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countries seems to be moving in the direction of increasingly working with Islamic civic movements. Muslim civil society has demonstrated a sustained willingness towards social justice through NGOs, carrying programs and services funded mainly by members of the local community to regional and international beneficiaries, both Muslims and non-Muslims. In Turkey, such leading NGOs, such as IHH and Kimsu Yok Mu, explain that they function as charitable intermediaries between the local donors and the recipients, both locally and in other countries. Whether in Turkey, Palestine, Europe or US, Muslim NGOs in particular continue to expand. Sustaining their charity work relies on the residue of “spiritual integrity” for funding and material resources. Islam puts high emphasis on doing “good deeds” and that a prayer separated from “doing good” is not enough. Local Muslim communities in various parts of the world are driven by same values. Thus, many Muslims choose and fund common civic leaders to utilize resources for the aim of implementing projects and social programs. This is one major difference with Western NGOs, much of whose funding derives from government financing. Muslim NGOs are considered society-based and rely on a community’s resources. Honesty and trust play a central role. The accountability of an NGO in the Muslim context is constantly answerable to its reputation, and to trust in its respected community or society.
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conventions remain fully operatives”.335 Therefore, the siege on the Palestinian population of Gaza has no legal basis as the UN report explains.
Furthermore, Israel wanted to capitalize on international public relations by withdrawing its army from inside Gaza and dismantled Israeli settlements in 2005, calling it “disengagement” and the end of occupation. The aim was to convince the world that it is no longer an occupying power and hence dispensed with all related legal responsibilities. However, the General Assembly Resolution 64/92 affirmed the applicability the Geneva Convention VI, GCIV, to the occupied Palestinian Territories and in that same day, the General Assembly issued another resolution 64/94 which directly referred to Gaza as part of the occupied Palestinian Territory. In addition, the Security Council confirmed in Resolution 1860 of 209 “that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967”. The issued resolutions of both the General Assembly and Security Council concluded that the Gaza Strip remains an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has long claimed that the siege existed in order to prevent the transfer of weapons to Gaza. However, this argument was challenged by the remaining leftist voices within Israel. Imposing a stringent siege against the Palestinians in Gaza is part of a larger policy and a new phase of occupation. It leads to the manipulation of the inflow of the necessary commodities and food items. Dov Weisglass. the former official adviser to the then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, once admitted that Israel was going to punish the local population after the elections of 2006. “The idea, “he said,” is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not make them die of hunger. That would not look good.”336
The former Knesset member and leftist political activist, Uri Aveneri, stated,
“the intention of the Israeli government is to create a crisis that is so terrible that the people of Gaza will overthrow Hamas.” He further elaborated that the occupation and siege on Gaza is a “siege based on lies and wrapped in stupidity.” However, such a view is not commonly shared in Israel. Gaza is perceived through the security lens of Israel establishment and the public in general.337
On the security level, Israel justifies its actions as “defensive.”338 This claim is viewed differently from a purely legal perspective, international law, and human rights issues. Israel cannot legally claim its actions are defensive until “it tests whether Hamas would cease its violence if Israel ended its unlawful blockade”.339 Also, if the population is subjected to such a severe form of collective punishment, what is to be expected from the Palestinians?
In retrospect, some Palestinian critics voice their displeasure with Hamas for not “being active in resistance”340.Ironically, such criticism is often voiced by Fatah critics accusing Hamas of not being committed to resistance. Critics add that the Islamic movement is not that different from Fatah after all in seeking political power and control of government. However, proponents of Hamas claim the security reality
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requires careful attention. Being the strongest movement in the Gaza Strip, Hamas had occasionally coordinated ceasefire deals with various “resistance groups” such as Islamic Jihad, the Committees for the Popular Resistance, and other splinter groups separated from Fatah. Since Hamas won parliamentary elections, public sentiment is always a factor taken into consideration by its leadership. After all, residents of the Gaza Strip wish to lead some kind of normal life within the actual circumstances. Yet, Hamas believes that the verdict given by the people through their voting entrusted it with the national project of liberation and defending the interest of the people.
In daily life, the mere thought of traveling to the outside world is a cause of an anxiety, uncertainty and risks for Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip. Almost no one can travel through the northern border crossing because Israel prevents any Gaza ID holder from traveling to the West Bank. The few who can travel are the selected officials from the PA, international organizations and the United Nations officers. A Palestinian without prior “coordination” can be arrested and jailed if he/she reaches the border crossing. In the southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the border gate remains the only possibility of exit and entry. However, the Egyptian government imposes a stringent regime at the crossing with the opening of the gate being unpredictable with arbitrary refusal of entry or exit for many individuals.
There are six points of entry or crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel. In the north, the Eritz crossing is restricted to the movement only of those approved and permitted. The remaining five crossings are located along the eastern border between Gaza and Israel. They are Nasal Oz, specifically for fuel transfer, Al Mortar, or Karin, for trade and goods, Kosufim and Sofa for entry/exit of former Jewish settlers in Gaza and finally Karm Abu Salem, or Kerim Shalom, for entry of humanitarian goods into Gaza. The Karni crossing for export and import has been virtually closed since 2007.341
Those who are most adversely affected by restricted freedom of movement are medical patients seeking treatment outside Gaza and the young students pursuing higher education abroad. In the year 2008, more than two hundred patients died while waiting to be allowed to travel outside for medical treatment. Israel does allow a number of patients for medical treatment in its hospitals but only if the patient obtains security clearance. When a patient happens to be a brother or a relative of a “wanted
“ individual, a militant, it is more than likely that the patient will not be granted permission to seek medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. The remaining possibility becomes the Rafah border gate with Egypt. The crossing between Egypt and Gaza has become purely political. The Egyptian government relies heavily on American annual aid, thus complying with policies in favour of Israel and the US seem to be favoured by policy makers in Egypt. The most critical period of Rafah border closure started at the beginning of 2007 and continued until the incident of the Mavi Marmara in May, 2010. Ambulances used to wait for hours and sometimes for days outside the Palestinian Rafah gate waiting for permission and patients died while waiting for the border gate to open.
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After the Mavi Marmara incident, May 2010, the Rafah border gate witnessed an “easing” of restrictions since the incident brought the siege of Gaza to the forefront of international media causing embarrassment to Israel and to the former deposed Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. After another year and a half, when the “Arab Spring” was underway in Tunisia and later Egypt, the Rafah gate crossing improved considerably. Moreover, during the time of Egypt’s first elected president, Mohammad Mursi, Palestinians in Gaza were able to cross the border with Egypt smoothly as Egyptian authorities allowed the crossing to operate daily. However, that exceptional relief lasted only until the military coup of July 3rd of 2013. Since then, the Rafah crossing with Egypt has experienced its worst periods; even stricter than the time of the Mubarak regime.
Gazan students have also suffered dramatically due to the lack of freedom of movement. Education has long been considered a vital “social and national asset” to Palestinians; with the Gaza Strip holding one of the proportionally highest number of graduates internationally, according to the United Nations report. As the borders closed to prevent free engagement in business and commerce, traveling also became a painful experience, especially for ambitious young people wishing to study abroad.
Thus, the prolonged political impasse meant that the international community had failed to uphold the principles of human rights and the doctrine of human security.
Consequently, public sentiment among Palestinians gradually emptied of hope fora solution through the international community and international law. In the midst of this frustration and bewilderment at the injustice of collective punishment, one can imagine how Palestinians saw the sailing of the Mavi Marmara and the flotilla from Istanbul directly towards Gaza. The Mavi Marmara ship embodied far-reaching symbolism for residents of the Gaza Strip. From the perspective of the Palestinians, the flotilla was bringing hope and a light at the end of a tunnel while international order seemed impotent. As the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the flotilla ploughed through the waters of the Mediterranean towards the coast of Gaza, the sight of it in the high seas evoked feelings of expectation and hope among Palestinians.