The Siege of Gaza

It has now been three years since Israel imposed its cruel and crippling siege of the Gaza Strip. I find it incredible, as a Jew and as a human being, that Israel—which calls itself the Jewish State—would blockade nearly a million and a half people in a small territory, effectively turning it into an enormous ghetto, periodically raid and murder them, and deprive them of a list of goods that seems to have been compiled for sadistic effect.

I wish I could say that I cannot imagine why Israel does this. In fact I can imagine all too well: What Israel is trying to do is ‘train’ the Palestinians to accept their status as a subjugated and defeated people. By destroying their industry and economy it hopes to keep them weak and undeveloped, and make them forever dependent on it for aid; by repeatedly humiliating and brutalizing them, Israel hopes that the Palestinians will despair of their hopes to be free.

Looking at the list of prohibited goods that Gisha (an Israeli legal center for freedom of movement) has compiled, Israel’s oppressive goals become very clear. One category of goods is building materials and industrial raw materials: things such as cement, tar, iron, wood for construction, tarpaulin for huts, and fabric that are all necessary to rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure and keep its factories going.

The prohibition to import those materials is clearly having its desired effect: According to a UN report, Gaza is still in much the same state as it was immediately after Israel’s incredibly destructive assault in December 2008–January 2009; and according to a July 2007 report by Gisha, 75% of the factories in Gaza had closed due to lack of raw materials. That was three years ago, only one month after the siege had begun. I assume that, with the siege still in place, the situation has not improved.

Another category of prohibited goods is agricultural supplies and materials: things such as fishing rods, fishing nets, nylon nets for greenhouses, dairies for cowsheds, irrigation systems, heaters for chicken farms, and spare parts for tractors are all necessary to produce food. Along with Israeli bombing of sewage facilities, causing raw sewage to run off into the sea, the lack of these materials has ruined fishing and agriculture in Gaza, which once was famous for its fisheries and orchards.

The previous two categories of prohibited goods are in place to prevent economic self-sufficiency and a modern industry in Gaza; but there are other types of goods that are prohibited, with purposes that are more subtle and grim.

Chocolate, jam, fresh and dried fruit, biscuits, sweets, even potato chips cannot be imported into Gaza. Presumably Israel fears that Hamas will shower Sderot with chocolate rockets and dried fruit bombs; imagine the carnage that would ensue! People would be trampled scrambling over scattered truffles, and get indigestion from gobbling up too many potato chips; businesses would close because of the drop in candy prices, and everyone would have to visit a dentist. Maybe if fruit preserves are allowed in Gaza, Hamas would be able to jam Israeli radars.

Not really. The purpose of prohibiting the import of delicacies into Gaza is different: to deprive Gazans of the slightest luxury, to take away their ability to forget their pain even for the moment it takes for a bit of chocolate to melt on the tongue. It is a cruel prohibition.

What else is prohibited? Toys, musical instruments, notebooks, and writing implements. Does Israel fear that Gazan student bagpipe players will cause, if they are allowed instruments with which to practice, a mental breakdown among Israeli citizens in towns surrounding the Gaza Strip? Perhaps it thinks that its soldiers will flee in horror from the unpracticed squeals and wails and suffer from terrible psychic wounds for the rest of their lives. Or maybe the Israeli leadership, having heard the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword, fear that Gazan students bearing pens will rout its tank battalions and bring down its fighter jets on routine bombing missions.

Israel does not want the people of Gaza to learn, to develop, and to create. It does not want them to have a vibrant culture, a prosperous economy, or a good environment to live in. It would rather see them walk amongst ruins, sleep in tents and live on a “diet,” as Dov Weisglass put it back in 2006.

Israel wants to make the Palestinians suffer to the point of desperation, to cause them so much pain that they cannot take it any more. It wants them to give up. We cannot stand aside and let Israel continue in its campaign of atrocity. Whether Jew or non-Jew, we must all stand up and say Enough! No human being of conscience can accept this outrage.