The Fire Hasn’t Ceased

By Ayla Jay Schoenwald

Israel’s war on Gaza didn’t start on December 27th, 2008, nor did it end on January 18th, 2009. In those 23 days, however, as 1,417 Palestinians were killed in what has been cited as the most brutal Israeli massacre since 1967, international outrage increased exponentially. People across the world took to the streets to protest the illegal Apartheid State’s blatant disregard for human rights, human life, and international law. Then, on the 18th of January, when Israel declared a “unilateral ceasefire” (whatever that means), most activists went home. Unfortunately, Israeli fire still hasn’t ceased- and the movement shouldn’t either.

This May, I went to Gaza with a delegation of 13 activists from a variety of organizations in the US, under the umbrella of “Code Pink,” a national (mostly) women’s peace organization that has recently taken on the issue of Palestine with remarkable success, at least in terms of getting people across the border in spite of (and in opposition to) the siege. While we were there, it became increasingly clear that Israel’s war on Gaza isn’t over. There are many examples of this. Here are 6:

1. The day before we arrived, Israeli planes dropped leaflets throughout the Gaza Strip, declaring that 300 meters inside the Eastern border is now a “no man’s land”- anyone who goes within this zone may be shot. In actuality, the Israeli army has been shooting farmers in this zone for quite awhile and sometimes even further in. As a result, about 25% of the agricultural land in Gaza has become inaccessible. According to a representative from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC), this is a form of “indirect confiscation” of land. Apparently the direct forms (colonization, war, occupation) aren’t enough for them anymore.

2. According to the Oslo agreement, already a major compromise on the part of the Palestinians, Gazan fishermen are permitted to fish 20 miles into the sea. However, since the so-called ceasefire, Israeli gunboats have been shooting at fishermen who go further than 3 miles out to sea. Even within the 3 mile limit, fishermen risk gunshots, abduction, indefinite detention, and theft of their boats and equipment.

3. Gaza is under an extreme siege. It works like this: 40 items at a time are allowed into the Gaza Strip. The list of items isn’t written down and it doesn’t remain consistent. Anything that isn’t on the list is prohibited. Prohibited items (last we checked) include tea, coffee, baking supplies, large (industrial) quantities of almost anything, construction materials (making it impossible for people to rebuild after the massacre), toys, pasta, various forms of medicine, and, as various organizations have recently discovered- humanitarian aid.

4. In a variety of neighborhoods that were occupied by ground troops during January 2009, such as the Abed Rabbo area east of Jabilya, are filled with large numbers of unexploded land mines. Before the troops left, they placed land mines in many of the houses and detonated them with wires. Some, however, remain. This makes it dangerous for people to enter the rubble of their homes and collect the belongings they have left, if any. There are experts who specialize in diffusing weapons such as these. Israel won’t let them in.

5. Many delegations of humanitarian & solidarity activists have recently been allowed into Gaza. This is exciting, and the onslaught of delegations is putting pressure on both the Egyptian and the Israeli governments to end the siege. Doctors, however, are routinely turned away (as are Palestinians- but that’s a whole other article…). Actually, Gaza has an ample number of its own skilled doctors as well as a multiple of hospitals. However, these hospitals can’t function without the necessary medical equipment, which Israel refuses to allow in to the Gaza Strip.

6. Does it need to be said that Israel’s war on Gaza isn’t over until the occupation ends & the Palestinian right of return is achieved? As various people said during the attacks, and as a few people mentioned to us while we were there, it’s important that we don’t let Israel succeed in splitting Palestine into separate, isolated “Bantustans.” We don’t just want to “Free Gaza.” We want to free Palestine.