Free Gaza movement

Israel Attacks on Gaza:
Why would Israel deny occupation of the Gaza Strip yet its forces control Gaza’s air, Land and sea? Books, journals and the website contain a lot of information on Gaza which has greatly helped in the compilation of this research paper. The Free Gaza movement is an example of Transnational Advocacy Network which has been fighting for the freedom of Gaza as a result of its occupation by Israel. The Free Gaza Movement’s website contains information about when it was formed and the aims of forming this activist movement. One of the most densely populated strips in the world is Gaza Strip. Wedged between Egypt and Israel, the Gaza strip is a 25 Mile long and narrow coastal plain land that houses approximately one and a half million Palestinians. Most of this population is comprised of children and the people who live in this strip are either the refugees or the descendants of the refugees who upon its founding in 1948 were driven out of Israel. There only exists three entry or exit points in Gaza, namely the sea, the Raffa crossing in Egypt and the Erez border crossing found in Israel (Times, 2007).
Gaza has been occupied by Israel Since 1967 and up to now, Israel maintains full control over Gaza’s territorial waters, airspace and transport to and from the region. Israel from 2006 has subjected Gaza towards severe blockade and therefore restricted its ability to import essential commodities like fuel, spare parts and other important basic materials. It is therefore not a wonder to discover that around 20% of the supplies needed by Gaza for normal trading can only be allowed into Gaza by Israel. It is by such statistics that Gaza’s economy had dwindled completely and foreign investments decreased to 95 percent.
It was on this basis that the Free Gaza Movement was formed so that Gaza should be opened to unrestricted access and thereafter realist the sovereignty of Palestine. Free Gaza Movement is an international activist movement which uses non-violence resistance to challenge the occupation of Gaza by Israel. It comprises a group of human rights workers and observers, journalists and aid workers who have a lot of experience of volunteering in the West Bank and Gaza at the invitation of the people of Palestine (Wallach, 2010).
The Free Gaza Movement is therefore a human rights activist group which has transnational collective action. Since its formation in August 2008, it has managed to travel nine times to Gaza strip through the use of the sea so that to break the illegal stranglehold of Israel on the 1.5 million Palestinian people. The movement has successfully managed to enter Gaza successfully five times in 2008. However, during the past four voyages, the members of the Free Gaza movement have been violently intercepted by Israel’s lethal attacks on their ship called Freedom Flotilla when nine of the members were murdered and many others injured by the Israel’s commandos (Free Gaza Team, 2010).
The transnational advocacy networks have interacted between states and international organizations in order to influence policy. These transnational advocacy networks have principled values or ideas in their formation. These advocacy networks build their new links in states, civil societies and international organizations and thereby multiplying their chances for exchange and dialogue. They help in transforming practices of national sovereignty.
Free Gaza movement is therefore a good example of a transnational advocacy network which includes actors who work international on an issue and whose members have a common discourse, have dense exchanges of services and information which bound them through shared values. The Free Gaza movement is characterized by its ability to mobilize information to enhance new issues and pressurize, persuade and gain coverage over more powerful governments and organizations.
The Free Gaza Movement has used legitimate and motivation collection of mass action to persuade Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip. Free Gaza movement creates political spaces where differently situated individuals formally or informally negotiate the political, social and cultural meanings iof their collective enterprises.
Despite Israel’s criminal closure of the Gaza strip, the Free Gaza movement and its coalition partners like Turkish Foundations for Human Rights and the Freedoms and Human Relief foundation have continually and directly sent boats to Gaza against the wishes of Israel.
Many members of the Gaza movement have found it hard to enter Gaza and entry has well been denied in Israel and West Bank. This paper gives detailed information of the inhuman treatment that has been subjected to the people of Gaza and any individual or organization that seems to stand with them. It also gives reasons why Israel has continued to occupy Gaza at the expense of the Palestinians and how activists groups like the Free Gaza movement have been formed to persuade Israel to live Gaza so that Palestine can become a sovereign State. It is a narration of how members of the Free Gaza Movement were frustrated in their efforts to try to help the people of Gaza against the oppression by the Israel nation (Wallach, 2010).
The Free Gaza Movement is comprised of people of all ages and backgrounds with various professions like medics, musicians, teachers, lawyers and even students, parents, grandparents and different types of people. The major mission of the Free Gaza movement was to open up Gaza to unrestricted international access so that the people of Palestine can be sovereign and to demonstrate to the whole world that Israel still continued to occupy Gaza despite its repeated claims that it does not occupy it. The members of the Free Gaza movement also wanted to international solidarity and support to the people of Gaza and Palestine as general. They aimed to achieve their goals through the use of nonviolent resistance methods.
As a result, a total of up to 100 international volunteers from the Free Gaza Movement decided to sail from Cyprus to Gaza in 2 to 6 vessels which accommodated from 12 to around 60 passengers each. Their aim was to take relief supplies and medical aid for the people in Gaza who were suppressed by Israel. It was very unfortunate that the Movement did not achieve its goals because the Israel troops were against any foreign aid which was aimed at removing the people of Gaza from abject poverty which had deeply taken roots.
On 30th June of 2009 off the Coast of Gaza at 15:30pm, the Israel Occupation Military Forces boarded and attacked members of the Free Gaza Movement Boat known as the Spirit of Humanity. They abducted a total of 21 human rights workers who belonged in 11 different nations. Among the abducted crew was Mairead Maguire, a Nobel Laureate and a former US Congresswoman Mrs. Cynthia McKinney. The crew and passengers who were on board were thereafter dragged forcibly towards Israel (Free Gaza Team, 2010).
It was a very inhuman of Israel to attack the Spirit of Humanity Boat which according to the members of Free Gaza movement was not in Israel waters. It was an outrageous and straightforward violation of the international law against the members of the Free Gaza Movement. These flouting of the international laws also led to violation of the members’ human rights by Israel. Given the fact that members of the Free Gaza Movement were not on a war mission against Israel but rather on a human rights journey to the Gaza Strip, it was in bad taste that the attack was carried out by the Israel Occupation Forces. Efforts by the United States of America President Barrack Obama to allow entry of reconstruction and humanitarian supplies fell on Israeli’s deaf ears. The members of the Free Gaza movement pledged for international support to help demand for their immediate release so that they can be able to continue with their voyage (Free Gaza Team, 2010).
A report released by the International Committee of the Red Cross released on the 31st of June 2009 indicated that most of the Palestinians who lived in Gaza we...