Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Forbidden Items

Lots of apologists asking why, if the flotilla activists really cared about getting their humanitarian supplies to the citizens of Gaza, they didn't they just politely hand them to the Israeli authorities to pass on to the Palestinians. This graphic sourced from Andrew Sullivan reveals why the activists could have serious doubts about whether those supplies would in fact reach who they were intended for:Among the banned items: construction equipment - concrete or even wood is banned for a population still living in the rubble of Operation Cast Lead, canned or dried fruit, fishing rods and poultry are forbidden to a population the UN says faces severe food insecurity. Like prisoners in a totalitarian regime, they are also denied newspapers - don't want the prisoners being disturbed by news from the outside world.

How exactly does denying a population the right to have musical instruments stop rocket attacks? The answer of course, is it has nothing to do with security and is just mean spirited collective punishment for a population that voted in a way that displeased Israel.

Collective punishment is forbidden by international law.

2 comments:

PeterC said...

I'm particularly liking how some spices, I suspect because they are sourced in Israel, are allowed while others are not.
Profiteering is the second oldest profession.

Cliff said...

There's also evidence that some of the banned items specifically remove competition for Israeli producers while others are removed from the banned list when Israeli farmers and producers have surpluses they want to profit from unloading on Gaza.

These are crimes under international law.

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