The boarding of the Samood flotilla by Israeli naval forces and the arrest of 223 activists reflected many things, but most of all the pusillanimity of the world in the face of Israeli aggression. The most telling moment came when France and Italy threw the flotilla to the wolves, by withdrawing its naval vessels when the flotilla entered the exclusion zone Israel had declared, as it enforced the blockade of Gaza by sea, to accompany the one it had established by land. The ships, it has become clear, were only meant to accompany the flotilla so long as it remained within international waters. Once it entered the exclusion zone, the naval vessels turned away, thereby accepting the Israeli blockade as legal. It also showed the impotence of the international community, which otherwise lays such great emphasis on maintaining the freedom of the seas. Israel was once again able to maintain its blockade of Gaza. Only a very few of the flotilla got through the Israeli blockade, and were stopped before they could make landfall.
Even if they had been able to land, would they have been able to unload their cargo, which is quintessentially a peaceful activity, and cannot be carried out under the eyes of hostile warships. That the flotilla was carrying medical supplies and baby formula is particularly painful, for it means that Palestinian wounded and babies will die, who would have lived had the cargoes got through. This is not the first relief flotilla which has started out and failed to get through the blockade. It may we not be the last, for another flotilla has already left Turkey. However, the Israeli Navy has shown it can maintain the blockade, even without the aid of the US Navy, which will help it at a pich and even without the use of its extensive firepower.
It is perhaps worth noting that the flotilla’s being stopped coincided with US President Donald Trump’s proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza. It reflects Israeli obduracy and refusal to make any concessions. Even as Hamas leaders consider a plan which amounts to their total surrender, the Israeli government has shown that it will enforce its current starvation policy against Gazans as completely as if it was in the middle of the conflict. Its only concession to international opinion seems to have been its refraining from blowing the flotilla out of the water, as it could undoubtedly have done.
