Gaza Protest Roundup

This past Saturday (5/6) there were worldwide protests against Israel's blockade of Gaza and how they enforce it. In Britain, France, Sweden and Turkey people took to the streets to show their opposition. In Sweden a dock workers union has announced that it will no longer handle cargo going to and from Israel. All these protests though have been outshone. By the protests in Israel itself.

On Saturday evening 15,000 Jewish Israelis took the streets of Tel Aviv to call for an end to the Gaza blockade. They also took the opportunity to show their disgust at the way the Israeli Navy stopped the freedom flotilla and express their shame at Israels current very right wing government. The march did not go off without incident as it was attacked on multiple occasions by hundreds of Israeli hardliners who threw punches, abuse and smoke grenades. After the march had finished these hardliners who the protest organisers describe as "Nazis" went on a violent rampage through the alternative district of Tel Aviv. They smashed windows, attacked passers by and called, in Hebrew, for the people of Tel Aviv to wake up from their bubble.

At the international level the Israeli ambassador to the USA has refused to allow an independent investigation into the shooting of nine civilians aboard the Mavi Marmara aid ship. This is not as unreasonable as it sounds. An independent investigation would force Israel to expose the tactics, training and personnel of one of their elite fighting units to foreign scrutiny. This is a breach of national security that no nation would allow and I think the Israelis have earned the right to be especially sensitive over matters like this. However that this does not mean that an independent investigation can't take place.

For example it would be possible for the Israelis to provide investigators with a report summarising the actions it's commandos took while boarding the ship. This doesn't have to be highly detailed and can probably be peiced together using information that is already in the public domain. Using that report the investigators could then look at the actions of the people aboard the Mavi Marmara along with the other ships in the flotilla. They would also be able to look at what contact there had been between the organisers of the flotilla and the Israeli government. Along with a look at the media coverage and political statements by both sides the investigation should be able to determine what motivated these people to behave in the way they did.