Humanitarian aid—or propaganda?

A convoy of humanitarian aid is making its way from Turkey to Gaza by boat. The nine-ship flotilla, belonging to a Turkish religious non-governmental organization and carrying 10,000 tons of medicine and construction materials as well as 700 pro-Palestinian activists, is putting pressure on Israel, which is labeling it a “provocation.”

Col. Moshe Levy, the Israeli military officer responsible for Gaza, pointed out on Wednesday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza “is good and stable,” and that Israel allows in basic necessities. Indeed, Israeli government officials report that no Arabs in Gaza have been denied medical care in Israel if required, with over 10,000 patients from Gaza being treated in Israel last year. Also last year, almost 5,000 tons of medical equipment and medicine was delivered to Gaza.

In all, in a typical week, 15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Monday. “Since the ceasefire in January 2009,” he said, “well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel—that is almost a ton of aid for each man, woman and child in the Strip.”

Evidently Israel is not denying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, as most of the world would like to believe. This blog from the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman and this article from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs detail the facts and figures of Israel’s extensive efforts to aid the people of Gaza.

International aid organizations are permitted to transfer goods to Gaza via land crossings—which are more efficient and where deliveries can be monitored so they are not commandeered by Hamas—but not by ship. By choosing this method of delivery, the organizers of the flotilla, said Palmor, “have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak” while “engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid.”

This aid convoy, which is supported by the Turkish government, is clearly yet another propaganda attack against Israel. Stratfor notes that “There are no good outcomes to the situation for Israel and no bad outcomes for Turkey” (May 26).