Fishing is essential to the livelihoods of the people of Gaza, but for the, fishermen going out in their boats has been likened to entering a ‘military zone’. The Israeli-imposed limit as to how far the fishermen can go out varies – frequently set at six nautical miles – and those who stray beyond the limit can be arrested or shot at (1).
Two weeks ago, the Handala, a Norwegian fishing boat, docked in Southampton, sharing information about the Israeli blockade of Gaza, “the world’s largest open-air prison” according to Wendy, a Canadian social worker, and one of the crew, who was speaking at a local Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting at October Books.
“Some of them are badly injured; some are killed; sometimes their boats are destroyed,” says Wendy. “They have no way to make a living off the fish in the sea that that they should have access to. They are trapped like a mouse in a cage.”
Travelling around the UK and mainland Europe, the Freedom Flotilla is seeking help on their mission for the people, and especially children, of Gaza. They are sharing information about the conditions there and building support for a further attempt to break the sea blockade, pronounced illegal by a United Nations team. (2, 3). Freedom Flotilla is a multi-national campaign that will be embarking on a further mission in the Mediterranean next year.
“It’s the only country in the world with a sea shoreline where the people have no access to their own sea. And what does it mean?” asks Thomas, the captain of the Handala. “Okay, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, all that stuff. But communication. I mean, you live in Southampton, you have been a port city at all times, you know how important communication is over the sea. That’s where goods are exported and imported. It’s how we meet other people. It’s the way we travel. But the people in Gaza are not in a position to travel from their own coast.”
At Thomas’s comparison with Southampton, I can’t help but think of the perennial complaints that we Sotonians also have little access to the waterfront. But imagine getting shot at on the Isle of Wight ferry unless it turned round, or commandos landing on cruise and container ships coming up past Fawley. It puts it into perspective.
“It’s not a fence, but you can’t cross it. Boats are shot at. They are putting their lives at risk when they go out in the boat. And remember, there are no fish from zero to six nautical miles from the coast, the fish are outside, where the boats are prevented from going. That’s what the blockade looks like from the inside.”
Although a daily occurrence for Palestinians, the blockade is only news when people try to get to Gaza through the blockade from the world outside.
The only time that there has been any international response was when the Israel Defence Forces killed 9 people aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters in May 2010. (10) Although even that was weak and short-lived. While a United Nations Commission states that Israel is in violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions, most governments simply ignore it and allow Israel to get away with it. (3, 4)
“What if it happened off the coast of Somalia?” asks Thomas. “It would be a very different response.” He suggests that the support and $3.8bn aid from the USA each year is what enables Israel, pointing out that the UK always sides with the USA regarding Israel. (5) He points to the large market in security and arms in Israel for western firms, selling through third parties. (6)
The Freedom Flotilla’s next attempt to break the blockade will happen next year.
“We are not sailing there to put a Band Aid on the problem,” says Thomas. “What we are doing is a political act, attempting to breach the blockade. This is about human rights.”
The ships of the flotilla are crewed by ordinary people, showing great bravery in light of the previous violent experiences, but they are not deterred.
The banner on the side of the Handala reads ‘For the children of Gaza.’ Half the population of Gaza are now children under the age of 18.
“This is a war on children,” says Wendy.
Of a recent trip to the occupied West Bank, Thomas says: “They shoot and harm kids. They are stealing land, and they are also stealing their future.” (7) In June a three-year-old wounded by Israeli gunfire died. (8) In 2014 four boys were killed while playing on a beach. (9) Last year, 19 Palestinian children were killed occupied territories in a week. (10)
Wendy describes the sight of Gaza at night from the sea – lights all round in Israel, but Gaza in total darkness. “There is no power, no light, no electricity.”
It is not just the sea border to Gaza that is effectively blockaded. Travelling in and out of Gaza is controlled by permits, which only some residents are eligible to apply for. Even for those eligible, it can be a lottery, or in some cases fatal. Six year old Abu al-Naja died last year after the Israeli ‘Gaza Co-ordination and Liaison Administration’ spent 8 months decided whether to permit him to travel to Jerusalem for life-saving treatment.(11) According to the World Health Organisation, in 2022, 33 per cent of patient permit applications were delayed or denied, 62 per cent of companion applications were delayed or denied while 289 patients lost hospital appointments due to checkpoint closures (12).
The need to travel for healthcare is critical because of the Israeli destruction of health facilities in Gaza. According to the British Medical Journal, in the May 2021 bombardment, Israeli airstrikes damaged six hospitals and nine primary healthcare centres; a Covid laboratory, the Ministry of Health, killing doctors and other health workers. (13) In the 2014 bombardment Rafah Hospital – which was treating the wounded – had to be evacuated. Ambulances were shot at and and a paramedic was killed when his ambulance was hit by a rocket. (14a, 14b)
In 2012, the Israeli Government (Ministry of Defence) was forced by the courts to release a 2008 report, Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – the Red Lines, that calculated how many calories Palestinians needed to consume to avoid malnutrition. The government decided that 106 lorry loads, plus wheat per day, would allow for a ‘daily humanitarian portion’. According to Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, only an average of 67 lorries per day on the ground were actually allowed to enter Gaza (15, 16).
The Israeli Co-ordinator of Government Activities in the Territories set up a monitoring unit with ‘sensors’ to warn them of impending malnutrition and food shortages. The United Nations – which supports a million people in Gaza through its UNWRA food aid programme – declared that the policy went against humanitarian principles. The United Nations declared Gaza ‘unliveable’. (17)
Asked what people can do in the face of international government inaction, Wendy is clear: “Our mission is to continue to sail until Gaza is free. We do that in the face of violence, and we need to stand strong. You don’t have to sail with us to Gaza but please follow us. Do not be silent. You all have social media, you all have voices. Follow us, support us locally, and speak up for the children of Gaza.”
Compared to the commitment and bravery of those sailing in the Freedom Flotilla to confront the injustice, it seems a reasonable request.
Footnote:
* The crew of the Handala reported that as they moored overnight in Ocean Village, harbour officials asked what they were doing, and said that they wanted ‘no politics here’. Later, they said, two police approached, asked the crew how they had got on in Liverpool, saying that their every move around the UK coast had been followed by police.
1 youtube.com/watch?v=1CFqCWVNuXs
2a reuters.com/article/us-un-gaza-rights-idUSTRE78C59R20110913
3 news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129722
4 amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/
6 caat.org.uk/data/countries/israel/israels-arms-suppliers/
8 reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-toddler-wounded-by-israeli-gunfire-dies-2023-06-05/
11 middleeasteye.net/news/israel-delays-exit-permits-kills-gaza-patients
12 emro.who.int/opt/news/gaza-health-access-2022.html
13 bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1300.full
14a unrwa.org/2014-gaza-conflict
14b time.com/3023221/gaza-paramedics-saving-lives-israel-conflict/
15 bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19975211
For more information: freedomflotilla.org
Facebook: facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition
Twitter: @gazafflotilla
For more local information: PSC Southampton: facebook.com/southamptonpsc/
Photos: Southampton PSC and Charlie Hislop
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