Since September first, a flotilla of 40 ships from various nations have been slowly sailing across the Mediterranean to deliver a token amount of aid to Gaza. This is a PR move — the reason they are taking so long is because they’re not bringing huge amounts of relief, but are instead trying to bring attention to Israel’s oppression.
Because it specifically has the goal of bringing the world’s attention to the crimes of Israel, you know it would not undermine its message by, for instance, secretly hauling crates of AK-47s. It’s just food and medical aid, and people who are talking on their cell phones to spread the message. That’s why the flotilla has been harassed by electronic countermeasures along the way, and getting buzzed by drones to deprive the passengers of sleep.
And then, yesterday, the Israeli navy boarded the ships and detained people, ending the flotilla’s mission. They have excuses!
Israel has argued its actions constitute a lawful naval blockade needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics consider it collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza.
Whether the blockade is militarily justified is a point of contention. But the flotilla argues they are a civilian, unarmed group and that the passage of humanitarian aid is guaranteed under international law.
Uh, Israel? You’ve seized the ships, you’ve got troops on board, if they were importing arms, you could be releasing photos of those imaginary crates of AK-47s. You could produce documents that you’ve seized showing correspondence with terrorist organizations. They haven’t! It wouldn’t be believable given Israel’s history of faking evidence, and given the flotilla’s obvious goal of establishing a peaceful propaganda coup.
Well, they succeeded. Israel’s ham-handed attack on the flotilla is just demonstrating that they are criminals who don’t like their ongoing genocide being interrupted by peaceful activists.