There has been a lot of talk since the killing of nine peace activists yesterday by Israeli Sayetet 13 soldiers about who is to blame. The United Nations Security Council has asked for an impartial investigation into what took place. Aluf Benn, in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, is one of several commentators who have called for a national inquiry into the interception of the convoy.
This is a sideshow. We know the answer to what happened. What happened was the inevitable consequence of a policy.
For over forty years, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River as well as the Gaza Strip. For over forty years, millions of people who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have lived under the authority of the Israeli government and military. They have no voice in that government, and that government does not claim nor pretend to be acting in their interest or on their behalf.
This circumstance is utterly unsustainable. The attempts to prolong this unsustainable status quo necessarily include the use of force against non-violent protesters, the blockade of Gaza from the world, and attacks on those who would defy the blockade.
The United States government and foreign policy establishment may be close to understanding this. Alejandro Wolff, the deputy permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, described the situation in Gaza as "unsustainable", as did the Security Council's statement. Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk echoed this, saying that "This regrettable incident underscores that the international blockade of Gaza is not sustainable," and that "Our responsibility to Israel is to help them find a way out of this situation."
But there is no way out of the siege of Gaza and the other repressive measures that accompany it without ending the occupation. Because there is no way for Israel to sustain the occupation by tactics less horrible than the ones currently being used.
This is the face of the occupation. It always has been and always will be. Every person who supports the occupation needs to see that these events are what they are supporting. There is no way to have a kinder, gentler occupation.
These people are victims of the occupation. This is what it takes, and always will, to perpetuate an unsustainable state of affairs, one that has persisted for nearly half a century.