Poseidon be praised! The god of the sea has seen that the flotilla has reached the Israeli waters safely. The world saw an orchestra of a different kind!
The spectacle of hundreds of small ships and boats on the Mediterranean Sea racing to reach the coast of Gaza reminded the writer of the famous line from the Greek epic: “The face that launched a thousand ships” ( Homer The Iliad…also famously known as Helen of Troy).
But this time it was not carnal love but dehumanizing hunger that launched a thousand boats to bring food to the starving Gaza people. It was a humanitarian response of magnum scale where hundreds of people responded and embarked on a perilous journey to reach Gaza. They carried no guns, no bombs, no weapons that kill humans. They carried food, water and medical supplies and lots of love for the people of Gaza who have remained without food and water for weeks in most inhuman conditions. Ironically, Israel stopped trucks carrying humanitarian aids like food, water and medicine bound for Gaza and this time they have also blocked the sea route. Such predatory behavior of the Israeli government and the military has been condemned by the world community but it seems the cries of the hungry children are falling on deaf ears.
The multinational flotilla headed for Gaza with food for some frail mortals including women and children was intercepted by the Israel military in the most brutal manner while they were on international waters. The navy blocked all boats from reaching Gaza thereby setting another record of inhuman behavior towards besieged starving unarmed civilians. Reports by the international media tell us that the last boat in Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla has been intercepted by the Israel army about two days back.
Another report says that “the Israeli military has dismantled an entire humanitarian flotilla seeking to break its siege on war-ravaged Gaza. Hundreds of activists have been arrested from dozens of vessels. Israeli forces forced their way onboard the last vessel Friday morning. The Polish-flagged Marinette, which reportedly has a crew of six, was the final boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla. And the International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza also announced in a statement that several detainees arrested by Israeli forces had “entered an open-ended hunger strike from the moment of their detention.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has “condemned Israel’s detention of journalists, who were among hundreds of activists seized from the vessels. The Paris-based media watchdog said there were more than 20 foreign reporters on board the flotilla.” It further said that vessels with more than 450 people with aid on board had been prevented from reaching Gaza by the Israeli navy.
And all the time that Israel has been acting like a local bully, no big powers have come forward to stop it and request them to allow food to reach the civilians. Surprisingly, big brothers have been watching Israel committing the silent genocide through starving the people in Gaza.
The “Enfant Terrible” proved that they care little for all kinds of international laws and conventions when it comes to materializing their evil design of occupying the whole of Gaza in the near future. They want the land of Gaza and nothing else! Under the very nose of the international community and the UN, they are going ahead with their sinister plan of driving out the rightful citizens from their homelands so that they may extend the geographical boundary of the state of Israel.
The silence of the Muslim nations only rings loud with every death of an unarmed civilian in Gaza.
While the entire world condemns Israel for stopping food aid from reaching the hungry civilians, Netanyahu, like the Roman king Nero, prefers to play flute while Gaza burns.
The writer is a senior journalist
