Why Israel attacked the flotilla
ON MONDAY, May 31, a young Palestinian man climbed over the small fence surrounding the main roundabout in Ramallah (the functioning capital of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank) to hang the Turkish flag upon the city Al-Manara statute.
The popular outpourings of solidarity between Turks, Palestinians and others have led many to indulge in rampant speculation concerning the potential repercussions of the Israeli raid upon the Free Gaza Flotilla.
While it is too soon to tell what impact the event will definitively have on the struggle for Palestinian rights, hope for progress or a change in the U.S. position was deflated by the release of statements by Obama administration officials that reiterated all the familiar, spineless rhetoric, which always "sincerely regrets the loss of life," "waits for a proper investigation" and "recognizes or understands the Israel's need for security," etc.
Despite the focus on the aftermath of the raid, there has been little discussion of what motivated Israel to attack the Flotilla in the manner that it did.
The raid, which took place in international waters, was an attempt to demonstrate to the international community, and more specifically to international humanitarian workers and organizations, that Israel will use as violent a means as it deems necessary to maintain its policy of starvation, impoverishment and degradation of the people of Gaza.
There are other ways of diverting or disabling sea vessels, but Israel, in conformity with its longstanding practice of demonstrating or attempting to demonstrate its military dominance, chose to conduct an Entebbe-like raid miles outside of Gaza's shores.
WHILE MANY people were shocked by Israel's brutal choice of policy, here in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the raid aroused much sympathy, but little surprise. Over the past year or so in the Occupied West Bank, checkpoints and restrictions have eased (although some checkpoints have been replaced by the recent construction of the wall), while Israeli repression of Palestinians has steadily increased.
Made possible through increased surveillance and monitoring of protests, human rights groups and nonviolent Palestinian resistance organizations, nighttime raids of nonviolent Palestinian activists remain frequent and international activists are increasingly being deported by Israel.
Israeli responses to protest fluctuate in violence and severity, from the use of military-grade tear gas, an overpoweringly foul green liquid sprayed out of a water cannon and rubber-coated steel bullets, to the use of live ammunition. Such "less than lethal" weapons (like tear gas) are often used by the Israeli Defense Force with the intention of causing severe and massive injuries, sometimes resulting in the deaths of protesters.
Israel's half-time opposition and full-time proxy, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has detained, interrogated and arrested some of the protesters and is widely believed to be using members of the many PA security services to infiltrate and monitor some of the groups organizing the protests and the protests themselves.
The PA is also attempting to assert control and influence over some of these groups by offering money and publicly voicing support for them, although the groups are suspicious of the intentions of the PA and wary, if not outright opposed, to becoming bargaining chips for its benefit.
While some of the restrictions on movement are easing (although not all of them--many are still detained and interrogated for hours or even denied entry into or inside the occupied West Bank), any challenge to Israeli authority and occupation is still being meet with massive amounts of force, violence and repression.
It is the continued practice of this policy that was witnessed with the raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Israel is shifting its policies from that of general restriction to a more selective and focused assault against any resistance to the occupation, although within the framework of this shift, as can be observed by the continued siege on Gaza, collective punishment remains and will continue to remain a readily available and implementable policy tool.
Anonymous, West Bank
