By Gulamhusein A. Abba
On Sunday, July 29 Israel seized a ship named Al Awda (The
Return) bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. On the final leg of the trip there
were about 22 people representing 16 or 17 nationalities, Swedish, Norwegians,
Americans, even Israelis, of diverse backgrounds. Most of those on board were
Europeans. The cargo consisted of
medical supplies to be donated to Gazans to meet the increasingly dire medical
situation in Gaza.
This is not the first time an attempt has been made by
international activist to deliver badly needed supplies to Gaza which is under
Israeli blockade. Gaza's 2 million inhabitants have been living under this
blockade since 2007.
Activists have tried to reach Gaza in Freedom Flotillas more
than once. From 2008 through 2016, international activists sailed 31 boats to
challenge the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The most well-known challenge was the attempt
by Mavi Marmara on May 22, 2010 that left nine Turks dead at the hands of
Israeli naval commandos
According to Israeli sources, this time the takeover of the
ship was without incident. Israel navy said that it informed the passengers
they were “violating the legal naval blockade” and that if they had
humanitarian aid to deliver they could deliver it to Gaza through the port in
nearby Ashdod. They were warned that if they did not turn around and persisted
in attempting to go to Gaza, the ship would be seized and towed to Ashdod. And,
according to Israel, this is what the Israeli navy did.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a charity umbrella group
which organizes these attempts, reported it slightly differently. It wrote that
the Israeli navy claimed that the ship was breaking international law and
threatened that it would use 'any measures necessary' to stop the ship.
Was Al Awda ‘violating the legal naval blockade’?
Under international law Israel, as every other country, has
rights over its territorial waters. These rights extend to 12 nautical miles. Beyond
that the oceans are international waters, also known as the high seas.
It is important to remember that the Al Awda bore a
Norwegian flag. It was around 60 miles out of Gaza city when it was warned by
the Israeli navy, boarded and ultimately seized. It was in International
waters. It was not illegally crossing any internationally recognized border.
The only “border” it was crossing was the border Israel had unilaterally set up
in international waters, without any right or authority to do so.
According to the 1982 convention, each country’s sovereign
territorial waters extend to a maximum of 12 nautical miles (22 km) beyond its
coast. Even in this zone foreign vessels are granted the right of ‘innocent
passage’. There can be nothing more innocent than carrying medical supplies to
those who need them badly.
The high seas lie
beyond the zones described above. The waters and airspace of this area are open
to use by all countries, except for those activities prohibited by
international law (e.g., the testing of nuclear weapons).
The Mavi Marmara seizure by Israel was discussed in the UN. A
2011 report to UN Human Rights Council by five independent UN rights experts
states that Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international
law.
An earlier fact-finding mission named by the same UN forum
to investigate the flotilla incident also found in a report that the blockade
violated international law. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
said the blockade violates the Geneva Conventions.
It can be argued that even if Al Awda was within 12 nautical
miles of Gaza, it would still not be breaking any international law, having a
right under the ‘innocent passage’ clause to be there. Besides, Israel says
again and again that it has pulled out of Gaza and given it to the Gazans.
Gaza, according to Israel, is no longer Israeli territory. If that be so, the
sea abutting Gaza would be the territorial waters of Gaza not Israel.
This is not all. Just
a few days after seizing Al Awda Israel turned its attention on another
Flotilla boat, a 100% wind powered sailing vessel named Freedom, sailing under
a Swedish flag. It was to be a gift for the Palestinian fishers and was carrying
a cargo of medical supplies. It was surrounded in international waters about 40
nautical miles from the coast of Gaza, was boarded and seized by Israeli naval
commandos.
These ongoing apparently illegal hijacking of ships and acts
of piracy by Israel in international waters need to be stopped. It is high time
this matter is raised in the UN. These two issues must be settled once and for
all.
Israel may have the right to close its borders with Gaza but
does it have a right to blockade Gaza? And, more importantly, does it have a
right to seize vessels in International waters, board them, brutalize and even
kill their passengers and rob them of their possessions?
I leave untouched, for now, the claim of Israel that the
seizure of Al Awda was without incident but I cannot refrain from commenting that
Israel has learnt well from those that gifted Palestine to them for their
‘homeland’. The British are past master at ‘drawing a line in the sand’ and
carving up nations, replacing large entities with smaller ones, easier to
control and dominate. That is what Israel is doing in international waters,
drawing lines that other vessels belonging to other nations cannot cross.
And that is what it has done in Gaza. Within Gaza, which it
claims is no longer Israeli territory, it has set up a three mile deep ‘security
zone’ running the entire length of the border between Gaza and Israel, a zone
which no Gazan can enter without risking being shot dead by Israeli forces
while still in Gaza!
Lines have been drawn by Israel even in the West Bank
carving it into small ghettos which cannot be entered or left by Palestinians
without permission from checkpoints set up by Israel!
As for Israeli Navy’s threat that it would use 'any measures
necessary' to stop ships in international waters, the only 'necessary measures'
would be to end the blockade of Gaza.
