An Understanding of the Flotilla Controversy

At the end of May, Israel boarded a flotilla of six ships trying to break the blockade to Gaza. Five of those ships were successfully boarded and on the sixth, Israel was met with a violent reaction from the people on the ship. Many of the videos posted on YouTube point out the validity of Israel’s claim that the people that attacked the soldiers on the sixth ship were not peace activists, but people who had been trained for confrontation and violence. The videos posted include not only those taken by Israel, but also ones confiscated from the ship from journalists aboard the ship. These videos show violent attacks on Israeli soldiers including one in which an Israeli soldier was stabbed twice in the back.

In the world, this attack on the Mavi Mamara has been met with almost universal condemnation. In Israel, there is much discussion about this as well. Recently, Israel has agreed to a Commission of Inquiry to be headed by Justice Jacob Turkel. Professor of international law and Israel Prize laureate Shabtai Rosen, and Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Horev, former president of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, will also participate. Two foreign observers will take part in the commission's deliberations: Nobel Peace Prize laureate William David Trimble of Ireland, and Ken Watkin, former military judge advocate general from Canada. They will examine both the role of the Israeli Army as well as the people who were on the Mavi Marmara.

This inquiry will stand in marked contrast to previous inquiries by the United Nations such as the slanderous Goldstone Report which accused Israel of seeking to purposely kill civilians during the Gaza war. Two weeks ago, the United Nations passed a resolution in which it first condemned Israel and only then called for an International Commission to investigate the incident. Condemn first, then investigate!

In Israel being the democracy that it is, there is more than adequate condemnation of this event. This condemnation includes the failure of Israeli intelligence to know that the people onboard the ship were indeed looking for a fight. It also includes the fact that Israeli P.R. mechanism was woefully inadequate in getting the films out in a timely manner and explaining Israel’s case to the world.

In recent polls in Israel, there has been an overwhelming majority of the people who were in favor of the interception of the ship. Why is this so?

First, it has become clear that the purpose of this flotilla in the minds of the leaders of Hamas was not necessarily to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. Israel offered the ships to dock in Ashdod port and they would transfer the aid to Gaza. This offer was made again and again and was met with refusal each time. Eventually, all of the six ships were taken into the Israeli port of Ashdod and their cargo was loaded on to trucks and sent to Gaza. Hamas refused to accept the supplies. By the way, Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.

So if the real purpose of the flotilla was not to provide aid, then what was the purpose?

To answer this, let us look at a little recent history. In January 2003 before there was a blockade on Gaza, Israel intercepted a ship named the Karine A. On that ship, there were fifty tons of weaponry. These included short-range Katyusha rockets, antitank missiles, and high explosives. Since that time, Israel has incepted numerous attempts to smuggle weapons into Gaza including one in 2009 in which weapons were hidden among sacks of flour.

In September 2005, Israel withdrew from every single square inch of Gaza. Every Jew living in Gaza was evacuated as part of Israel’s disengagement.

In June 2006, elections were held and these elections were won by Hamas, a violent Islamic radical group . One year later, Hamas violently seized Gaza and threw out or murdered all of its political opponents. This internal Palestinian coup is rarely cited in the media.

From 2006 until December 2008, more than 8,000 rockets were fired from Gaza into Southern Israel and fell on cities and town such as Sderot and Ashkelon. These rockets made life unbearable for more than 1,000,000 Israelis who were living in rocket range. This is especially true in Sderot which is close to the border. I have been told that there are children in Sderot who still wake up with nightmares and who have bed wetting problems at an age when they should not have them. For the most part, the terror of the rockets ended in December 2008 with Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s war in Gaza.

Meanwhile to the north of Israel in Lebanon, a place wherein there is not blockade on weaponry, Hizbullah, a radical Shiite Islamic terror group, has now amassed more that 40,000 rockets which can be fired into Israel as far as Tel Aviv.

The huge arsenal of weapons amassed by the Hezbollah, in spite of the presence of UN monitor forces in Lebanon, is in direct defiance of UN Resolution 1701, which called for the ""full implementation ... of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state." Given the failure of the international community to implement that Resolution, it is understandable why Israel should be wary of any kind of imposed settlement.

Therefore for Hamas, the purpose of the flotilla was to break the blockade in order to allow for the unfettered importation of weaponry via the sea into Gaza. Here they would find an ally in the Iranians who were willing to provide them with such weapons. By doing this, the Iranians hoped to create a port in the Mediterranean. The flotilla incident was also convenient for Iranians government to divert the world’s attention, especially in the UN, away from their violations of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty of which they are a signatory and to avoid being sanctioned by the UN. This strategy by the way, would not work for the Iranians. Just this week, the UN did vote to sanction Iran for its efforts in trying to become a nuclear power. Do not however get too excited about this bit of “good” news, for most feel that the UN sanctions are very weak and will have little effect in preventing and even slowing down Iran’s nuclearization.

Finally, let us not forget that on June 25th , Gilad Shalit, whose picture is sitting on the chair over here, will conclude his fourth year of Hamas captivity. During this time he has not been seen by the Red Cross and we are not clear as to his welfare. Lawyers representing the family of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier held in isolation, had asked the protestors to take aid for him, they refused. People on boats might have the words Free Gaza as a convenient slogan. Yet Gaza is not under Israeli rule. In fact, only one Jew lives there, against his will. If anything, “Free Gilad Shalit” should be the rallying call heard around the world. As Jews we will continue to pray for his release. It is time to bring Gilad home!

A friend of mine, Rabbi Mickey Boyden from Israel wrote simply the following, “Israel makes mistakes, what country does not? But there are far more serious issues out there than Israel’s interception of the Mavi Marmara. However, it is in the interests of many of the players on the world stage to put the blame and focus on Israel which has become the world’s “Jew” rather than addressing the serious threats that face the civilized world.”

Another friend, Rabbi Jonathan Miller, wrote “Israel is a young, lovely, and vibrant country. It is imperfect, yet it is, to a large extent, the fulfillment of our people’s dreams and hopes. Israel faces many challenges. There are many people out there, including some very real enemies and others who are only the fairest of weather friends, who focus on every mistake that Israel makes and who are critical of each and every fault. These faults are acceptable when made by almost every other nation, but not when made by Israel.”

More than 3,200 years ago, the Jewish people faced very serious challenges on the way to the Promised Land. After more than forty years, the Jewish people did reach the Promised Land. Despite all of these difficulties of achieving peace, more than three thousand years later, we are hopeful and prayerful that Israel will indeed know peace, tranquility and security within her borders.