While browsing through the periodicals at my local library, I came upon an editorial in the June edition of The Nation that was relevant to my study. Surprisingly enough, the article was openly critical of not only the Israeli raid of the Freedom Flotilla, but on U.S. foreign policy regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The issue at hand was the Israel navy’s attack on a flotilla of ships full of human rights activists, diplomats, government officers, and civilians from around the globe on international waters. The ships were intending to deliver humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, who have been suffering under an Israeli blockade for more than four years. This action is a result of a policy enacted under the support of the United States, and the results have devastated Gaza and its people. The article cites UN agencies as stating that the formal economy has collapsed, leaving more than 60 percent of people food insecure, 80 percent dependent on the UN for sustenance, and rising levels of malnutrition. In addition, a weakened infrastructure has left a decrease in energy so great that there is limited access to food production and storage as well as safe drinking water. Because of the blockade, thousands of citizens have been homeless since Israel’s 2008-2009 military assault on the area.
The article goes on to criticize the U.S.’s one-sided policy, as well as the medias dishonest reporting of basic facts about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The writer states that these events would not have been possible without the “active collusion or cowardly silence of the vast majority of the Democratic Party and liberal policy establishment;” however, considers it positive that recent events have focused our attention on Gaza’s blockade, and calls for its end immediately.
It was so refreshing to read such a brave and critical article on this matter. I can only hope that more Americans will take such a brave stance on this matter.
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