Palestine: “Gaza wanted to greet you as victors”

People throughout the Middle East – and around the world – have been shocked and outraged at the news of the deaths on board the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday.
Palestinian bloggers reacted immediately to the news of Israel's raid on the Gaza-bound aid ships.

Freedom Flotilla - On The Way

Freedom Flotilla – On The Way (photo by FreeGaza, reproduced under Creative Commons Licence)

The students writing at Life on Bir Zeit Campus (Birzeit is a university in the West Bank) are astounded at Israel's actions:

What they have done in the early hours of today is unfathomable. It is senseless. It is horrific, unnecessary, and brutal. […] The worst feeling is that of desolate hopelessness, knowing that you can't do anything, while these good souls on the flotilla have suffered death and injury and terrorizing at the hands of mentally challenged state.

Mutasharrid is a blogger from Gaza who is currently studying in the West Bank, and he writes about his feelings towards the passengers of the flotilla:

أحرار العالم، أيها الارهابيون بتصريح الجيش، لا لم تكسروا الحصار، ولم تتعمّد أناملكم برمال شاطئ طُهرها المخضّب بدموع هُدى وبدماء أخوتها ولا بنيتم قلعة الحريّة الرمليّة هناك، لكنكم كسرتم – روحي فداكم – شيئاً أكثر عصياناً، كسرتم الصورة الكريستاليّة للدولة القائمة على الماكياج والتزييف، نزعتم ورميتم عرضَ البحر قناعها المزوّر، كشرتم عن أنياب أسطول حربي كامل يقف في مواجهة علبة دواء وكرسي مُتحرك!
Free people of the world. Terrorists with an order from the army. No, you didn't break the siege. Your toes did not reach the shores, fertilised by Huda's tears and the blood of her sisters. You did not built the sand castle of freedom there. But you broke – may my soul be sacrificed for you – something bigger. You broke the crystal image of the state built on make-up and falseness. Into the sea, you threw its fake mask, and showed the fangs of a naval fleet, which was on full alert for a box of medicine and a wheelchair.
Freedom Flotilla - Banner

Freedom Flotilla – Banner (photo by FreeGaza, reproduced under Creative Commons Licence)

Ola, who blogs at From Gaza, writes in a post called Pirates of the Mediterranean:

لمن كان يعتقد أن عصر القراصنة قد ولّى ..
أو انه اصبح مقصورا على الخيال في أفلام هوليوود
فكر مرة أخرى !
أما أنتم يا شهداء أسطول الحرية ..
أردات غزة ان تستقبلكم كفاتحين .. فاستقبلتكم السماء كشهداء
تبكيكم امواج البحر والنوارس وشمس الغروب ..
For those who thought that the age of pirates had passed…
Or that it had become confined to fantasy in Hollywood movies…
Think again!
You, the martyrs of the freedom flotilla…
Gaza wanted to greet you as victors…but heaven greets you as martyrs…
The waves of the sea and the seagulls and the sunset all mourn for you…

3 comments

  • What are you really getting out of harassing Israel?

  • The comparison between Israel and “pirates” is seriously flawed. Pirates attack and kill you for a very specific reason: they want your stuff. Israel was not committing piracy, they were committing either defense or terrorism depending on how you want to approach the situation.

  • Armed attack in International waters is piracy according to any law, at least pirates want your pockets first before attempting to kill, they don’t kill just for killing.

    Raising (not even agreeing) the defense issue can happen when the attack is “inside” their sovereignty, their waters.

    And even with that, you don’t attack first. Man even in airborne attack between different planes (not between people with guns and people without guns), the defender planes contact the other planes to show their identity before attacking. If this is not done, pilots are prosecuted in a military court. Same case as police vs criminals, again, criminals, not “medics” like in our case.

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