Breaking the Siege

“O you sleepless!  have you not tired
from watching the light in our salt?
And from the incandescence of roses in our wounds
have you not tired, O sleepless?”

~Mahmoud Darwish, State of Siege

How do we know what is impossible anymore?  After the Free Gaza Movement broke the siege of Gaza successfully 4 times it now seems that what was once seen as unlikely has been turned on its back.  On Friday night I attended a talk by Free Gaza Movement members and representatives hosted by the Topanga Peace Alliance.

This group has successfully been able to bring in medical supplies, food and water to this broken, beaten and weary population.  The fifth time they attempted to break the blockade they were rammed by the Israeli military and almost sunk but made it to safety thanks to the state of Lebanon.  The group is planning on bringing in even more humanitarian aide with perhaps a whole fleet of ships or even an airplane, who knows what is possible from here?!

The Israeli state and military have maintained a partial to at times complete blockade of the borders, waters and airspace over Gaza.  The ramifications of this are multi-dimensional.  First off Gazans require Israels consent to travel to and from Gaza, and international access to this barbed wire prison also depends upon Israeli permission.

Furthermore the Palestinian market is completely controlled by Israel who limits or thwarts the goods that come in and out.  This covers food, medicine, water and electricity in addition to goods produced by the people of Gaza.  Because of a lack of access to supplies needed for water treatment 13 of Gazas 20 Mediterranean beaches have been “deemed as polluted and unsuitable for swimming.” (http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/campaigns/english/gaza_closure/Narratives_17.html)

Furthermore, the tap water is also undrinkable.  This is probably not even taking into account the recent onslaught of bombs and illegal weaponry that the Israeli military used in the recent bombardment of Gaza and the residuals of these chemicals on the environment and the human flesh it has touched.

Gaza appears to be an unreachable mess.  The stranglehold is so strong and has been ongoing for over 40 years now.  And while the eye of the world was focused on this area the Israeli military continued to bulldoze homes in East Jerusalem and confiscate land for Jewish-”settlements” in the West Bank.  Last week 250 acres of land was confiscated from Bethlehem. (http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/17/headlines#12)

Just recounting all of this to you right now makes my head spin.

But the tides are beginning to turn and there seems to be a momentum that is preparing to break through the iron wall of segregation and inequality.  Hampshire College in Amherst, MA is the first university to agree to divest from any companies that profit from Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (http://whoprofits.org/)

Thirty two years ago Hamphshire College was the first University to divest from apartheid South Africa for similar reasons. For those of you who don’t know the meaning of Apartheid, it is as follows: any institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial or national group over another. It not only refers to racism but rather a racism that is enforced by means of legal separation and systems of inequality. Something similar to the Jim Crow Laws here in the states in the 1950s and something very much resembling what is happening both within the state of Israel and the territories under its occupation.

And it was this withdrawal of funding from the International community that was one of the factors that put enough pressure to end the apartheid government of South Africa. While the events that recently happened in Gaza were horrifying and the population is still suffering the repercussions of the ethnic cleansing that is taking place one good thing seemed to come out of it. The world is slowly awakening to the horrors of being Palestinian in Palestine.

As we in the privileged world sit and watch genocide and ethnic cleansing take place on our televisions there is a growing angst that is breaking the divide.  We are in such a unique place right now in the history of the world. All the information we need to remain aware and make informed decisions is available and accessible. With all the changes in the world today there is a subtle tide that is turning and we are only beginning to feel the cool mist of it as it sprinkles and cools off our skin beneath the heated sunshine of the day.  We can only begin to imagine what can be!

~ by deemadabis on February 24, 2009.