Letters to Gaza (part 3)

Dear Humanitarian Aid Organizations, . Congratulations on achieving your initial objective. The world has been made aware of the plight of the Gazans and the atrocities that Israel is carrying out. Now what? . Do you think we are naive? Do you think Israel is stupid? I know there were no weapons on those first seven ships. We all knew Israel would stop them, hijack them, tow them to Israel, and open every last crate in search of rockets and bombs. Everybody knew no weapons would be found. A hammer, a wrench, and a piece of pipe do not qualify as weapons, even of not-so-mass destruction. . We also know that, as soon as the first Humanitarian Aid ship is allowed to go uninspected through the sea blockade, the next Humanitarian Aid ship will have AK-47's, C-4 explosives, and all sorts of other lethal cargo. . So what is your aim now? Do you really want to help the Gazans, or are you merely a propaganda pawn for militants? . If you truly want to help, you will allow Israel to board, inspect, and travel on all ships heading to Gaza. I propose Malta as a staging point. You had a diverse group of activists on the first flotilla of ships. Please diversify just a bit more, and allow Israelis to accompany you from now on. . In exchange, Israel is ordered to issue a comprehensive list of banned substances. And to have to justify why they are disallowing each one. So far, we know that books, paper, and cement are on the list. And money too, I suppose. They confiscated "envelopes stuffed with money" from that flotilla. Personally, I think this makes them common thieves. But I digress. . Let each item on the banned list be negotiable. Do you truly want cement to be allowed into Gaza? Perhaps Israel should be allowed some oversight as to how it will be used. Search your hearts, oh Humanitarian Aid workers. What are you truly working for? Who are you truly working for?