About the series: Adalah ("justice" in Arabic) is a diary series about the Middle East, with special (but not exclusive) emphasis on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The authors of this series believe in the right of self-determination for all the people of the Middle East and that a just resolution respecting the rights and dignity of both Palestinians and Israelis is the only viable option for peace. Our diaries will consist of news roundup and analysis. We invite you to discuss them in the comments or contribute with stories from the region which deserve attention. We ask only that you be respectful and that the number of meta comments be kept to a minimum.
A year ago this month, Israel shocked the world when it attacked a humanitarian convoy on its way to Gaza in international waters, killing 9 civilians, injuring dozens more, and kidnapping hundreds. Another international flotilla, including a U.S. boat, will sail the third week of June from ports in Europe to Gaza.
Although Egypt has announced plans to ease passage into Gaza through the Rafah border, Israel’s naval blockade continues to block fishing, exports and normal trade. In addition, the people of Gaza remain isolated and desolate more than two years after the Israeli assault on this densely populated refugee population in December 2008 and January 2009.
Kathy Engel, poet, professor, activist, wrote about this mission:
The situation in Gaza is beyond words. There is no possible justification for the ongoing U.S. support for Israel's illegal and immoral acts against the people of Gaza and all of occupied Palestine. It's our obligation to show our support to the Palestinian people struggling for sovereignty, and to act in opposition to the relentless horror. The U.S. Boat to Gaza is a beautiful, tangible movement showing that we, as people will move through the waters to make freedom real.
Writer and Pulitzer prize winner Alice Walker says, "This is the Freedom Ride of this era." Her video message about the flotilla focuses on the need to show solidarity to isolated Palestinians in Gaza.
A number of my friends will be among the estimated 50 passengers that will sail on the U.S. boat, The Audacity of Hope. Among them is Hedy Epstein, my fellow activist and dear colleague. Hedy is an amazing woman who in her 86 years on this earth has championed for human rights and dignity for the oppressed. Some of her causes have included fair housing, abortion rights, and antiwar activities. She has visited the West Bank five times since 2003 to witness firsthand the impact of the occupation on Palestinians and to participate in nonviolent demonstrations in opposition to Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, the 25-foot high cement wall, and the demolition of Palestinian homes and olive orchards. Upon leaving Israel after her first visit, she was forced to strip her clothes and was cavity searched by Israeli authorities. Hedy spend the entire flight home from Israel writing over and over again in the airline magazine, "I am a holocaust survivor and I will never return to Israel." But she did.
Hedy has tried four different times to get to Gaza. I accompanied her to Cairo in December 2009 to participate in the Gaza Freedom March. The Egyptian government used divide and conquer tactics to deter the 1400 international activists demanding access to Gaza through the Rafah border. The Egyptians only gave permission to 100 activists to travel to Gaza, and Hedy's name was among those. It broke her heart to refuse the deal because, although she knew Mubarak's intent in dividing us, she couldn't stop thinking about her parents who died in Auschwitz who would have treasured any show of solidarity in their hour of need. She refused to be complicit with the Egyptian, Israeli and U.S. governments in keeping Gaza closed to the world.
Despite our failure to break the siege of Gaza, Hedy has never given up in her struggle for the people of Palestine. She missed boarding the Mavi Marmara because of the difficult climb to board the ship. (I shudder to think what would have happened to her had she boarded that boat.) As she embarks on this next attempt to enter Gaza, does she fear the Israeli solidiers with automated weapons? Does she fear the abuse in Israeli detention? No. What Hedy fears are the dogs.
The Israeli government has indicated that attack dogs will be used to first board the flotilla.
The IDF is learning from its experience with the flotilla to the Gaza Strip, and when the next flotilla – if there is one – is boarded by the navy, the soldiers will be assisted by attack dogs from the Oketz unit. The dogs will be the first to board the decks, to prevent harm to soldiers from hostile elements on board.
"As soon as you put an attack dog in an area where soldiers are supposed to get to, it keeps the place sterile and prevents anyone from approaching," a military source said. "Dogs can be placed by crane or other means. They'll be the first, and after them, the soldiers."
Dogs from the Oketz unit are trained to immobilize an enemy by biting – the more the enemy struggles, the harder the bite. "Attack dogs have proved their capabilities on many occasions," the source said. "They are strong and merciless, but in fact this is a non-lethal weapon that can certainly do the work (on the deck)."
The Israeli army has been using dogs against Palestinian day laborers, reports the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem. Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz:
Since the beginning of last month, soldiers with dogs have been lying in ambush near a breach in the fence, between the Bedouin refugee village Ramadin and Kibbutz Shoval in the Negev.
Every night hundreds of West Bank Palestinians gather at this point to seek work the next day in the nearby Jewish and Bedouin communities.
Several laborers have been injured by dog attacks and some have been hospitalized for treatment. When the laborers tried to file complaints with the Kiryat Arba police, they were arrested on suspicion of tearing the fence and indictments have been filed against them.
Ala Hawarin, 22, of Dahariya, was injured in the arm and thigh when a dog attacked him as he was crossing the fence line. He went to Hebron for treatment, where the doctors told him two of his fingers would remain paralyzed. When he went to file a police complaint the following day he was arrested.
The B'Tselem human rights group has records of seven dog attacks from the last few weeks, all from the same area.
Hedy says:
I have never been scared until I heard about these attack dogs. Even if the Israeli commandos attack us, there is still the possibility of reaching their humanity. But what do you reach in a dog? So that scares me. But not to the point where I won’t go.
Hedy will be carrying letters to Gaza on her trip. A letter can mean a lot. Letters can be sent to:
Letters to Gaza
119 West 72nd Street #158
New York, NY 10023
To financially support the U.S. Boat to Gaza, donate here.