Freedom Flotilla (revisited)
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (We sail until Palestine is free), made up of a broad spectrum of voluntary organisations from various countries (and this time with Nelson Mandela’s grandson as a passenger) is ready to sail and Israel is already trying to stop it: “Israel is pressuring the Republic of Guinea Bissau to withdraw its flag from our lead ship—Akdeniz (“Mediterranean”). This triggered a request for an additional inspection, this one by the flag state, that delays our April 26 planned departure.”, so the organisers.
The first Freedom Flotilla, organised by the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH, Turkey) set sail in 2010 with six ships trying to break through the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel (yes, I had to break it to you, but that was long before October 7 last year!). On arrival one of its ships was stormed by the Israeli military, resulting in 10 death and 29 injured (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). Instead of reaching Gaza, all the ships were then towed to Israel.
Now, in the midst of the current genocide, another flotilla, carrying 5000 tons of desperately needed aid, is ready to leave the port of Istanbul, and Israeli obstruction is likely not to remain purely administrative. The Flotilla Coalition say they are confident that this time they are covered by the order of the International Court of Justice to urgently allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. That’s the public line. I am sure that they are painfully aware that Israel does not care about the International Court of Justice or any other international body for that matter, as the deliberate killing of seven agents of the World Food Kitchen trying to deliver aid by ship from Cyprus proved. However, things could be different this time if the Freedom Flotilla Coalition adopted the following strategy:
The organisers should request from the Turkish government (or the Turkish government, instead of so far mostly verbal support for the Palestinian cause, should offer) that the ships are accompanied by a frigate of the Turkish armed forces. The mission would remain entirely peaceful and the military escort would merely serve as a deterrent to prevent Israel from attacking civilians as they have a habit of doing.
Turkey is a NATO member, Israel is not. Should Israel choose to still attack the ships, Turkey could call in the alliance promise which would force the USA to defend the Turkish maritime operation against Israeli aggression. Should they choose not to come to their aid, the NATO alliance is dead in the water (pun intended) and Turkey could demonstrate to the world that American promises are not worth the faith their allies (the coalition of the willing and coerced as we called them during the Gulf War) place in them. After the resounding blow Iran dealt to Israel’s credibility, this would be another major nail in the coffin of the Zionist enterprise, which is why Israel would have to think long and hard before pulling the trigger (something they, however, do not seem to be very capable of).
Adopting this strategy would support one of the political aims expressed on the organisers’ website: “To condemn and publicize the complicity of other governments and global actors in enabling the blockade. Most notably, the US government has underwritten Israel’s violence against Palestinians for decades, funding Israel’s military at the rate of approximately $4 billion dollars every year and using most of its vetos in the UN Security Council in the last three decades to protect Israel from condemnation for its humanitarian crimes and violations of international law.” Let’s put NATO to the test. And Turkey, to see if its government will put its money (or military hardware) where its mouth is.