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Gaza convoy attack is a tragic comment on our priorities
1 June 2010
More trouble hit Gaza this weekend, after news that Israeli forces attacked a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and peace activists to the troubled Strip. After boarding the ships while they were on the high seas, soldiers opened fire on the passengers. Reports so far have been confusing, but it seems that at least 10 people were killed and many more injured during the attack. Up to 700 people from 30 countries are now being held in the Israeli port of Ashdod.
International condemnation of the attack has emerged, including from the UN security council and from governments around the world.
For The Humanitarian Forum, this tragedy has added resonance, as several of our partners and colleagues from Turkey were on board the six ships heading for Gaza, including our partners IHH, who were continuing their long-standing and committed work to alleviate suffering of ordinary people and innocent victims of conflict. It goes without saying that the thoughts and prayers of all of us are with the victims, and with all those who were making a legitimate and peaceful attempt to bring much-needed aid and supplies to the people of Gaza.
Yet the violence of last weekend is part of a much bigger, much more complex, much more emotive and much more unstable picture. It is devastating that once again, politics have been allowed to interfere with much-needed humanitarianism. The priorities of security, of patriotism, of faith and religion have clouded the picture, and have led all parties into an ongoing struggle which at times seems unending.
But surely, in times of humanitarian crisis, there can be no more important aim, no more pressing priority, than to allow human needs to be met, and dignity to be restored to the innocent victims of political and regional conflict. Any action which compromises human needs must of course, be condemned whatever the source, and we must prioritise peace and stability.
Tomorrow The Humanitarian Forum will be holding our second Gaza videoconference, bringing together local, regional and international humanitarian actors in Gaza, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UK. The weekend's events have made us all the more determined to seek peace and create a stable environment for the citizens of Gaza. We must continue to find ways to strengthen Gaza's civil society from within, and to put humanitarian aid above all other agendas: only then can we bring hope to a generation.
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ICRC deplores the loss of civilian life on the Freedom Flotilla
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