Saturday 5 June 2010

The Rachel Corrie

The British media hardly said a thing about the seizure by Israel of the Rachel Corrie. There was no violence, so that's all right then?! Much more fun to talk about a freak gun rampage in the Lake District! I have not yet seen any mention of the location where the ship was boarded; presumably either in international waters, which is piracy, or in Gaza's territorial waters, which is abusive occupation.

And it does matter that the ship was not allowed into Gaza. Israel says it will deliver the aid by road, but it will weed out whatever is on its embargo list, including any of the building materials that are so desperately needed. The siege goes on, illegal and immoral though it is, and anybody who does not denounce it is guilty of complicity.

The one piece of good news is that Egypt has been shamed into reopening the Rafah crossing, but for how long? Egyptian and Jordanian collaboration with Israel were bought by American dolllars, but will Obama continue to make aid conditional on acquiescence in policies that most people in Egypt and Jordan abhor?

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