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The strange thing is that Israel has broken the law and is forced to accept that it has to pay for it.
We and, of course, the Palestinians are well aware that the so-called “international community” has been allowed to act with tremendous impunity since the founding of Israel, despite its long and incriminating history.
So last week a tough bunch of Canadians threatened, kidnapped and stole a boat destined for occupied Gaza, kidnapped and stole a boat against a proud but late victory, but so gratifying, he won last week, it was a really happy day.
Beyond a solitary story, this unexpected victory – won hard and patiently – did not attract the attention of the Canadian media, which, like its ruling elites, is adamant that Israel will no doubt threaten, kidnap and rob Canadians. , even less besieged Palestinians.
“We are very pleased,” language teacher David Heap and one of the Canadians on board the Tahrir – “liberation” in Arabic – told me in a recent interview.
Heap and many of his friends should be right. Together, they have succeeded in a series of failed Canadian government governments — conservatives and liberals — where the state of Israel has become a real, non-rhetorical account of its illegal behavior.
Lots and lots of compassionate company He set off for Gaza From a Turkish port in Tahrir on November 2, 2011. An Irish ship joined them on a humanitarian mission.
Their goal is to provide $ 30,000 in medical supplies, not only as an indicator of support for the forgotten Palestinians of many Palestinians, but also as a deliberate challenge to Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza and its people.
Two days later, a two-boat flotilla approached Gaza. Still in international waters, Tahrir it was surrounded an army of warships in a predictable display of Israeli fear and strength.
Shortly afterwards, a platoon of fully armed Israeli commandos (with their faces hidden) boarded the ship after using water cannons on their peaceful, unarmed crews and Canadian volunteers.
“We were asked to identify our course. [We] he said, “Our course is the consciousness of humanity.” Have you been asked what your ultimate destination is? We said, “Improving humanity,” Heap recalls, proudly.
Seeing the danger, the Greek captain and the Canadians complied, even though Heap refused to abandon the cockpit of the ship Heap.
“It’s not fun,” Heap said.
Later, they moved to the now kidnapped Tahrir and were forced to go to the port of Ashdod. They were kidnapped crew members and volunteers searched and imprisoned and stolen cargo.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Heap said.
He was assisted by local Canadian diplomats. But Canada’s then-Conservative foreign minister, John Baird, blamed the Canadians, not Israel, for their kidnapping and the theft of Tahrir.
No one was surprised that Baird and his leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, both of Israel’s evangelical apologies, set aside citizens who had a duty to protect Israel’s almost enslaved defense.
“Israel’s diplomatic lines have parroted,” Heap said. “They warned us not to go … they weren’t working [our] interests and certainly not in the interests of international law. ‘
Heap and several other Canadians were accused, senselessly, of “entering [Israel] illegally ”and deported to Canada in the immigration area of Givon Prison, near Ramla, after six days in prison.
Untouched, in January 2012, Heap and his colleagues filed a claim with Israel to return Heap and his colleagues to Tahrir and medical supplies to their owners.
Israel has acknowledged that it has received paperwork. He immediately forgot about the clumsy and disturbing things in Canada and their claims.
“At the time, we didn’t expect to get the appearance of justice,” Heap said.
His understandable skepticism was fueled by the knowledge that Israeli gunboats had fired in the usual manner and damaged Palestinian fishing nets without consequence.
Then the jurisprudence intervened.
In 2012, the owners of a Swedish ship that Israel seized in international waters took the Israeli Defense Ministry (MOD or “occupation ministry,” as Heap calls it) to court on its way to Gaza, with the necessary assistance. he avoided the law when he ordered the ship.
Apparently, the MOD did not report to the Haifa Maritime Court and the Swedes that the ship had been caught.
In 2017, the Swedes prevailed in an out-of-court settlement, including the recovery of a large portion of the costs. This set a decisive precedent that revived the dormant claim of Canadians.
Clearly, the Israeli MOD also did not make a “kidnapping statement” with the maritime court and informed the Canadian-Israeli owner that Tahrir was in Shanghai, as required by law.
Heap and the parties hired the same enlightened Israeli lawyers who worked for the Swedes to make another offer to get some money back from the MOD.
Ten years after Tahrir was stolen, the Israeli MOD undoubtedly waved a white anti-flag and paid about $ 150,000, about half the total cost of the mission.
“I don’t know why it took so long,” Heap said. “But the statue [of Israel] I knew he had to pay, in the end. ‘
For Heap, the long-standing offer is important for a number of reasons.
First, the money will help support current and future campaigns to attract world attention and try to remove the inhumane blockade that continues to deny Palestinians in prison their livelihoods and freedom of movement.
“The real issue is whether Palestinians have the freedom to move within their territories, from outside and around, which is a right protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Heap said. “We’re just trying to get attention.”
Second, the solution is an implicit acknowledgment that Israel committed piracy when it “intercepted” a foreign boat in international waters, a crime that goes unpunished.
“If you kidnap people who go to one country and take them to another country against their will, that is clearly a crime under international law, and none of those responsible for it is facing any justice,” Heap said.
Heap knows that the violent and arbitrary violence he and other Canadians suffered during their aborted trip to Gaza in late 2011 cannot be compared to the savage and systemic harassment Palestinians have endured for generations.
“The blockade of Gaza is a collective punishment,” Heap said.
To alleviate this desirable burden, part of the settlement money went to Gaza last week to buy and deliver an ambulance.
Heap and other Canadians who risked a lot to defend the Palestinian situation must be applauded for their decision to correct the ugly mistakes that others may see, but, out of indifference, dismiss them.
Their patience and determination are an example of a growing Canadian who, in a principled break with their complicit leaders, is willing to make sure that one day the Palestinians will overcome them.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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