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http://www.palestinemonitor.org Of course the Flotilla is a political provocation As the launch of the Freedom Flotilla, Stay Human, approaches an increasing number of Zionist officials and commentators are showing the depths of their moral and intellectual bankruptcy by calling this a political – not humanitarian – project. Ran Curiel, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, offers an example as good as any other. On 10 May, Curiel actually went to the trouble of calling a press conference in Strasbourg to offer this conclusion: “In our view, the flotilla is clearly a political provocation,” he said. “There’s no need for a flotilla to aid Gaza… You can pass whatever you want to Gaza through normal channels.” Curiel’s statement reflects two significant misconstructions of the ongoing siege on Gaza and the purpose of the Flotilla. Nobody is entirely clear on what can enter Gaza through his “normal channels,” namely the Erez Crossing, and a large majority of its necessities continue to arrive at a high premium via tunnels from Egypt. Moreover, international opposition to the siege has always had more to do with its crippling effect on Gaza’s economy than its obstruction of aid. Due to the impossibility of legally importing most goods—or exporting nearly anything—unemployment now reaches 45%. Three hundred thousand people survive on a dollar a day. Even if Curiel’s conclusion is irrelevant, it is not entirely wrong: the Freedom Flotilla is indeed “a political provocation.” Why shouldn’t it be? And when has it pretended to be anything else? Like its predecessors—from the successful Free Gaza boats of 2008 to the Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by Israeli commandos in international waters last May—this Flotilla is an unapologetic act of solidarity with a people of Gaza, who fight colonialism, ethnic cleansing and apartheid on a daily basis. The Flotilla intends to challenge the denial of Palestinian self-determination, not simply abet a humanitarian crisis. It aims to break the siege, not only because the siege causes hardship for Palestinians, but also because it obstructs their inherent rights to determine their collective destiny, and that of their historic homeland. The goal is not to secure a reliable flow of international charity, or even bolster their economy, but rather support Palestinians’ sovereignty over their own coasts and territory. Efforts to obscure these obvious truths, by holding the Flotilla to some other standard that it has never aspired to meet, are part of Israel’s propaganda. These claims only hold as much credence as listeners choose to give them. But let there be no mistake. All of us who are part of the Flotilla effort, in ways great and small, have chosen a side, and it is not Israel’s. We stand with the people of Palestine in their struggle for equality and self-determination. And unlike the architects of Operation Cast Lead and apologists for the Nakba, we have nothing to hide. Flotilla organizers have hardly kept this a secret. In a 24 June statement, the Free Gaza Movement reiterated that “our effort is not simply about delivering humanitarian aid. The goal of the Flotilla is not aid; it is freedom for Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. As such, there are no ‘established channels’ for freedom – there is only one – an end to the Israeli occupation.” In more ways than one, Zionists who criticize the Flotilla as a “political provocation” share something with those who condemned the Salt Satyagraha or the Montgomery Bus Boycott for similar reasons. These efforts were also indisputably political and provocative; salt marchers could have simply paid the British tax, while Rosa Parks would actually have reached her destination more quickly by moving to the back of the bus. That these, too, were “political provocations” is equally obvious. It does not delegitimize them. All acts of solidarity with Palestine—whether it’s the Freedom Flotilla or the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement—are in support of a national liberation struggle, not charity for helpless victims. As the late Juliano Mer-Khamis told The Electronic Intifada about his own Jenin Freedom Theatre: “We are joining, by all means, the struggle for liberation of the Palestinian people, which is our liberation struggle. Everybody who is connected to this project says that he feels that he is also occupied by the Zionist movement, by the military regime of Israel, and by its policy. Either he lives in Jenin, or in Haifa, or in Tel Aviv. Nobody joined this project to heal. We’re not healers,” Juliano said. “We are freedom fighters.” His words also describe the stance of Flotilla participants and the growing number of supporters of the Palestinian cause. Yes, our solidarity is political. Yes, it is provocative. And unlike the racism and oppression of Zionism and its enablers, there is nothing shameful about it.
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