It’s been one lie after another in the US media about the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound relief flotilla.  No matter that the Israeli media views the whole incident as a debacle for Israel, in this country the Israel-can-do-no-wrong crowd is on overdrive defending the operation.  As usual, facts don’t matter to them.

Except they do.

The first thing you need to know about the Gaza flotilla disaster is that the intention of the activists on board the ships was to break the Israeli blockade.  Delivering the embargoed goods was incidental.

In other words, the activists were like the civil rights demonstrators who sat down at segregated lunch counters throughout the South and refused to leave until they were served.  Their goal was not really to get breakfast.  It was to end segregation.

That fact is so obvious that it is hard to believe that the “pro-Israel” lobby is using it as an indictment.

Of course the goal of the flotilla was to break the blockade.  Of course Martin Luther King provoked the civil authorities of the South to break segregation.  Of course the Solidarity movement used workers’ rights as a pretext to break Soviet-imposed Communism.

The bottom line is that the men and women of the flotilla had every right to attempt to destroy an illegal blockade that Israel had no legal standing to impose and which was designed to inflict collective punishment on the people of Gaza. (There is no truth to the story that Israel would have delivered the goods on the ships to Gaza if asked; the Israelis never made that offer and, judging by years of precedent, would have blocked any delivery).

As for the Israeli argument that its soldiers were attacked, that is ridiculous. Israeli commandos were ordered to board a civilian ship in international waters and the government that sent them claims that the resisting passengers attacked them without provocation.  This is like a carjacker complaining to the police that the driver bashed him with a crowbar that was under the seat.  Neither carjackers nor hijackers should expect their victims to acquiesce peacefully.

Here are the facts about life in Gaza today — facts that only can be changed by breaking the blockade.  These data come from the American Near East Relief Association (ANERA), which provides relief to Gazans to the extent permitted by the Israeli (and American) authorities.  ANERA is neither “pro-Israel” nor “pro-Palestinian.”  It has no political agenda at all.  It merely determines what human needs are and tries to respond to them.

8 out of 10 Gazans depend on foreign aid to survive.

The World Food Program says Gaza requires a minimum of 400 trucks a day to meet basic nutritional needs – yet an average of just 171 trucks worth of supplies enters Gaza every week,

Clothes that were held in the port of Ashdod for over a year were released into Gaza but arrived covered with mold and mildew, unusable.

95% of Gaza’s water fails World Health Organization standards leaving thousands of newborns at risk of poisoning.

Anemia for children under the age of 5 is estimated at 48%.

75 million liters of untreated sewage are pumped into the Mediterranean Sea every day – because piping and spare parts are not permitted.

During the 2009 bombing:

More than 120,000 jobs were lost as Gaza’s industrial zone was destroyed… 15,000 homes and apartments were damaged or destroyed… 1/3 of all schools were destroyed.

None of these can be rebuilt, because construction supplies are kept out by the Israeli authorities.

Also, check this out from The Economist.  It is a partial list of commodities allowed into Gaza and commodities banned.

So what is the blockade about?

It is not about stopping terrorism.  Hamas has repeatedly offered Israel an indefinite cease-fire in exchange for lifting the blockade.  And, on a half dozen occasions, Israel accepted the deal but did not live up to its side of it.  In fact, the 2009 war began after Israel ignored its commitments under the Gaza cease-fire agreement, continued the blockade, and then provoked the resumption of attacks on Sderot through a series of targeted assassinations of Palestinians (Israel claims that no cease-fire agreement curtails its right to kill any Palestinian it deems to be a terrorist).

Israel asserts that it will not accept any long-term cease-fire agreement with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize its right to exist.

But Israel does not need the permission of anyone — let alone Hamas — to exist.  All it needs from Hamas is an end to violence and that is precisely what Hamas is offering, in exchange for lifting the blockade.

This is not to say that Hamas need never recognize Israel.  It should.  But it is ridiculous to insist on recognition as a precondition for anything.  Recognition would be the end result of negotiations, not a precondition for it.

But that is not what Israel wants.  It wants to destroy Hamas because it is a terrorist organization.  And that makes sense until one realizes that the African National Congress, Sinn Fein, the Israeli Irgun, the Algerian FLN and a host of other resistance movements were called terrorist organizations before negotiations brought them to power.  Former Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir were both unabashed terrorists prior to their entrance into respectable politics.  And so what?  If dealing with terrorists — as Israel has repeatedly done with Hezbollah — will help achieve a worthy goal, why not do it?  After all, if negotiations fail, one can always walk away.

But Israel will not change its self-defeating policies until we change ours.  And there is no evidence that is happening (at least, not until after the November elections, for obvious reasons).

For now, our policies are joined at the hip with Israel’s.  We support the blockade of Gaza.  We oppose any efforts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.  We even back Israel’s opposition to the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers Israel full peace and normalization of relations with every Arab country in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

Enough is enough.  The Obama administration needs to join the rest of the world in demanding an end to the Gaza blockade as a first big step toward the resumption of negotiations.

The attack on the flotilla was one of the most disastrous blunders in Israel’s history.  At last, the whole world sees Israel’s policy of collective punishment for what it is — a means to perpetuate the occupation forever. Only the United States government has chosed to close its eyes.

The occupation is killing Israel.  And we are on the sidelines letting it happen.  Some ally!

Check out the photos of me and Tighe Barry with one Hamas official and the letter, and of delegates building three playgrounds, here.

Given our time constraint, we split up to cover more ground. Ann and Tighe went with reps from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society on a trip to the north, looking at the areas worst hit by the Israelis.

I wanted to make contact with some of the women’s organizations to lay the groundwork for returning with a larger delegation for March 8, international women’s day. So I went to the offices of the Women’s Affairs Center, where I met with two wonderful representatives—Amal and Hala. They told me about their work in training and advocacy for women, and we discussed how we could work together for International Women’s Day. They called their director Naila Ayesh in Ramallah, who was very eager to collaborate with the international delegation.

Next on my agenda was the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). I had numerous names and numbers, but none of them seemed to work, so I decided just to go. At the gate of the main headquarters, I asked to speak with someone from the Gender Division and was ushered in to meet a dynamic woman—Jacqueline Paul. Jacqueline said a quick hello and was about to run off to a meeting when I mentioned our idea of bringing an international delegation for women’s day. Her eyes lit up and she said, “That’s just what my meeting is about; let’s go.” So she took me to meet her colleague, Laila Al Bayoumi, and together we talked about ideas for International Women’s Day. UNRWA  usually organizes activities with grassroots women’s groups all over Gaza on March 8, and they felt that this year, given what the women have been going through, it was particularly important to lift their spirits for at least a day. “In addition to the political problems, the women of Gaza are often invisible as women and only seen as breeders [the average number of children is over 7 per family!!!],” Jacqueline said. “This is the one day we can so something special for them as women.”

Jacqueline and Laila loved the idea of the international delegation, thinking that local women would be moved to know that people around the world cared about their plight. We talked about gift baskets we could bring for the women, including vitamins, soaps, pink headscarves. They proposed the international delegates be divided and sent to several different cities/towns to join in the local activities. To my delight, they offered to coordinate the delegation’s logistics and schedule during our stay in Gaza, and provide a letter of invitation that could help us get through the border. It would still be difficult to get in, and we will need a contingency plan in case we are not let in, but certainly having a UN invitation will make it easier. I left the meeting feeling very enthusiastic about the role we could play in paying tribute to the women of Gaza.

With the most important meetings taken care of, I asked our driver—Waled—if he could show me some more of the effects of the Israeli invasion. He took me by the Quds Hospital, one of the  largest hospitals in Gaza.

The whole neighborhood around the hospital was blown apart by bombs, shells and ground fire. The devastation was shocking, with entire buildings devastated, apartments with gaping holes in the walls, cars crushed by tanks.

We had met a woman from Gaza in the Rafah airport (she was leaving for Cairo) and she told us that her husband, Dr. Walid Abramadan, was the medical director of the Quds hospital. I asked for him at the reception, and was ushered into his office, where he was meeting with several of the senior doctors. He very graciously took time from his meeting to show me the damage. Furious at the Israelis, he showed me the shells he had saved, each with a Made in USA stamp on them. One hit near the pediatric unit, where babies were lying in incubators; another hit the pharmacy on the second floor.  The major damage, however, was done to two of the buildings connected to the hospital—the Palestine Red Crescent Society administrative building and the Society’s Cultural Center. The cultural center, which had been a rehab center for patients, was totally destroyed.

WHAT: CODEPINK women to visit Gaza, examine damage, meet with women’s groups and Hamas officials
WHEN: Jan. 30 to Feb. 9
WHERE: Cairo, Gaza

WASHINGTON –  Members of the leading women’s peace group CODEPINK will travel today to war-torn Gaza to witness the horrific damage of the 22-day Israeli attacks, demand an opening of borders for humanitarian aid, meet with Palestinian women’s aid groups and, if possible, Hamas officials.

Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, and retired Col. Ann Wright, former U.S. state department official, plan to enter Gaza through Egypt and spend 10 days on the citizen diplomacy trip, organized by CODEPINK. They hope to learn, firsthand, the needs of the Gaza people and demonstrate what George Mitchell, the Obama administration’s Special Envoy for Middle East Peace currently visiting several Middle East countries, should do. So far, Mitchell has refused to visit Gaza and meet with Hamas.

“What sense does it make to send a Special Envoy to the Middle East, but not have him visit war-torn Gaza and speak to Hamas?” Benjamin said. “In our visit to Gaza, we will be doing precisely what George Mitchell should be doing—getting an understanding of the devastation that resulted from the Israeli invasion, and talking to governmental, non-governmental and UN representatives.”

Benjamin and Wright will also meet with Palestinian aid groups including the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, to discuss plans for CODEPINK’s new worldwide call to action, “International Women’s Day 2009: Dedicated to the Women of Gaza,” designed to commemorate the women of Gaza on March 8, the United Nations-designated International Women’s Day. The call is endorsed by the National Congress of Black Women, Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, American Muslim Voice, author Alice Walker and journalist Laura Flanders.

Through this call to action, CODEPINK and partner groups will raise funds for the women of Gaza. An international women’s delegation will return to Gaza from March 8 to 13 to deliver the aid to several groups, including the aforementioned groups, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. With international pressure and the determination of the women in the delegation, CODEPINK is confident the Egyptian government will let the aid through.

In Gaza, 22 days of Israeli attacks earlier this year left more than 1,000 dead, including 412 children. Women have largely taken on the role as the primary caretakers of their families and communities while dealing with their own heartbreak. As in all communities ravaged by war and violence, they’ve become largely responsible for providing water, food, medicine, electricity and heat in the face of shortages for families and communities. Many women are also more at risk medically, as maternity wards often become surgical wards.

“The Israeli attack came after 18 months of a crippling blockade that had already left the Palestinian population hungry, sick, weak, and suffering from a catastrophic situation,” Benjamin said. “We must not only provide massive humanitarian aid, but lift the blockade that is keeping the people of Gaza under siege.”

For more information and interviews, email Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, at medea@codepinkalert.org or call Jean Stevens at 646-723-1781.