What's Missing? The Real Issue in the Peace Flotilla Controversy

What's missing here?

Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing nine passengers in a botched raid that provoked international outrage and a diplomatic crisis. Dozens of activists and six Israeli soldiers were wounded in the bloody predawn confrontation in international waters.

Israel said it opened fire after its commandos were attacked by knives, clubs and live fire from two pistols wrested from soldiers after they rappelled from a helicopter to board one of the vessels. Late Monday, it released a grainy black-and-white video that it said supported its version of events.

Click here to watch video  from aboard the ship.

However, there were conflicting accounts of what happened early Monday, with activists claiming the Israelis fired first and Israel insisting its forces fired in self defense. Communications to the ships were cut shortly after the raid began, and activists were kept away from reporters after their boats were towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The activists were headed to Gaza to draw attention to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which Israel and Egypt imposed after the militant Hamas group seized the territory of 1.5 million Palestinians in 2007. Israel claims that sufficient food and humanitarian supplies reach Gaza residents, though Israel retains the right to control all entry and exit to the Strip and inspect all goods entering it, despite Israel's withdraw from Gaza in 2005. Other agencies claim that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deepened since Israel imposed its blockade. Unemployment, food insecurity, and infrastructure atrophy have increased yearly, and dangerous water and sanitation infrastructure deterioration has led to health consequences for Gaza residents, a recent UN report indicates.

Missing from the finger-pointing over the ship boarding is the message that the flotilla was attempting to bring to the world: the Gaza blockade is an international crime in slow-motion, collectively punishing the people of Gaza for "choosing" the wrong ruling party, Hamas. Gazans cannot build or rebuild homes destroyed during Israel's December 2008 "Cast Lead" operation due to the ban on construction materials; they cannot export goods on the international market; they cannot leave Gaza to find work or education elsewhere, even to go to the West Bank. Effectively, Israel has trapped about 1.5 million people into one of the most densely populated areas on earth, leading to an unemployment rate estimated at at least 40 percent, leading to 70 percent or more living below the poverty line.

Israel's handling of the flotilla obviously has been faulty. If indeed peace activists attacked soldiers, even if their ship was fired upon first, that is an act that tarnishes the nonviolent reputation of peace activists everywhere and undermines their effort to get their message out. But let's not forget the message, because the people of Gaza are depending on it - the blockade of Gaza must be lifted, and the sooner, the better.