June 3, 2010
American Friends Service Committee Responds to
Attack on Humanitarian Shipment to Gaza
The American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC) is aggrieved by the deadly Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla,
which was carried out in international waters during the early hours of Monday
morning. The flotilla was attempting to break the Israel-imposed embargo against
the people of Gaza by delivering humanitarian relief and construction materials
to Gaza’s blockaded port.
In the words of AFSC staff present in Gaza: “We are all shocked and feel
very sad for those who have been killed and injured having bravely voiced their
support to Gazans. We think about their families and children they left behind
to join the flotilla. We believe this world could be a better place, but only
if we all stand together, support peace and love against oppression and injustice.”
As an international organization that has provided humanitarian relief and education
in Gaza for more than 60 years, AFSC views this egregious event as only one symptom
of a deadly and ill-conceived policy course. The embargo on Gaza has led to the
death of many of its citizens, whose years of suffering has been largely ignored
by the international community, has not resulted in true human security for Israel
or the United States, and has not brought closer the hoped for peace between the
Israeli and Palestinian people.
The policies of continued isolation serve to harden the positions of extremists,
weaken the credibility of voices of moderation, and perpetuate a heightened sense
of fear in Israel and Palestine leading to further tensions and aggression. This
policy course has been in place since well before the 2006 elections won by Hamas.
The continuing refusal by the U.S. to deal with the winners of this election has
led to a tightening of the blockade. As long as this social, economic and political
isolation of Gaza continues, the likelihood of catastrophic violence becomes greater.
We call on the U.S. government to reverse its support for this flawed, failed
policy approach and take all effective steps to end Gaza’s isolation, including
lifting the blockade and allowing the normal flow of goods and people across Gaza’s
borders.
While the embargo has been in place, the U.S. has been complicit in its maintenance
by providing nearly unconditional military assistance to the State of Israel,
offering political cover at the United Nations, and enforcing sanctions imposed
against Palestine for freely electing a government not deemed acceptable to the
governments of Israel and the United States.
We call upon the U.S. government to help its ally, Israel, break from this failed
course. The U.S. can first do so by ending military assistance to Israel, which
further enflames conflict in the region and ensures Israel will always be better
equipped for aggression than reconciliation. In addition, the U.S. can provide
unlimited diplomatic support for final status peace talks between Israel and the
Palestinian people that include Gaza as an integral part of a Palestinian state,
and give its full support to an impartial international inquiry as called for
in yesterday’s Security Council Presidential Statement.
AFSC speaks from direct experience, having been present in Gaza since 1949. For
the past 10 years both our international and Palestinian staff in Gaza have witnessed
the devastating progressive impact that isolation has had on the people of Gaza
– especially on the 60% of the population who are under the age of 25 and
who struggle to overcome their isolation. They have been brought up under extremely
difficult circumstances and face a daunting future with very few employment opportunities,
since the embargo blocks all commercial trade. Yet even during this embargo, AFSC
staff report that young people in Gaza “look forward to the future with their
eyes wide open and with hope.”
Let their hope not be daunted.