Flotilla or no Flotilla
One:
As it appears, the Lebanese flotilla which is said to have been preparing to sail to Gaza has been halted by internal disputes over whether or not authorities have allowed it to sail, the identity of the organisers and the Israeli threats to strike the ship if it ever nears the Israeli coast.
I have been compelled to write about this not merely because of their political repercussions but because media is heavily linked to this ordeal, on all three levels. This article highlights one. A series of articles will follow to discuss the other two.
Is the flotilla the right thing to do? It is true that Mavi Marmara’s massacre which took place when Israeli commandos landed over the deck in international waters and killed nine people, the international media have turned their rather disinterested eyes towards the region, when Turkey announced its dismay and turned overnight into the biggest champion of Arab and “Islamic” causes.
Rachel Corrie followed, and members participating in both flotillas became the source of news and stories for media. That was good exposure, a good reminder of the almost forgotten Gaza, amidst Iraq bombings, BP oil spill and Obama’s most recent issue among others.
But behold, how a successful campaign (and by that I mean the communications and media component) can be overturned.
Miriam, the Lebanese ship is now the subject of news flow over Israeli news websites, mainly highlighting the fact the ship has not been authorised to sail. The organisers of the ship convoy are alleged to be supporters of Hizbullah.
- 7 out of 10 results on the first Google search page for Lebanese flotilla come up with news about the Israeli warnings and the ship’s ties to Hizbullah all of them from Israeli media.(Here is one example : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3906357,00.html)
- 3 out of the 10 are reports that counter this claim at least two of them are blogs. One titled “Hizbollah to stay off Lebanese Flotilla” said:
A statement from “Hizbollah”read:
“We in Hezbollah highly value the humanitarian moves to break the siege on Gaza, but since the beginning we have stayed away from such acts not because we are greedy but because we do not want to give the Israeli enemy an excuse to carry out an aggression against Lebanon.”
Lebanese newspaper Al-Liwaa reported Friday the Public Works and Transportation Ministry requested that the group “refrain from participation in the Lebanese aid ship Miriam,” Haaretz said.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/18/report-hezbollah-to-stay-off-lebanese-flotilla.aspx
Keeping aside the question whether Hizbollah is part of it or not, one could just imagine by reading the statements made by Israelis the future excuse they are planning to make when they attack this ship should it ever sail.
By that, I do not mean that any human rights effort should not be made lest it be interpreted in the twisted way Israelis usually do.
However, I have stated earlier that such human rights activism is intended above all to stir the media rather than resolve the actual blockade over Gaza, because 1.5 million people living in Gaza would need a constant flow of food and medical supplies among other basic needs of survival and that would only happen if this blockade was totally lifted off the Gaza people by the Israelis – a very clear and non-delusional objective set by the organisers of the subsequent flotillas.
The key word is human rights activism and civil society movements, multi-national, multi-party, multi-sect civil movements. I speak of those because they exist in the socio-political realism of Lebanon and this region, notwithstanding the international media exuberance in highlighting these divisions. (to be continued)
