81 Days to Go

Flotilla, Shmotilla!
By Sherwin Pomerantz

With 81 days to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and the vote on recognizing Palestinian statehood the heat in the kitchen has not abated.

Today the Palestinian Authority announced after a late night meeting that regardless of any other initiatives currently being discussed the move to recognition of statehood will continue unabated. I’m not sure why anyone would be surprised at that news, I certainly was not. So the need to express our opinions, in writing, to every UN delegate remains in place.

But the next international crisis is scheduled to take place on Thursday when the next flotilla to break the blockade of Gaza is due to enter Israel’s territorial waters. And what is the planned response here?

• The Prime Minister’s office has announced that foreign journalists travelling on any of the ships of the flotilla could later be barred from entering Israel for the next 10 years. So much for freedom of the press, don’t you think?
• The Minister of Defense has called the flotilla an “unnecessary provocation” as there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He went on to say that the Israeli military intends to prevent the flotilla from landing in Gaza and is prepared to use military force if needed although it hopes it will not be needed. Sound familiar?
• And the official line from the Government’s diplomatic envoys is that an agreement has been reached with the Egyptians whereby in addition to Israel being ready to permit the off-loading of humanitarian supplies destined for Gaza in Ashkelon, the Egyptians are prepared to do the same in El-Arish, just south of the strip. Not sure this will placate the protestors.

Why is our government having trouble seeing that we are heading directly into yet another public relations debacle if we pursue this “same old” approach to such efforts by people who feel committed to their cause? True, the Turkish government has urged the IHH there not to support the flotilla, and the IHH has pulled the famous Mavi Marmara from the convoy. And just as true, some Mediterranean governments have made it known that they will not permit ships of the flotilla from using their docks as launch sites for this effort. At the same time the US has called the flotilla a provocation. But we know that, in spite of all of this, ships are en route and will be in the area on Thursday morning.

What will we do this time? Will we, once again, in an effort to stop the ships from reaching Gaza direct them to stop and, if they don’t, have our young men and women board those vessels and put their lives in danger? For what purpose? To prove what point? To be able to say we have a right to impose a blockade on a regime that is committed to our destruction? Will that matter to anyone if, once again, people on those ships are injured or killed? At this critical time in our history can’t we find some way to turn this situation into a win for us rather than yet another public relations failure? I think we can.

If, as the press as reported, we are prepared to allow the ships to land in either Ashkelon or El-Arish, unload their cargo and then insure safe transfer to Gaza, why not go one step further and capture the narrative on this issue? Why not send out a message now that it is our intention to stop each of the ships and inspect the cargo to ascertain that it is, indeed, humanitarian in nature. If, as the organizers claim, the cargo is composed wholly of humanitarian aid (i.e. no weapons, incendiaries, ammunition or similar materiel) then we should let those ships pass and deliver their cargo to Gaza. Actually, if I had my way I would actually escort the flotilla to Gaza with our Israeli flags flying high and have aerial photographers in place to record the action for posterity and the BBC.

If, as the organizers claim, their only intent is to make life easier for the Gazans and if, as the Gazans claim, all they want is to be able to unload these goods in their port let’s test the waters and see where it takes us. If there are no weapons or related materials aboard, the world might even applaud our approach. If, however, we find contraband on board then the world will know what the flotilla organizers really meant by the term “humanitarian aid.” I think it is worth the chance even though I know a lot of people will disagree with me. Well, it won’t be the first time that’s happened and probably not the last either.

Kirkegaard said “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” I would rather not take the latter risk.