effective
control over Gaza. Nor has the siege anything to do with "security."
Like other elements of the Occupation
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where
Israel has also besieged cities, towns, villages and whole regions, the
siege on Gaza is fundamentally political.
It is intended to isolate
the democratically-elected government of Palestine and break its power
to resist Israeli attempts to impose an apartheid regime over the entire
country.
This is why I, an Israeli
Jew, felt compelled to join this voyage to break the siege. As a person
who seeks a just peace with the Palestinians, who understands (despite
what our politicians tell us) that they are not our enemies but rather
people seeking precisely what we sought and fought for - national
self-determination I cannot stand idly aside. I can no more passively
witness my government's destruction of another people than I can watch
the Occupation destroy the moral fabric of my own country. To do so
would violate my commitment to human rights, the very essence of
prophetic Jewish religion, culture and morals, without which Israel is
no longer Jewish but an empty, if powerful, Sparta.
Israel has, of course,
legitimate security concerns, and Palestinian attacks against civilian
populations in Sderot and other Israeli communities bordering on Gaza
cannot be condoned. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel, as an
Occupying Power, has the right to monitor the movement of arms to Gaza
as a matter of "immediate military necessity." As activists committed to
resisting the siege non-violently, I have no objection to the Israeli
navy boarding our boats and searching for weapons. But only that.
Because Israel has no right to besiege a civilian population, it has no
legal right to prevent us, private persons sailing solely in
international and Palestinian waters, from reaching Gaza - particularly
since Israel has declared that it no longer occupies it. Once the
Israeli navy is convinced we pose no security threat, then, we
thoroughly expect it to permit us to continue our peaceful and lawful
journey into Gaza port.
Ordinary people have often
played key roles in history, particularly in situations like this where
governments shirk their responsibilities. My voyage to Gaza is a
statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people in their time of
suffering, but it also conveys a message to my fellow citizens.
First, despite what our
political leaders say, there is a political solution to the
conflict, there are partners for peace. The very fact that I, an
Israeli Jew, will be welcomed by Palestinian Gazans makes that very
point. My presence in Gaza also affirms that any resolution of the
conflict must include all the peoples of the country, Palestinian and
Israeli alike. I am therefore using whatever credibility my actions lend
me to call on my government to renew genuine peace negotiations based on
the Prisoners Document accepted by all Palestinian factions, including
Hamas. The release of all political prisoners held by Israel, including
Hamas government ministers and parliamentary members, in return for the
repatriation of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, would dramatically
transform the political landscape by providing the trust and good-will
essential to any peace process.
Second, the Palestinians are
not our enemies. In fact, I urge my fellow Israeli Jews to disassociate
from the dead-end politics of our failed political leaders by declaring,
in concert with Israeli and Palestinian peace-makers: We refuse to be
enemies. Only that assertion of popular will can signal our
government that we are fed up with being manipulated by those profiting
from the Occupation.
And third, as the infinitely
stronger party in the conflict and the only Occupying Power, we Israelis
must accept responsibility for our failed and oppressive policies. Only
we can end the conflict.
In the Israeli conception,
Zionism was intended to return to the Jews control over their own
destiny. Do not let us be held hostage to politicians who endanger the
future of our society. Join with us end the siege of Gaza, and with it
the Occupation in its entirety. Let us, the Israeli and Palestinian
peoples, declare to our leaders: we demand a just and lasting peace in
this tortured Holy Land.
