An American Trying To Break The Israeli Blockade Violates 3 Laws

From Boston Harbor to the jail cells of Birmingham to the public squares of Cairo, the American people have had a centuries-old love affair with the idea of regular citizens engaging in civil disobedience to bring down unjust laws, discriminatory policies and brutal regimes, through non-violent protests. It comes as no surprise, then, that a small group of Americans were involved in raising funds, outfitting ships and serving as crew and passengers on the boats for the flotilla that intended to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Hamas’s useful Americans, 7/15/2011

The problem of course is that the claims of interest in international law are belied by the violations of various points of international law--especially by those members of the Flotilla from the US.

Even though Flotilla2 is practically over, with on ship with a small crew left, it is still important to relate, as outlined by Nitsana Darshan-Leitner the the flotilla's disregard for international law. To summarize:

o The Oslo Accords: The Palestinian Arabs agreed to Israeli control of the Gaza coastline--and that no foreign ships would be allowed within 12 nautical miles from the shore. Israel's demand was in response to the prevalent import of conventional and unconventional weapons into Gaza. This agreement establishes the legality of the blockade, thereby making the violation of it a hostile act against Israel. It is for this reason that under international law, Israel may use all necessary force in order to repel those whose intent is to break the blockade. This will be confirmed by the UN Palmer Report which investigated last year's flotilla.

o The Neutrality Act of 1789: This forbids Americas from either organizing or donating funds or participating in any kind of military or naval expedition against an allied foreign nation. There are related sections of the federal criminal code which similarly outlaw the furnishing of a sea vessel to be used to commit hostilities against a people with which the United States is at peace. By openly raising funds though websites and public appeals, the organizers of the Gaza flotilla have flouted these laws.

o The Anti Terrorism Act of 2002: According to this law, delivering goods and other cargo by ship to the Hamas government in Gaza--without being supervised by the Israeli army, constitutes a violation of the American federal code, which prohibits providing any material support or resources to a designated terrorist organization such as Hamas. Recently the US Supreme Court handed down decision that material support would include something as benign as legal advice--and especially providing weapons, funds or bunker-building supplies. In fact, the organizers of the flotilla could be charged with murder in the event that anyone were killed, as happened last year.

In light of this, Darshan-Leitner notes the failure of the US in enforcing its own laws:

It is wholly negligent of the US Department of Justice not to have investigated and prosecuted the flotilla organizers. Israel’s citizens cannot accept that American law enforcement is turning a blind eye and providing safe harbor to those who would abet their destruction.

The US negligence is part of the reason that the organizers will be able to attract people to the next flotilla--thinking they are upholding international law and highlighting the failure of Israel to uphold international law--when in point of fact the flotillas are doing nothing of the kind.

Hat tip: IMRA

Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza+Flotilla and International Law