I'm probably the least political person I know, but the situation with the recent attack an on aid ship, and the overall blockade of Gaza has moved me to say something.
Just because this is a highly polarized topic, I need to make a few, important, caveats.
- I do not support Hamas, nor do I think they have the people of Gaza in mind with most of their actions. Lobbing qassam rockets now and then do little to damage Israel, but do even more lasting damage to the people of Gaza. Same goes for Gilead Shillat - who should be released like right now.
- People should understand that the people of Gaza do not necessarily support Hamas either. Fatah, was an insanely corrupt organization, and if you do your research, you will find a load of articles from IHT, NYT, BBC, etc, detailing international criticism of aid money getting "lost" -while miraculously Fatah cronies were building massive homes and driving fancy cars. If you saw that, would you vote for them again? Of course not.
- The only path to lasting peace is through non-violent/peaceful means. But the door swings both ways on this one.
Caveats aside, here is a partial list of things banned by Israel:
- Cement
- Wood
- Iron
- Honey
- Books
- Candles/Light bulbs
- Industrial salt
- Sewing machines
- A4 paper
- Musical Instruments
- Fishing rods
- Fishing nets
- Fabric
- Margarine
- Fresh Meat/Sausages
- Spices (too many to list)
- Plastic/Glass/Metal containers
- All manner of animals (goats, horses, chickens, cows, donkeys)
- Semolina/Milk
- Toys
- Many more
Ironically enough, most of these items are available in Gaza markets, but at high markup - enriching only the smugglers and Hamas (who collect taxes from the smugglers). Sounds a bit like how things went down during Prohibition right?
List courtesy of the BBC, Gisha.org, and Haaretz.com
