Israel 'Humiliates' Activists, Avoids Question: Why The Blockade?
Activists, including Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela's grandson, report 'humiliation' and medicine confiscation after Israel intercepted their 'Global Sumud Flotilla' seeking to deliver aid to Gaza. (AP Photo/Leo Correa via AP News). The AP correctly notes the flotilla was seeking to break Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to a 'famine-stricken territory.' What goes unmentioned is the
blockade's illegality under international law, or the fact that this isn't the first time an aid flotilla has faced such treatment. Critics might recall the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, where Israeli forces killed ten activists. Israel’s actions here are couched by AP as intercepting boats 'trying to reach Gaza by sea,' a framing that normalizes the very siege causing the 'famine-stricken'
conditions. It's the equivalent of reporting on a jailbreak rather than the conditions that led to the unjust imprisonment. One might wonder why, after months of 'famine-stricken' headlines, the corporate press still avoids calling the Gaza blockade what it is: collective punishment, enabling starvation, and a rather convenient distraction from the ongoing bombardment. Meanwhile, the U.S.
Congress, with many members like Senator Lindsey Graham (who took $301,050 from AIPAC in 2022, per OpenSecrets.org), consistently votes against resolutions that would condition aid to Israel, effectively endorsing the current policy.