The waterborne show of international solidarity to break Israel's blockade on Gaza succeeded, reports Saleh Al-Naami Khalil Barini refused to listen to the advice of his doctors and the pleas of his sons and daughters. He was determined to spend 36 hours on one of the many small boats that set out to greet the ship carrying 45 foreigners of various nationalities who are resolved to demonstrate their opposition to the over two-year long blockade on Gaza. The 72- year-old former fisherman who lives in Gaza City said that he was not going to let his ailing health stop him from performing what he regarded as his duty. "I'm very happy because, in the end, Israel had to bow to the will of the honourable people in the world and allow the ship to sail into Gaza. This is the first link in the collapse of the blockade," he said. "But at the same time I'm very bitter. While some foreigners are risking their lives in order to help break the blockade, others of our brother Arabs and Muslims are helping reinforce it." Asmahan Abul-Eish, 25, clutched her infant son as she embraced some of the foreign women on board. "I can't begin to describe how much I respect the people who came to demonstrate their solidarity with us against the blockade," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. Abul- Eish echoed Barini's, and many other Gazans', resentment against neighbouring Arab countries. Egypt, in particular, faces criticism for refusing to reopen the Rafah border crossing in spite of the fact that more than 200 people in Gaza have died after being refused permission to travel abroad for medical treatment. Relatives of patients who have died as a result of the inaccessibility of treatment were among the Palestinians who greeted the boat. Adel Al-Talal's brother Khaled died at the age of 35 because he was not allowed out of Gaza for angioplasty. As Adel stood in line to shake hands with Professor Jeff Halper, the only Israeli on board the Free Gaza Ship, he said: "I want to express my personal gratitude to these people. I feel they represent the living conscience of the world." "The operation that could have saved my brother's life is very simple but it could not be performed in Gaza because the hospitals lack the necessary equipment. He died leaving five children because the Rafah border crossing is closed." While Gazans enthusiastically expressed their gratitude to the foreigners on board they realise the show of solidarity is purely symbolic. Yet the gesture could have powerful reverberations. Palestinian writer and researcher Nehad Al-Sheikh Khalil believes it could provoke a wave of grassroots movements in Arab countries. If ships from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the Gulf, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia tried to make their way to Gaza, he believes the action might embarrass Arab regimes into ending their collusion with the blockade. "Popular forces in the Arab world must act before it is too late. This is not just for the Palestinians but to force their own regimes into respecting the will of the people," he said. Gamal Al-Khadari, chairman of the Popular Committee to Break the Blockade, which helped arrange for the arrival of the ship, told the Weekly : "Given the electronic war, underwater mines and the threats of the Israeli occupation, it was a bold and courageous step towards breaking the siege on Gaza. The arrival of the foreign activists has sent a message to the world that says the blockade must end. Their action has stirred the stagnant water and drawn international attention to the sufferings of the Palestinian people in Gaza." If Arab people undertook similar actions, he says, "the siege would be lifted within an hour". The foreign demonstrators received a hero's welcome from Hamas and the unofficial, acting government of Ismail Haniyeh. Last Sunday Haniyeh met with the 45 activists at his home in Al-Shati refugee camp and presented each with a "Breaking the Blockade" medal in recognition of their role in "opening the first maritime route to Palestine". After hosting them to lunch he promised each an honorary Palestinian passport and Palestinian nationality should they so desire. Haniyeh took advantage of the presence of the journalist Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of the British envoy to the Quartet, Tony Blair, to convey an invitation to Blair to visit Gaza so that he can see for himself what the situation is really like. "Your presence in Al-Shati, which is one of the eight Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza, is a victory of humanitarian will and the desire for truth. Your determination in making this voyage has given a boost to Palestinian morale and to the steadfastness of the resistance against occupation and the blockade," Haniyeh told his guests. The former Palestinian prime minister also took the opportunity to appeal to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Arab foreign ministers to undertake a similar action by visiting Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. "It is the simplest possible step they could take in fulfilment of their national, religious and humanitarian duty," he said. Booth cautioned the Palestinians against placing too much faith in the good intentions of international powers and, specifically, in her brother-in-law Tony Blair. She urged non-governmental agencies around the world to step up their actions to lift the blockade. International powers used a double standard in dealing with Israel and the Palestinian people, she said, but it is the Palestinian people who are the victims of Israeli aggression and not the reverse. Of all the passengers on the Free Gaza Boat the figure that aroused most curiosity was the sole Israeli who insisted on sailing to Gaza. Anthropology Professor Jeff Halper said that his conscience dictated that he had to take part in the trip and to express his sense of shame for what his country was doing to more than 1.5 million Palestinians. "One look at the situation in Gaza is sufficient to realise that these people are the victims of a humanitarian disaster. It is wrong to remain silent in the face of crimes that are being committed against a people solely because they exercised their inherent right to elect the person they thought most appropriate," he told the Weekly. But why didn't more Israeli peace activists sail on the ship to break the blockade? They were afraid, says Halper, that the Israeli public would accuse them of "sympathising with the enemy". As a condition for sailing all participants had to sign a declaration in support of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the lands from which they had been expelled. "Those who describe themselves as Israeli peace activists realise that the rejection of the Palestinian right to return is one of the pillars of Zionist unanimity and they did not want to undermine that unanimity," says Halper who is a member of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, an organisation active in opposing the occupation army's destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. The official Israeli response to the Free Gaza Ship underwent several changes. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially announced it would forbid the ship from entering Gazan territorial waters. An Israeli army spokesman issued a statement acknowledging that the Israeli navy had received instructions to prevent the ship from reaching its destination. After a series of consultations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his media advisors it was decided that the ship should be allowed through. Olmert's media spokesman Yanki Galanti said that after consultations with army and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials it was agreed that the best response would be to let the ship progress. This, he said, was meant to sweep the rug from under the activists' real goal which was to attract media attention in the event of their ship being obstructed by Israeli forces. In a statement to Maarev, Glanti said: "They wanted to butt their heads against a wall so we decided to remove the wall," adding that by allowing the ship to anchor off the coast of Gaza Israel had averted what would have been embarrassing media exposure. It is probably too soon for Israeli officials to breathe easy. Among Palestinians in Gaza, at least, there is a strong sense that the arrival of the ship is only the beginning of a train of actions that will pick up impetus and bring an end to the blockade.
