Israel’s Attack on the Mavi Marmara and the Illegal Blockade of Gaza
Israel’s attack on the Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010, as the ship was attempting to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, was a war crime.
By Jeremy R. Hammond | May 31, 2019
Nine years ago today, on May 31, 2010, Israeli military forces intercepted a humanitarian flotilla intent on breaking Israel’s illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, attacked the flagship Mavi Marmara in international waters, and killed nine civilians on board—a war crime. This action was naturally defended by the Israeli government and its supporters, but the arguments put forth to try to justify the crime demonstrate the extraordinary dishonesty required to do so.
The key arguments made to justify the attack were usefully summarized in an article published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on July 18, 2010. It was titled “The Legal Basis of Israel’s Naval Blockade of Gaza” and written by Ruth Lapidoth, Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. …
Israel is also a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits any acts constituting collective punishment of a civilian population: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited” (Article 33). …
It is Israel’s intent with its blockade to collectively punish the civilian population of Gaza, and regardless of intent, that is the blockade’s effect. Therefore, the blockade is a violation of international law.
Continuing, Israel is legally obligated under the Fourth Geneva Convention to allow humanitarian shipments into Gaza: “To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate” (Article 54).
Additionally, “If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all means at its disposal”, including “consignments of foodstuffs, medical supplies and clothing.” Israel is obligated to “permit the free passage of these consignments” and to “guarantee their protection” (Article 59). …
Finally, any blockade that “has the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other objects essential for its survival”, or which causes “damage to the civilian population” that “is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade”, is strictly “prohibited” (Article 102).
It is eminently clear that according to the very document Lapidoth cited to justify Israel’s actions, the attack on the Mavi Marmara was illegal, as is Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. …
Apologists for the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara have claimed that the nine activists were killed in an Israeli act of “self-defense” against passengers aboard the ship who attacked Israeli commandos with clubs and knives. However, it must be recognized that: (a) the inherent right to self-defense against armed aggression belongs not to commandos illegally storming peaceful vessels on humanitarian missions in international waters, but to the civilian passengers aboard; and (b) the Israeli attack, being against a civilian and not a military target and in enforcement of an unlawful blockade of Gaza, was a war crime in and of itself, with the murder of nine peace activists being an additional crime for which there is no justification under international law.
To illustrate the absurdity of the logic of Israeli apologists, we may contemplate a simple thought experiment: an armed robber who has broken into a home and killed the homeowner argues before the court that he committed no crime because the homeowner attacked him with a knife, and therefore his act of killing was an exercise of his right to self-defense. Would any self-respecting judge or jury member take this legal defense seriously?