and attempts to block civil society actions, these actions must be turned against government if only by using them as campaign tools to expand the BDS movement further. If we persist there will come a time, as was the case with South Africa, when the power of civil society will be such that politicians and bureaucrats will see the cost of defying popular opinion as greater than defying Zionist lobbies.

For all intents and purposes, when it comes to the Palestine-Israeli conflict, the United States and Israeli governments have placed themselves above all law. That means not just international law, but selective domestic law as well. The ubiquitous and improper use of such categories as "terrorist" or "rendering material aid to terrorists" are the corruptive vectors here. The only hope for justice and the integrity of law is in the realm of civil society which might in the future redeem not only Palestine, but the US and Israel too.

* Lawrence Davidson is professor of history at West Chester University. He is the author of numerous books, including Islamic Fundamentalism and America's Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood.

Related posts:

• Israel Proves that Flotillas Work
• Palestinians must urgently mobilize world civil society support for September’s UN recognition bid
• Civil society in the lead

By Stuart Littlewood * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

"Intercepting the Mavi Marmara on the high seas ... was clearly unlawful." The United Nations said so.

It's in the report [PDF file] of the fact-finding mission set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks a year ago on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance to Gaza, during which nine people were killed and many others injured.

Contrary to international law

Reporting in September 2010, the mission was

satisfied that the blockade was inflicting disproportionate damage upon the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and that as such the interception could not be justified and therefore has to be considered illegal...

The mission considers that one of the principal motives behind the imposition of the blockade was a desire to punish the people of the Gaza Strip for having elected Hamas. The combination of this motive and the effect of the restrictions on the Gaza Strip leave no doubt that Israel's actions and policies amount to collective punishment as defined by international law... No case can be made for the legality of the interception and the mission therefore finds that the interception was illegal.

And that wasn't all. the mission considered that the naval blockade was implemented in support of the overall closure regime.

As such, it was part of a single disproportionate measure of armed conflict and as such cannot itself be found proportionate. Furthermore, the closure regime is considered by the mission to constitute collective punishment of the people living in the Gaza Strip and thus to be illegal and contrary to Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The action of the Israel Defence Force in intercepting the Mavi Marmara on the high seas was "clearly unlawful" and could not be justified even under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations (the right of self-defence).

Pack your bags, Mr Ban

So just what did the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, think he was doing last week when he attempted to scupper the latest humanitarian effort by sending a letter to governments around the Mediterranean calling on them to use their influence to discourage any more flotillas such as the one due to sail towards the end of June, which he says "carry the potential to escalate into violent conflict"?

There is, of course, nothing potentially violent about an unarmed mercy ship. There is everything potentially violent about an illegal naval blockade that the United Nations should have squelched long ago.

A press release from Mr Ban's office said that flotillas were not helpful in resolving the basic economic problems in Gaza, though the situation there remains unsustainable, and that assistance and goods destined to Gaza should be channelled through legitimate crossings and established channels.

No, Mr Ban. What has been unhelpful in resolving the basic economic problems in Gaza is the yellow-bellied failure of the UN to discharge its duty to implement its own resolutions and enforce humanitarian law.

The secretary-general ought to remind himself of Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009), which emphasizes "the need to ensure sustained and regular flow of goods and people through the Gaza crossings" and calls for "the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment".

"Unimpeded", Mr Ban, as in unimpeded. Do we need to buy a megaphone?

So what is this talk about using "legitimate crossings and established channels"? Everyone knows that those channels, operated by the criminal blockader itself, are designed to impede the flow of everything and everyone to and from Gaza.

It's bad enough that the wimp Obama is busy rewriting international law, circumventing inconvenient UN resolutions and trying to give his Zionist friends the green light to keep the Palestinian lands and resources they have already stolen and create opportunities for them to grab more.

But who are you working for, Mr Ban Ki-Moon? Why aren't you, as secretary-general, exhorting member states around the Mediterranean to do their duty under the UN Charter and ensure that the aid gets through to Gaza direct?

"Ban-chusa" the yes-man

I hear that back home in Korea Ban's nickname is "Ban-chusa", tagging him as a blasted pen-pusher. Some say he's noted for his subservience. In other words, he's a yes-man.

As if we hadn't enough of them already.

If you cannot uphold international law or insist on compliance with the raft of UN resolutions requiring an end to Israeli occupation and a permanent halt to interference with the Palestinian territories, Mr Ban, you bring the UN into disrepute. You should pack your bags and clear off back to Korea.

The secretary-general's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, sings the same tune and says that Freedom Flotillas are useless. He urges the government of Israel to take further meaningful and far-reaching steps to end the closure of Gaza, within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1860, and emphasizes that the operation of legitimate crossings must be adequate to meet the needs of Gaza's civilian population. That's real bright when everyone and his dog knows you can "urge" Israel all you like but the regime will take no notice until it is forced to.

Israel is a member of the United Nations and a signatory to the UN's Charter, whose principles it happily violates repeatedly. It now plans to continue its crazed defiance of the law, the UN and international opinion by committing the same crime again and blocking the next flotilla. A 31 May report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz shows how futile the words of Ban and Nesirky are. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warns that his military will if necessary use force against anyone who tries to disobey his navy's orders and head to Gaza's shore. There is also talk of deploying snipers.

It's clear that peace-workers and the decent folk of the world cannot look to the UN for action under present management. For all its poncing around, it has done nothing effective. So while we wait for Mr Ban to be replaced by someone with guts and gumption, perhaps Mr Nesirky would kindly explain what is so "useless" about a humanitarian flotilla trying to burst through a cruel and illegal blockade that's operated by a bunch of delinquents who may soon have to answer to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity? Especially when his employers just sit there scratching their ass.

A letter two months ago to my Member of Parliament about the need to protect the next Gaza flotilla from unlawful interference has gone unanswered. What arrangements were being made, I wanted to know, to defend these civilians from the sort of murderous harassment on the high seas that caused worldwide uproar last year?

The Mediterranean is full of NATO ships at the moment in the service of freedom and democracy, or so we're told. It would not surprise me if the brass hats have agreed to steer well clear of the area where Israel does its marauding and leave the Zionist extremists free to terrorize and assault the unarmed crews and passengers of a brave little fleet of mercy ships.

* Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Read other articles by Stuart, or visit Stuart's website.

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During the event commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians, which I attended at the UN in Vienna, a message of UNSG Ban Ki-moon was read by Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, DG of the UN in Vienna.
I listened to the message read by Mr. de Costa, and I found that the language used in the speech of SG Ban Ki-moon was not fit for the occasion to the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians. The speech was based on contradicting standards which ignore the UN resolutions related to the historical facts surrounding Palestine and Palestinians, and replaced them with improper phrases which honoring the criminal Israeli occupation and their alliance, and harms the feeling of Palestinian participants who live in the exile since 60 years ago.

SG Ban Ki-moon was wrong in almost all aspects in his speech. See it  here
SG Ban Ki-moon ignored that the cause of the current situation is the disrespect by Israel for uncounted resolutions and pleas of the international community regarding Palestine and, the continued blocking of all good faith solutions to our problem in by the representations of the USA and UK in the security council. The statement of Ban Ki-moon read at the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians was a complete abdication of the idea of an international community guided by the precepts of respect for each other, for laws and treaties, in favor of the real terror and cajoling of by the representatives of the main sponsors and promoters of genocide and terrorism around the world, namely Israel, followed by the USA and the UK.

I wonder why the UN, in the person of its General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, allows itself to forget over six decades worth of resolutions against the occupation and practices of Israel, which furthermore show that we Palestinians are clearly within our rights in everything which we have traditionally asked for, and in everything which several generations of Palestinians defending our homeland have done. Why does Mr. Ban Ki-moon try to make things look like there are no national and international laws which are clearly on our side, instead expressing his partiality with Israeli security, but at the same time ignoring the insecurity which all Palestinians have lived under since 60 years due to the criminal and terrorist Israeli occupation? Are the various institutions and courts of justice affiliated to the UN good for nothing more than to dispense paychecks to highly paid functionaries?

The speech of UNGS Ban Ki-moon at the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians in Vienna is a scandal, and it shows the real face of the “International community”, which is in fact a collection of a puppets in the hand of American Jews and their Zionist organizations everywhere, which only care about the interests of Israel to the detriment of everybody else.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon stated that “Palestinians have been deprived of their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and statehood, for more than 60 years. Israelis live with an ever-present sense of insecurity. There is only one way to address such legitimate rights and fears: a peace agreement that results in an end of occupation, an end of conflict, and the creation of a State of Palestine living side-by-side in peace with the State of Israel”.

Sorry, this was a clear lie by SG Ban Ki-moon. The only nation who has lived insecurity and continuous terror and crimes for more than sixty years are the Palestinians. Israelis live with an ever-present sense of insecurity because of their crimes, murders, and because of what they steal from the Palestinians. They live with an ever-present sense of insecurity because they violate the UN resolutions and the International laws and treaties.  These criminals should be punished according to the International laws and according to the laws of the nations from where they come. The UN should use its power to punish Israel of violating it’s resolutions the same way the UN punished Iraq, …. Why should we Palestinians accept the diktat of these thieves, murderers and terrorists one day longer?

The Palestinians are not guilty of  sense of insecurity which the state of the Israeli occupation lives. Mr. Secretary General, I wonder why should the victims of Israel be responsible about the insecurity of their occupier? Even this is not logical in any laws. Why should Israel be accepted as a state by the international community of peoples after it has shown for over 60 years neither ability nor inclination to live peacefully with anyone, to abdicate by even by the most simple norms of convivency? Why Ban Ki-moon dose not say that the only one way to end the Israeli fears is implementing the UN resolutions?

Mr. Ban Ki-moon continued in his speech: “The Israeli and Palestinian leaders re-launched bilateral negotiations a year ago at Annapolis. They agreed to try to reach a peace treaty by the end of 2008″.

SG Ban Ki-moon is wrong. Israel and the USA launched a sham initiative at “negotiating” in bad faith with a group of corruptionists around President Abbas, who were chosen by the US and Israel, with plans to essentially give Israel everything.

I would like to ask Mr. Ban Ki-moon about the achievements which the Israeli and the Palestinian leaders attained after Annapolis, or even since Oslo agreements: where are they ? Well, here is one: one of the immediate “achievements” of these sham negotiations has been that the daughter of Ahmed Qureia, the chief “negotiator” in favour of his own pocket, was given the Israeli nationality. Palestine and Palestinians on the other hand have been subject to a genocidal campaign of closures and more crimes by the IDF and the illegal settlers than ever before. Under such conditions, no peace can be achieved.

Why does the UN and the International Community not end the farce of these so-called “negotiations” of Israel and their collaborators at once, at the same time forcing Israel to implement exactly all UN resolutions, all treaties and the International treaties? Why should we suffer even one more day under the criminal Israeli occupation? Why do the representatives of the International community legitimize negotiations with the thieves and murderers, while in their own countries they throw such recalcitrant criminals into jail?

“Mr. Ban Ki-moon added in his statements “I regret that this goal appears unlikely to be achieved. However, the parties have succeeded in creating trust and a framework where none existed only two years ago. We must not diminish that achievement. I commend the commitment made by President Abbas and Foreign Minister Livni at Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month to continue talks into next year, and to seek a full and final settlement. This process must resolve the permanent status issues of Jerusalem, settlements, borders, refugees, Security and water”.

What is SG Ban Ki-moon dreaming about? The only trust which has been built up during the shows at Sharm El-Sheikh and other places is strictly between Israel and a small group of Fatah people, chosen by the CIA and the Israeli occupation. The permanent status of Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, the Palestinian rights, the duties of the Jews, and other points, have already been established by broad consensus of the international community, using as a forum the very institutions which Mr. Ban Ki-moon heads.

Which negotiations does Mr. Ban Ki-moon support? These so-called “negotiations” and the whole range of bad faith maneuvers by the Israelis? It would be better, not the least for sake of the respect which the UN deserves as the only existing forum of all peoples and nations, that Mr. Ban Ki-moon keep to the decisions taken by the majority of states members of the institution which he heads, and not the wishes of a small group of pariahs among them.

“My biggest concern in the immediate period ahead is the situation on the ground. I strongly call on Israel to cease settlement activity, remove outposts, open Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, and refrain from unilateral actions in Jerusalem, such as demolitions and evictions, which alter the status quo. I recognize Israel’s security concerns. But the improved environment of security cooperation must lead to an easing of closure in the West Bank, in order to increase stability and to bring about a much-needed boost to the Palestinian economy”.

While the situation on the ground is certainly worrying and the needs of the people of Gaza, but also in the West Bank are dire and should be taken care of immediately, Mr. Ban Ki-moon is wrong in his other statements as well. Where is the expression of concern for the security of us Palestinians in our all rights and property? We Palestinians are sick and tired of the “concerns” of the UN and the International community. Did we Palestinians travel from all around the world to a foreign land to murder and dispossess another people? How should we Palestinians guarantee the “security” of criminals who hide themselves behind one of the biggest and best equipped armies in the world? Is that not beyond absurdity?

“The situation in the Gaza Strip also remains of major concern. I call for immediate measures to ease the near-blanket closure of Gaza, which leads to worrying deprivations of basic supplies and undermines human dignity. And I unreservedly condemn rocket fire. The way forward is for all parties to respect the calm brokered by Egypt. I call on Israel to allow sufficient and predictable supplies to reach the population, to ensure access for humanitarian workers, and to facilitate stalled UN projects. I also call on Hamas and, indeed, all Palestinian factions to work urgently to reunify the Gaza Strip and the West Bank within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority”.

I would like politely to ask Mr. Ban Ki-moon, if somebody put him and his family in a cage and locked it, would he stay peaceful in this cage until the result of some sham “peace negotiations” released him? Mr. Ban Ki-moon should do himself a favour and ask his “UN representatives” in Gaza about the situation there. They would tell him that Gaza has been converted into a concentration camp.  SG Ban Ki-moons “calls” and “expressions of concern” are useless and have never been effective with Israel. There are many more effective measures well within his power, to not only ease the situation in Gaza, but to end the abject crimes of Israel. His comment about the political situation of Palestinian factions betrays a deep ignorance of the situation, or outright partisanship.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon finalized his speech saying that: “We have seen many difficulties in the past year. But it has been a crucial time in setting the stage for peace. Two thousand nine must be the year that these preparations bear fruit. Let us all work constructively, tirelessly and consistently for a just lasting, comprehensive, and urgent settlement of the question of Palestine”.

The rosy dreams of Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who has never lived a day under the criminal Israeli criminal, have no connection to reality. The crucial time for “setting the stage for peace” was every year during the past more then 60 years. Peace has consistently failed because of the lack of will on side of Israelis and their international backers. Today there is nothing more that Palestinians should either concede or give. The experience from these past decades has shown that the way to go in order to attain a durable and just peace in my homeland Palestine is for the international community to put pressure on the state of Israel to subject itself to all decisions and rulings in this cause which has been taken by broad consensus in the UN during the last decades, and to let Israel and its backers feel the alternative: shunning through disenfranchisement. The time for idle talk is over, SG Ban Ki-moon.

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Urgent Invitation
To visit the Afflicted Gaza Strip

To His Excellency
Ban Ki Mon
United Nations Secretary General

Dear highly respected Ban Ki Mon, we would like to pass our greetings and regards from the Gaza Strip. We would like to invite you urgently to pay a visit for the Gaza strip. People are slowly dying as UNRWA halted its services and a total power blackout imposed by Israel. Your expected visit to Gaza would show your interest in saving people lives.

Power, food, medicine, treatment and all aspects of life vanished from the Gaza strip. The 7 crossings are totally closed with no glimpse of hope to re-open them again. Israel went on more deep flagrant violations of all human laws as she blocked the UNRWA aids into Gaza.

Around a million of UNRWA beneficiaries to be exposed to hunger and lack of food. More than 1 million live in deep darkness since 4 days as 80% of Gaza strip out of power.

The current situation doesn't await more and time is running out as:

- Around 80% of Gaza populations live under poverty line.

- 1.100.000 peoples depend on humanitarian aids provided by UNRWA, Arab, Islamic and foreign organizations.

- Unemployment ratio reached 65%

- 60% of Gaza's children suffer from Malnutrition.

- About 97% of factories and workshops stopped working, specifically 3900 factories. The industrial zone of Gaza is completely closed.

- Individual income 650$ per year and 2 $ a day..

- Freedom of movement from Gaza to the West bank, Jerusalem and outside world is being blocked.

- Around 260 people died due to blocking them from either travel for treatment or lack of medicines.

- Nearing to 40% of siege victims are from children.

- About 150 of medicines sorts are not available in Gaza.

- The only medical factory is halted due to shortage of raw materials.

- Projects of constructing and developing hospitals, clinics and educational bodies are being suspended!

- There are still daily power cuts

We hope you take urgent actions and stances to stop this obvious genocide. 1.5 million lives under Israeli collective punishment with no fault they committed.

Independent Palestinian Lawmaker
Gamal N. El Khoudary
Chairman of Popular Committee Against Siege PCAS

Contact Info:
www.freegaza.ps
freegaza.ps@gmail.com
Tel.: 00972599466166
Fax: 00972 8 2826222

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