Flotilla Activists Defy Israel, Media Forgets Gaza's 'Open-Air Prison'
The New Arab reports Irish flotilla activists are undeterred by Israeli 'mistreatment,' ready to challenge the Gaza blockade again. What our major news networks won't highlight is that the 'mistreatment' is a predictable outcome of Israel's long-standing policy to maintain an illegal siege on Gaza, a policy often overlooked as they report on humanitarian crises that are direct consequences of said
siege. Israel has routinely intercepted aid ships since at least 2008, a fact buried under headlines focusing on the optics of confrontation rather than the root cause. One might wonder why the US, which provides billions in aid to Israel annually, doesn't seem to mind its ally routinely stopping humanitarian efforts. Perhaps the $3.8 billion in annual military aid and the consistent congressional
support, driven partially by lobbying groups such as AIPAC, whose PACs and individual donors contributed over $15 million in the 2022 election cycle alone (OpenSecrets.org), makes questioning the blockade politically inconvenient. As such, the news cycle conveniently shifts from 'illegal siege' to 'activists face pushback,' sidestepping the larger injustice. It's almost as if some lives are more
newsworthy than others.