How long can Israel's repression of Palestinians and Arabs go on unchallenged, asks Stephen Lendman* On 9 June, McClatchy and other publications revealed some of what's rarely, if ever, acknowledged in the press: that Israel's blockade of Gaza is "economic warfare" and not for security as most commonly reported, based on an Israeli document the Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement's lawsuit obtained. Gisha's director, Sari Bashi, said the document shows the siege is collective punishment, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stating: "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited." For over 43 years of occupation, Israel has wilfully and maliciously violated this and virtually all other Geneva Convention and other international humanitarian law provisions. In the wake of the Freedom Flotilla massacre, a Gisha 9 June press release headlined, "The pyrrhic victory of jam and halva," saying: "Israel agreed to let these items, razors, coriander, cardamom, and cookies enter Gaza, after banning them for three years." However, it "continues to prevent the transfer of purely civilian goods, such as fabrics, fishing rods, and food wrappers, as part of what it calls 'economic warfare' aimed at crippling Gaza's economy, [and by doing so] denies 1.5 million human beings the right to engage in productive, dignified work," let alone rebuild and survive under unending harshness. The day before, on 8 June, the London Daily Telegraph's Adrian Blomfield and Alex Spillius headlined, "Israel to accept British plan to ease Gaza blockade," saying its government is willing to do it "in exchange for international acceptance of a watered-down investigation into last week's deadly raid," massacring humanitarian activists in international waters. In other words, a whitewash, along the lines of a 10 June Haaretz Barak Ravid and Amos Harel report saying Washington and Tel Aviv agreed to let former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Tirkel head an internal investigation into the matter, an idea the Obama administration proposed to include international law jurists (nationalities not named, but very likely Israelis) and two observers -- one American, the other European. The legality of the blockade will be examined and whether Israel's massacre on the flotilla violated international law. On 9 June, "A team of (Israeli-appointed) military experts headed by Major General (Res) Giora Eiland began its own examination of the flotilla incident." On 11 June, the neoconservative Weekly Standard's William Kristol headlined, "Sources: Obama administration to support anti-Israeli resolution at UN next week," saying Obama officials "have been telling foreign governments that the administration [will] support [a UN] independent commission ... to investigate Israel's behaviour in the Gaza flotilla incident" -- what Kristol called "an extraordinary singling out of Israel, [a biased] investigation, [and one that will set] a terrible precedent, [perhaps leading to] outside investigations of incidents involving US troops or intelligence operatives [in] our war on terror." On 11 June, Haaretz writer Natasha Mozgovaya headlined, "US denies pushing for Gaza flotilla probe," quoting State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley, saying: "We are not aware of any resolution that will be introduced at the UN next week ... We support an Israeli-led investigation and we are open to the potential ways in which the international community can participate in it." That is, with individuals acceptable to Israel and Washington, ruling out independent judgments -- in other words, an assured whitewash, the usual practice by both countries to keep sensitive information suppressed. These investigations won't reveal the purpose of the siege or attack, let alone their illegality. Israel needs Hamas, and would invent it if it didn't exist as a pretext to hype fear, impose harshness, and conduct repeated assaults against bogus security threats without challenge -- the way Israel has done it for decades, the Flotilla attack the latest atrocity after thousands of others previously. Why so this time was to maintain an oppressive siege, keep 1.5 million Gazans trapped, cause enough harm to deter other aid missions from coming, and assassinate designated activists onboard, the Israeli commandos given names and photos of targets in advance. The death toll -- nine confirmed dead, another six or seven missing, likely dumped overboard to perish at sea. OCHA's report on occupied Palestine The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories issued in May a report entitled, "Impeding Assistance: Challenges to meeting the humanitarian needs of Palestinians," citing "obstacles to the movement of staff and goods and other restrictions impacting day-to-day operations that limit [OCHA's] ability to efficiently and effectively respond to existing needs." According to John Holmes, UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, "When the delivery of humanitarian access is restricted, lives are lost and misery prolonged needlessly." OCHA discussed needs throughout the occupied territories, but highlighted them in Gaza. Besides sweeping import restrictions, UNRWA reported its 24 construction and infrastructure projects are frozen and can't begin, including for schools, health facilities, housing units, sewage, and sanitation. In the West Bank, free movement and access restrictions impede efforts, including problems of getting permits. As a result, the needs of vulnerable Palestinians go unmet, a trend OCHA calls vital to reverse. "A complete lifting of Israel's [Gaza] blockade and improved [West Bank] access ... are just [two] examples of measures that could significantly improve Palestinian livelihoods through a reduction in unemployment and poverty." Israel's modest Gaza relaxation is woefully inadequate, and largely cosmetic. It's a welcome baby step provided much more follows, including international community pressure to enforce change as well as political and financial support. The UN General Assembly's February 2004 Resolution 58/114 "Strengthen[ed] the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations," stating: "All governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular in armed conflicts, and in post-conflict situations, in countries in which humanitarian personnel are operating, are called upon in conformity to relevant provisions of international law and international humanitarian law to: cooperate fully with the [UN] and other humanitarian agencies and organisations; and to ensure the safe and unhindered access of [personnel, supplies and equipment to aid civilians, refugees and displaced persons]." Israel refuses to honour this and dozens of other UN resolutions. As a result, humanitarian missions are severely impeded, especially in Gaza under siege. Since its onset, "the UN has literally spent thousands of staff hours attempting to secure entry for goods ... with only limited success, and virtually none for reconstruction." "Since 2007, UNRWA has been unable to complete any of its construction projects, including those projects meant to re-house 14,200 people, many of whom had their homes destroyed by Israeli military operations between 2000 and 2004," let alone from Operation Cast Lead -- Israel's onslaught on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009. A 2007 Khan Younis project, funded by the Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society, planned to build 600 housing units for 3,575 individuals. Yet it was suspended after Israel prohibited entry of necessary construction materials, including for related infrastructure. Prior to the blockade, 151 units were partially built, and only after months of negotiations did Israel agree to let in some materials to complete them -- as of May 2010, enough only for 13 units, "completely inadequate to address" the enormous need. A new UNRWA poverty survey showed how Palestinian refugees are "completely unable to secure access to food and [lack] the means to purchase even the most basic items," like soap and safe drinking water -- a population that tripled since June 2007. Overall, the UN and other relief agencies face enormous obstacles throughout the occupied territories that negatively impact their operations or deter them altogether. For example, in the West Bank's Area C, home for 60 per cent of its population, Israeli control caused years of neglect. As a result, a recent West Bank UNICEF, World Food Programme, and UNRWA survey found severe restrictions on Palestinians' access to range land and water, raising herder communities' food insecurity levels up to 80 per cent, compared to 25 per cent overall in the occupied territories. Construction is also impeded for needed schools, medical clinics, dwellings, and vital infrastructure as a result of the permit approval process, taking years, and discouraging funding as a result. One example involved an ambitious 2010 plan, focused on meeting urgent West Bank water, sanitation, education, and housing needs. The proposal includes 15 projects in 17 Area C communities for 52,000 people, and for a moratorium on home demolitions for lacking permits to build them. Three months after the plan's submission, the UN and its partners still await an official Israeli response, and may wait months longer before hearing anything. Besides numerous obstacles impeding the movement of goods and day-to-day operations, humanitarian agencies face a range of restrictions, including West Bank checkpoints and permits (taking 3-6 months to obtain), entry into East Jerusalem, and access to Gaza under siege, besides invasive searches and other measures to enter through Erez Crossing. At minimum, they delay work and raise costs. At worst, operations can't meet the population's needs. For example, in March 2010, UN staff reported 53 West Bank access incidents, costing 287 staff hours or the equivalent of 38 days. Over two-thirds of the delays or denials resulted from Israeli demands to carry out measures contrary to UN conventions and guidelines, such as vehicle searches and the requirement that staff exit them at checkpoints. Getting into Gaza is especially hard, including needing visas, then delays, strip searches, whether entry is vehicular or on foot, and numerous other impediments affecting operations. Entering Gaza was severely restricted after September 2000, the start of the second Intifada, and today it's much harder under siege, with many denied on "security grounds". In June 2009, Louis Michel, European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, called the situation "wholly unacceptable" with regard to access and security of humanitarian workers, adding that: "The violation of international humanitarian law is as deadly as any weapon. And no reason can justify it." Gaza in particular is under extreme conditions, including up to 95 per cent of its water contaminated, according to Amnesty International, inadequate power, electricity, and sanitation, 60 per cent of households food insecure, chronic malnutrition rising, nearly all of the Strip's production capacity entirely or partially shut down, construction at a standstill, the fish catch down about 50 per cent, unemployment and poverty at record levels, the health sector overworked and unable to function optimally, education impacted heavily, and numerous other hardships unimaginable in the West. OCHA and other international agencies are concerned, calling for the immediate, unconditional lifting of the siege as well as improved West Bank access, including to and from East Jerusalem. Nothing should impede humanitarian organisations from carrying out their mission effectively and efficiently. Israel, of course, does it wilfully, repeatedly, and illegally, a situation that can no longer be tolerated, it high time for world leaders to demand change unconditionally, something few have the courage to suggest. A final comment Commenting on the OCHA report, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said: "The longer the [Gaza] closure continues, the more it undermines future prospects of workers and their families, in particular of the younger generation. Restrictions on access and movement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which include the separation barrier, checkpoints and other physical obstacles, together with an increasingly sophisticated permit system, continue to strongly undermine economic activity, the Palestinian social fabric, enterprises and the well-being of workers." "A lasting solution to the conflict rests on building an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian State living in peace and security with all its neighbours." In occupied Palestine, that vision is unfulfilled, short of international solidarity to enforce it, Israeli harshness firmly in place. On his 11 June www.killinghope.orgwww.killinghope.orgposting, William Blum said: "The worst thing that ever happened to the Jewish people is the Holocaust. The second worst thing ... is the state of Israel" -- what Palestinians have understood for 62 years with no visible letup to this day. Besides innumerable daily hardships, on 10 June, the International Middle East Media Centre reported that 25 fundamentalist Knesset members "submitted a bill proposing that the [body] transfer money allocated to the Palestinian Authority to Jewish settlements, to punish Palestinians for their boycott campaign," as part of the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. The bill not only targets the occupied territories, it includes Israeli Arabs, stating that "Israeli citizens must not encourage, initiate or help the boycott campaign, [and those who] violate the new law" must be forced to compensate affected Israelis. Under the extremist Netanyahu-controlled Knesset, this is what passes for governance, and what Palestinians have to endure -- but it's one example of many. Repression continues daily in the occupied territories and against Arab Israeli citizens, resulting in arrests, torture and imprisonment for nonviolent protests and other lawful forms of resistance. Meanwhile, Gazans remain under siege, assaulted by regular Israeli incursions, and West Bank Palestinians face similar hardships, repression and occupation viciousness, what no one ever should endure, what no civilised state would ever impose, what no world community should allow. * The writer is a research associate of the Center for Research of Globalisation.
