On air: Is the easing of the Gaza blockade 'cosmetic'?

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It is a change in attitude on so many levels, that makes it more than cosmetic. Of course if Egypt permanently opens its (currently opened) border Gaza will no longer be under blockade and it wouldn't matter if Israel kept their borders closed and the naval blockade would be pointless. I just fear that once this happens Hamas will feel uneasy about the prospect of peace with Israel and will launch a few attacks to force Israel's hand and keep the cycle of blockades, airstrikes and rocket attacks going, after all, a happy population is less prone to volunteer for "martyrdom".

The items that were blocked included some foods (like jam and chocolate and coriander!), childrens books, childrens toys, beds etc... all civilian products, all blocked as part of the collective punishment on the people of Gaza(or as Israel likes to joke, “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger”) It took bloodshed on the aid flotilla for the world to wake up and condemn the blockade. Yet, the blockade continues, the occupation of Palestine continues, the depopulation of Palestine continues, the checkpoints continue, the settlements continue to grow, the Palestinian refugees are still not allowed to return home and Isreal is yet to be held accountable for any of these crimes.
In the absence of the sides coming to an agreement between themselves for mutual coexistence, international law must apply and nations and groups must be held to account.

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If there is anything good that has come out good from the attempt of the flotilla attempt to break Israel blockade of Gaza is that it put more pressure on Israel to ease it. For those who took part in the shipment, the death of 9 people wasn't in vain. Their lives was a price to highlight with force the suffering of the civilians in Gaza who happen to be under the authority of Hamas which is and Israel are vehemently opposed.

The measures to ease the blockade are essentially taken by Israel to appease its allies, particularly the USA, who have to keep good relations with Israel and Muslim countries. They are also a means by Israel to stop a possible flood of continuous shipment from different parts of the world, which will spare Israel army the need to be on constant alert to intercept a growing number of ships trying to break the blockade.

Easing the blockade means it isn't totally lifted. There are areas in which it is still maintained. Gaza can get back to normal when all necessary aid reaches it and the pledged financial aid from other states, especially the Muslim states, is allowed to flow in.

The easing of the blockade must be good news for the Gazan population. Hamas will take advantage of it to show that it still has the strength to stand up to Israel which in turn tries not to ease the blockade totally to have enough room to weaken Hamas and so the cycle of antagonism between Hamas and Israel will continue as long as Israel is ready to allow the Palestinians just the necessary items , but not the land and therefore complete independence from Israel to have their own state.

There isn't any way to say if it's cosmetic or not a this point. The statement is just left far too vague.
But looking at israel's recent history of such declarations, I'm definitely not holding my breath..

It's nice and all that people are talking about Gaza because they single out Israel for criticism, but isn't what is going on in Krgyzistan a bit more newsworthy given that hundreds have been killed and up to 400,000 people have been displaced?

Could do the millionth show on Israel, but there are other events going on in the world that are a lot worse.

Allowing humanitarian aid isn't "cosmetic"...it's the right thing to do.

Despite the popular medaia propaganda the store shelves in Gaza are full.
Egypt has sealed the border with Gaza fearing Hamas as does Israel.
Hamas will use the building materials to attack Israel with and there will be war.
Cosmetic!!??...More like stupidity to me.

Cosmetic, like lipstick on a pig. Israel's blockade is in defiance of international law so partial easing is like a bank-robber tipping the doorman on the way out. It will probably achieve the desired effect which is to allow the US to claim that we have asserted some influence over Israel so that Israel may continue oppressing the people of the occupied territories and building settlements on land that they don't own.

I would like to imagine that "easing the Gaza blockade" means that the Israeli Knesset intends to permit all but guns and bullets into Gaza, but history implies otherwise. Time and again the Israeli government has announced a concession without publicizing the fine print it has attached to it... fine print that qualifies the concession so severely to make it all but moot. Given the attitudes of the present Knesset, I think most of us are prepared to discover more-of-the-same as regards this "easing" of the blockade... though I would love to be pleasantly surprised and learn that the Israeli government can speak in more than double-talk.

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Oppression is the key theme here. Israel's move is a Public Relations exercise to try to take the heat away that it has been reacting unreasonably. Easing the blockade is just simply cosmetic: there is no question about that. For starters humane treatment of the people of Gaza should be unconditional. There has to be real justice and Israel should not be allowed to ride rough shod over basic international norms.

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Before considering the sincerity of Israel’s easing of the Gaza blockade, I should very much like to know in what unholy universe there is logical reason to declare chocolate, jam, toys, and children’s books contraband? Is it a public relations victory for any military to prevent children from having toast and strawberry jam with their tea? Of course, their responses hardly qualify Hamas leadership for the Nobel Peace prize and more importantly, they only exacerbate the situation. It seems to me this conflict has deteriorated into little more than reciprocated episodes of cruel and inhumane punishment. The parties are drunk with hatred; their retaliations are not strategic and are thus illogical. Israel has friends. I am one. The Gazans have friends too. I am one of them also. It is high time their friends acknowledge and properly discharge the responsibilities of friendship. Friends do not allow drunken friends to kill one another.
g

From what I have been reading in the news, Israel has only changed how it categorises banned items. Rather than declaring which items will be allowed, it is now declaring which items are banned. "Declar" might not be an exact description, either, because I have heard that Israel has yet to publish a full listing of which goods are expressly banned from Gaza. I have also heard that it is still possible for Israel to change that list - so we might still encounter situations in which coriander is allowed one week but not the next, or jelly is as easily on or off the list as the day is sunny or cloudy.

In the end, what is important is that Israel acceded to international law, which prohibits collective punishment, and allow for the establishment of a sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state. Recent news reports have show us one of the impacts of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories even on practising Jewish citizens of Israel, with Ashkenazim discriminating against Sephardim (I firmly believe racism to be one of the ugly results of an occupation on civilians in the occupying nation). It hurts to see Jewish society suffer like this. I feel that ending the occupation is a first and major step towards healing these societal injuries.

It's a bit more like removing the cosmetics, from my point of view. Looking at the list of items that were previously banned but are now being allowed in, spices, writing paper, construction materials, etc., it seems to me that Israel is beginning to strip away some of its make-believe regarding the Gazan blockade.

There are valid reasons for Israel wanting to control what goes into Gaza, but they were obfuscated by the arbitrary nature of what was permitted and what was not. By relaxing absurd restrictions and focusing upon truly critical ones (weapons and weaponizable items), Israel can benefit and Gaza will suffer less.

Does Jordan want to take back the Palestinians it deported?
Does Egypt want to resume rule over Gaza (during which time there was no mention of a Palestinian state)?
Does the UN want to send even more billions in aid?
Does the BBC wish to publicise the fact that Mahmoud Abbas wants the blockade to stay as it hurts Hamas?
Do the Gazans want to take back their votes for the war party Hamas?
Does the fact that Israel did not control Gaza/West Bank between 1948 and 1967 and still attacks came from Arab countries mean nothing?
Do any pro-Israel comments ever make it past the moderators?

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The question is : will Israel actually follow suit ? that remain to be seen. I fear it's merely a tactic to reduce the heat on them right now, and that they will simply pursue the same politics once the world's attention have shifted.

The world already knows that, as long as Israel keep the approval of the US, they can, and will continue to behave like a rogue state, with very little consequences.

Why is Israel; held to a higher standard than any Islamic state that commits human rights abuses without accountability.

I'm sure there is far more going on than we will ever know about.

Maybe the United Nations should play a bigger role.

Is this cosmetic? You bet it is. Every little thing will be scrutinized! You can't blame Israel for maintaining it's security. But they really need to do things differently.

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I'm curious what the Jordanian Information Ministers's comments would be on Jordan having killed more palestinians in 1970 than Israel has in 40 years during Black September.

@ Webb of Deceit

Does Jordan want to take back the Palestinians it deported?
Answer: Israel, Egypt and Jordan are the top three countries that get aid from USA. Basically Jordan is given money so that they would not misbehave with Israel and therefore they drove out the Palestinians due to pressure from USA and Israel. They were basically PLO memebers/supporters.

Does Egypt want to resume rule over Gaza (during which time there was no mention of a Palestinian state)?
Answer: If Israel did not want that territory then why in 1967 did they take control over Gaza strip, West Bank and Golan Heights. Because their zionist dream would not be fulfilled without having those areas in their rule.

Does the UN want to send even more billions in aid?
Answer: UN needs to send all the aid people need to survive and so does USA. Some of the funding that is given to Israel can be diverted to Palestine.

Does the BBC wish to publicize the fact that Mahmoud Abbas wants the blockade to stay as it hurts Hamas?
Answer: Mahmoud Abbas took over rule in Palestine in a bloody military coup. Of course he wants to stay in power and therefore dislikes Hamas. This is just politics. Fatah ruled Palestine for decades, people were tired because they did not achieve the creation of state of Palestine.

@ Webb of Deceit

Do the Gazans want to take back their votes for the war party Hamas?
Answer: Why should they? It was a fair election.

Does the fact that Israel did not control Gaza/West Bank between 1948 and 1967 and still attacks came from Arab countries mean nothing?
Answer: In the first Arab-Israeli war the Arab countries fought in defense of Palestinians that were driven out of their homes, in all 700,000 of them which was nothing but ethnic cleansing. And in 1967 Israel attacked first and took over Sinai peninsula that is part of Egypt. In 1973 Egypt just fought to gain that territory back, they did not take over Gaza strip.

Do any pro-Israel comments ever make it past the moderators?
Answer: It seems like your comments are being posted without any problem.

"Is the easing of the Gaza blockade 'cosmetic'?"

Of course it is, it is just as cosmetic as 'stopping construction of any new settlements'. Because it does not stop them from EXPANDING EXISTING settlements.
This is just a PR campaign by the Israel since they received critism from almost every nation in the world.

The UNRA calls Jennifer an "apologist"? How about he gets held personally responsible for every single israel killed or injured by hamas rockets?

The easing of the Gaza blocade will have little effect on the people of Gaza. It is a wellcome development. Barr Anamanya(Nigeria)

Does Chris deny that Gaza is RUN, the government, the official government, is a terrorist organization? So wouldn't it make sense that the cement would be used by terrorists given the government is a terrorist organization?

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@ Jennifer on air:

She says that Hamas is saying "they want to destroy Israel"
How about what Benjamin Netanyahu said "Jerusalem is not a settlement it is the capital of Israel and it has been for the last 2000 years"

Jennifer, could you please explain this justification by the prime minister because he doesn’t seem like he wants to compromise.

It's very obvious that the real goal of that blockade is not to prevent the smuggling of weapons. Rather it's to make the life of 1,5 million Gazans so miserable and unbearable that they turn against Hamas. Just look at that absurd list of goods prevented from entering.

Are pastas, chocolate, schoolbooks, paper, children toys used for weapons ? I think not. Your guest can deny that as many times as they want, it's simply hypocrisy from their part.

So we're using the words of the Jordan "information minister" when it comes to Israel? An information minister is, for those who did not know, a modern equivalent of the ministers of propaganda of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, it is their job to censor the media so that they only publish state propaganda. We might as well ask Orwell's "Ministry of Truth" about their opinion.

And no, WHYS, this is not defamation, it is the truth. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70296

Probably cosmetic, just a Public Relations move.

I wonder, since this problem was started by the international community giving Palestinian lands To European Jews who survived the Holocaust, maybe the international community ought to take back those lands and internationally administrate them under some new name like "the Jerusalem Regions". Neither side seems willing to treat the other justly and with respect, so maybe the international community ought to take back control and act as the referee and policeman.

That would eliminate the idea of the "State of Israel" while protecting the Jewish peoples, thus making the "destruction of Israel" argument moot. And it would remove the idea of reverting to the "State of Palestine" and make that argument also moot, while protecting the Palestinian peoples. Then they could get on with living with each other in an internationally enforced peace.

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Time will tell how easing the blockade will work out. At this point it is too early to tell. What is rather unpleasant is to hear a UNRWA official who supposedly works for a UN organisation to be so unhelpfully one sided. If Israel lifts the blockade completely not everything that goes in will come to UNRWA, but anything Iran, Syria want to send interms of weapons can go directly to Hamas. Moreover, if Israel is already allowing UNRWA to import building materials on a pilot basis, then they are not as bad as Chris Gunness will have us believe.

i dont know if it is comestic or not. it is well known that israel has the backing of usa to press its influence in the middle east. the main problem is the extremist and jihadi attitude of the muslims.

Your lefty guest, Henry, just called for the destruction of Israel.

Are you going to call him out on it? He wants Israel gone, replaced with one state where everyone lives together in happiness and joy.....

I understand that if Hamas were to accept the quartet's conditions Israel would lift the blockade. Is this correct?

@ Tom D Ford

How come you don't have objections to the British handing Jordan to the Hashemite Family from Saudi Arabia?

And why are these calls for the destruction of Israel on topic?

I'm sorry, but I don't see much hope of Peace in the Middle East in my lifetime, if we can't even have a civil discussion about it on the BBC.

When the guests and "experts" are shouting one another down and presuming to "know" what someone else's position on an issue is, it is no better than "The Jerry Springer Show."

(Sorry, BBC, I have great respect for you as an organisation, just as I do for NPR.)

i usually appreciate world have your say, but do you really have to have Jacob on today's show AGAIN?! What is this the 2nd or 3rd time you have had him on as the spokesperson for israel? Why not try to have a guest who provides a more balanced story, ie, the palestinian side? it really makes the BBC look as if they are taking a side on the issue of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Jacob's viewpoint is blatantly one-sided, and he is entitled to such a viewpoint, but why do you not have someone representing the other side, both Jennifer and Jacob are advocating the Zionist perspective. Get someone well-spoken from the other side!

Isn't it disgusting that 10 people had to die before Isreal could let food items, toys, stationery, kitchen utensils, mattresses and towels to trickle through Gaza. Disgusting! Disgusting!! Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!

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"Isn't it disgusting that 10 people had to die before Isreal could let food items, toys, stationery, kitchen utensils, mattresses and towels to trickle through Gaza. Disgusting! Disgusting!! Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!"

Notice that nobody got killed on the boats that didn't attack the Israeli soldiers?

Hamas has long ago moved past their charter and agreed to the Arab Peace plan. Why are these complete hasbara misrepresentations allowed to be broadcast unchallenged? I grow weary of "balanced" opinions as if there is equivalence between criminals and their victims. Why are no international legal experts interviewed? I have suggested Richard Falk, emeritus professor of international law from Princeton and UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the OPT, and Francis Boyle, author of Palestine, Palestinians and International law.

I'm really fed-up of what is basically a family inheritance argument gone crazy. Israelis think they have a God-given right to own the place and their cousin disagree.... wisely, the Israelis got Gods promise in writing. Very smart.

Notice the commonality of the two sides here, are that the pro palestinian people on today's show have openly stated they want israel gone, replaced with at best, one state where everyone lives together. The female guest from Gaza sounds like she would send Jews back to Europe, while the pro israel guests have been talking about a two state solution. There were not one, but two, and even more comments about eliminating Israel as a nation on this show.

Do you really think Israelis are going to allow this or accept it?

Why can we not talk about what Israel is really doing? They are Ethnic Cleansing, they are trying to remove or eliminate the Indigenous Population by claiming what was know in the U.S. early as "Manifest Destiny" - They have divided the indigenous population into two reservations and slowly encroaching and taking property. They do raids in the the reservations. We can no longer give them a pass based upon the holocaust and anyone who says anything about Israel is stamped as Anti-semitic.
The Americans did the same thing against the native americans in the early days of the U.S. We used the same claims of terrorism to do what we did, AND that does not make it right or moral.

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The liberal obsession with the state of the Palestinians, is exactly like the conservative obsession with illegal immigrants (Mexicans) in the USA. Neither are believable, and both repeatedly exaggerate the problem, because they are motivated by ulterior reasons. Why do we repeatedly buy into this? Even if all the stories and accounts about Palestinians are true (which they certainly aren't), there are much larger atrocities in the world.

@ steve
"... Krgyzistan...hundreds have been killed and up to 400,000 people have been displaced"

Yes, I agree with you, Steve. Let's have a WHYS program (or two) about the horror that is going on in Krgyzistan. I would sincerely like to hear an INFORMATIVE discussION about the situation there.

Thanks,
Gloria

Notice that nobody got killed on the boats that didn't attack the Israeli soldiers?



Steve don't you really consider troops droping from helicopters onto your ship armed with live firearms an assault enough requiring your own form of self defence???

"52. At 6:52pm on 18 Jun 2010, joebob wrote:
Why can we not talk about what Israel is really doing? They are Ethnic Cleansing, they are trying to remove or eliminate the Indigenous Population by claiming what was know in the U.S. early as "Manifest Destiny" - They have divided the indigenous population into two reservations and slowly encroaching and taking property. They do raids in the the reservations. We can no longer give them a pass based upon the holocaust and anyone who says anything about Israel is stamped as Anti-semitic. "

If the Palestinian population is increasing, how are they being ethnically cleansed? There is some ethnic cleansing going on today, in Kyrgyzistan or Uzbeks. Yet people like you focus on and single out Israel.

You're going to compare a few hundred square miles in gaza, which israel doesn't have a single soldier in, to the millions of square miles of the US west?

:facepalm:

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The international laws were formed to stop governments from committing crimes just because they can. The survival of these important laws depends on governments obeying them and erring governments punished. What I can't understand is why some countries like Isreal and Iran flout these laws and their leaders are still walking, while sudan's leader does the same and he is being placed under an arrest warrant. Can anyone in the house help me with an explanation?

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Only because of International pressure,is Israel willing to lift the blockade and believe me, with the strong support of USA, it will not be opened for long as Israel will come up with something and convince the US that closing would be in the best interest of Israel's security. I've no faith in the PM of Israel and its government. It should return the illegal land it occupies back to the Palestinian people who rightfully own the land.

A one-state solution is becoming the only viable option left on the table. Israel was created by removing the indigenous Arab population from Palestine, it now has an obligation under international law to allow those Palestinian refugees to return home. This is a non-negotiable right, it is an individual right for each refugee. The resulting demographics create a de-facto single-state. More than that, the number of illegal settlers on the illegal settlements on occupied land are so staggeringly high that it becomes an impossible alternative to remove these illegal settlers.
A two state solution would deny the refugees their rights while causing untold suffering to the illegal jewish settlers living on occupied Arab land.
One state would mean both parties share all the land, refugees return home, settlers remain where they are, borders are no longer relevant, there is no more occupation or resistance, they both share the same challenges. Various inter-faith and inter-race groups have shown that this formula works and that Arabs and Jews can prosper when they cooperate.

This was an uninspiring radio made worst by the rudeness of the UN spokesperson, Mr. Christopher Guinness. It seems that nobody wants peace except the Israeli speakers. I now work and live in Singapore, a shopping paradise. And from the first day when I learn to spend money to be a consumerist; I know shopping is a delightful experience when undertaken in a peaceful and friendly ambience. From the Gazan speaker who insisted on their right to free-flow of goods, am I sensing something different: shopping makes war bearable?

It is very easy for people and governments other than Israel to say the blocade should be lifted. Israel has moved to ease the blocade which is not cosmetic, it would be a help to the people of Gaza. One must bear in mind that Hamas controls Gaza and is a confirmed terrorist organisation which has continually smuggled in arms. The recent war was caused by Hamas continually firing rockets into Israel and accordingly a lot of buildings were destroyed and several inhabitants of Gaza were killed. In the history of wars civilians do get killed, war is war the resposibility lies squarely on Hamash. To look at facts if Hamash agreed to peace terms and genuinely accepted peacefull coexistance, no blocade is necessary, but they wont and said repeatedly they do not recognise the existance of Israel and seek to destroy Israel at the same time accepting funds and arms from Iran and Syria. To lift the blocade completely would be 'putting the cart before the horse'. To trust Hamas is to trust an enemy.

@ 57. At 7:09pm on 18 Jun 2010, steve wrote:
If the Palestinian population is increasing, how are they being ethnically cleansed? There is some ethnic cleansing going on today, in Kyrgyzistan or Uzbeks. Yet people like you focus on and single out Israel.

You're going to compare a few hundred square miles in gaza, which israel doesn't have a single soldier in, to the millions of square miles of the US west?

Ummm - you are of course kidding? Lets see, how many Palestinians have been killed or forced to leave or have lost their property? They have a high birthrate yes - and this is frightening to the Israeli as in a pluralistic democratic society the Israeli would rapidly become more minority then they are now - considering the whole area. Israel is of course a Religion Based Government, unlike the U.S., so there would be almost no chance for a pluralistic society, free for all religions because Israel is as restrictive as other Religious Governments.

The Israeli might not have "ONE" soldier inside Gaza but they certainly ring Gaza as the Romans ring Jerusalem in 77ad or so, laying siege to the city and we do know what happened finally to Jerusalem in 77 don't we. The Israeli are doing a SIEGE of Gaza - of course they have no soldiers inside - and they are controlling what goes in as best they can. The Israeli are practicing "Manifest Destiny" and will keep at it to the end unless they are stopped, hopefully eventually by good moral Jews that live in Israel who are moral people. They would be the best to stop the insanity because their leaders are bent on eliminating the Palestinians. There are good moral Jews as there are good moral Christians and Muslims - but the Funddies typically are more willing to pick up guns and push people around.

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Whether it,s cosmetic or not will be determined by what gets thro
to the besieged peoples of gaza.

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I agree with Christopher Gunness, spokesman of the UN Relief and Works Agency, the siege and blockade of Gaza is illegal, the collective punishment of civilians is illegal, it is a crime against humanity and those responsible should be arrested and tried for the crime. The US and EU are complicit in the crime because they have done nothing to stop it.

63. At 9:54pm on 18 Jun 2010, sayasay wrote:

It is very clear that Israel does not want peace or settlement. As far as Israel is concerned Gaza & West Bank have been promised to them by their god, and they won't stop building on occupied and annexing the land. The ethnic cleansing has already happened and will continue. The much vaunted Israeli democracy can only be sustained because enough palestinians were forced from their homes and land and not allowed to return.

If a settlement was reached and the Palestinians were given their own state, the Israelis would not achieve their aim of annexing the West Bank and Gaza. There is one simple reason that the peace process will not work, the Palestinians have nothing to negotiate with. What can the Palestinians offer the Israelis except more of their land that the Israelis can take as and when they want.

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Chintan in Houston wrote:


Answer: Israel, Egypt and Jordan are the top three countries that get aid from USA. Basically Jordan is given money so that they would not misbehave with Israel and therefore they drove out the Palestinians due to pressure from USA and Israel. They were basically PLO memebers/supporters ?? So what was Black September?

Answer: If Israel did not want that territory then why in 1967 did they take control over Gaza strip, West Bank and Golan Heights. ??? - Because the ARab world tried once again to wipe Israel off the face of the world and lost

Does the UN want to send even more billions in aid?
Answer: UN needs to send all the aid people need to survive and so does USA. Some of the funding that is given to Israel can be diverted to Palestine????? something like 500 million people were refugees in the 40s - why is it only the Palestinians who are still "refugees" - after 62 years of living off the world's back is it not time for responsibility?


Answer: Mahmoud Abbas took over rule in Palestine in a bloody military coup. Of course he wants to stay in power and therefore dislikes Hamas. This is just politics. Fatah ruled Palestine for decades, people were tired because they did not achieve the creation of state of Palestine.???? Abbas was elected - it was Hammas who threw Fatah people off roofs and shot them in hospitals - or was that democracy?

71. At 10:08am on 20 Jun 2010, AGB wrote:

It is very clear that Israel does not want peace or settlement. As far
If a settlement was reached and the Palestinians were given their own state, the Israelis would not achieve their aim of annexing the West Bank and Gaza. There is one simple reason that the peace process will not work, the Palestinians have nothing to negotiate with. What can the Palestinians offer the Israelis except more of their land that the Israelis can take as and when they want.

Well logic suggests that withdrawing from Gaza and raizing every Jewish home to the Ground is a funny way of annexing Gaza.

Every Israeli government for the last 20 years has stated that it is willing to withdraw from substantially all of the West Bank - strange way of annexing all of it.

And all the Palestinians are being asked for is to end the conflict, with two states being the national homes for the two peoples, one each, living side by side in peace with a complete absence of encitement against each other - but that seems to be a price they are not wiling to pay.

It seems that the Israeli government has finally realized that the continuation of the blockade is a lose-lose situation - that it creates a win win situation for Hammas, whose aim seems to be to inflict as much sufferring on its people. A bit more common sense would be to hand the whole thing over to the Red Cross, and complete our withdrawal from Gaza - putting the situation back to what it was before the Six day war, with Israel bearing no responsibility for anything to do with Gaza, including its water and electricity supply. The only real reason for the naval blockade is to stop them smuggling Gilad shalit out to Iran. International pressure needs to be placed on Gaza to comply with the Geneva convention and release Shalit in exchange for the removal of the blockade. If the Gazans want water and electricity from Israel then they should negotiate for them.

The double standards here are quite incredible - The standard of living of Gazans is higher than that in Iraq under UN sanctions - Gaza declared war on Israel - refuses to recognize even its right to exist - would any English person like to give us details of aid allowed into Germany between 1939 and 1944, the quantity of food, water, electricity and fuel supplied to Germany by Britain in that period. Mothers in Africa are walking through deserts to beg for rice or milk powder and in Gaza there are complaints about the choice of spices. There is endless talk of the Geneva convention but not a mention of half the population of Gaza turning up at a rally at which they mocked the fact that Shalit has been denied access to the Red Cross for 4 years. People from Moslem countries write in demanding that Israel opens its borders whilst they ahve not delivered as much as a piece of bubble gum to ISrael in 62 years.

Yes,this announcement by Israel of removing the blockade is a cheat and white lie and is an attempt to throw dust into the eyes of the world.They have never ever honoured any UN resolutions nor have they any respect or regards or concerns for others' right and legitimacy of purpose.They have no morals or religious ethics and are like wild mongrels who bark and howl and bite all those who approach them.They are basically blatant liars.

AGB @ 71
I did not write :"It is very clear that Israel does not want peace or settlement...' and so on at 63.
Please stand by your own words. If you are responding to me just address me properely, do not write your "63. At 9:54pm on 18 Jun 2010, sayasay wrote:" when the rest of the posting is your own 'handwrtiting'.
Gaza is confusion enough. Without you adding to it. Thanks.

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ISRAEL ALONE MAY ONLY DO SO MUCH

Israel has eased security restrictions on the nature and flow of goods from Israel into Gaza. This may be good in the short run, even though Hamas and other terrorists will inevitably gain access to supplies and construction materials with which to manufacture arms and to build bunkers. By assuming this level of risk, Israel has given the world additional tangible reason to respect it's security reasons for continuation of the naval blockade of Gaza.

The great question of the moment is, "How will the World now choose to act in response to the latest pending provocations of Israel?" Ships from Iran and Lebanon are even now scheduled to put to sea for Gaza on so-called "humanitarian" missions. There is nothing "humanitarian" about such attempts to entrap Israel into violence. Will the International Red Cross sanction or even reprimand Iran's Red Crescent for teaming up with Iran's Revolutionary Guard to violate Israel's naval blockade? Will the American Navy intervene with the Iranian vessels? Will the Lebanese vessels be intervened with by relevant authorities before or after they have reached Cyprus on their way to Gaza?

Israel itself can only do so much. The test of whether or not Israel's relaxation of the land blockade is or is not cosmetic will be determined by the extent to which the world at large shows respect for Israel's security and sovereignty by supporting Israel's naval blockade.