The other day, a flotilla of six boats with humanitarian aid for Gaza was attacked by Israeli naval commandos. The flotilla was warned in advance to not attempt breaching the blockade and Israel offered to take some of the aid to Gaza. The six ships of the flotilla, consisting of people from 60 countries, were flagged from Turkey, Greece and the U.S. In international waters, the naval commandos boarded the ships in the middle of the night. On one ship the commandos came under attack and returned fire, killing ten people and wounding many others. A first-hand account from another ship said that by the time they woke up, the Israeli commandos were already aboard and the passengers responded to their requests. Israeli says its commandos were armed with paint-ball guns and pistols and were fighting in self-defense.
To clear some things up, a form of Israel existed on the land it currently occupies thousands of years ago. Over time, it was beaten and overrun and, for hundreds of years, other countries, including Palestine, occupied this area. After WWII, The United Nations decided to create an Israeli state and a Palestinian state from this land, with special consideration given to Jerusalem, which many religions consider sacred ground. Most of the world was for this, since the Jews had just been nearly annihilated by Hitler, except for the Palestinians, who would be forced to move. Since the creation of the state of Israel in May of 1948, there has been constant contention over the land. Israel continues to defend itself and its Muslim neighbors continue to keep some kind of control over what they are losing. Israel has also enjoyed the support of the United States and its allies in all of its struggles.
And for a long time, I believed that the support we offered was justified...until I started paying attention. But Israel has denied aid to 1.5 million people in Gaza for three years because it is afraid of Hamas attacking it. It has closed the borders to the West Bank and forced hundreds of Palestinians to lose their jobs because they can't get to them in Israel. It is consistently returning forceful blows to the perpetrators of the slightest provocation. And it complains that everyone in the region is against them. It seems to me that if a person was to behave in a manner that provokes others to violence, they would eventually lose the respect of those around them. Perhaps, they might even be held liable for the actions they have committed. Put very simply, bullies always end up in trouble in the end.
I don't think doing away with the state of Israel is an answer. But I do think we should start sending a stronger message to their government, a message that makes it clear that they will lose international support if they continue to bully their neighbors. Nothing can justify impoverishing millions of people. I think they need to start behaving responsibly and humanely or suffer the same consequences they are doling out. If they think they can withstand the pent-up anger of their neighbors on their own, they will continue along the same path. If they want to peaceably solve their problems with their neighbors, they need to withdraw troops, open borders and come to the table knowing that sometimes you have to give a little to get a little.
