Lies worthy of Goebbels

While it is a relief that there was no repeat of the Israeli special forces' unrestrained slaughter of campaigners on the Mavi Marmara, their boarding of the Rachel Corrie remains unjustifiable.

And Tel Aviv's claim that it will deliver all aid to Gaza remains a lie.

It allows the entry of barely a quarter of the food required, in line with former Israeli prime ministerial adviser Dov Weisglass's callous reference to putting Gazans on a diet.

It restricts a range of necessities on an entirely arbitrary basis and operates a blanket ban on construction materials required by the democratically elected authorities to repair the buildings shattered during the 2008-9 Israeli offensive.

These realities expose another lie by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

There have been endless reports from the United Nations, Unicef, Oxfam and other agencies, pointing out that 80 per cent of Palestinians living in Gaza are dependent on international food aid, of whom 65 per cent are children and 10 per cent have already suffered stunted growth for lack of food.

It is a lie of Goebbelsian proportions for Israel to claim that there is no humanitarian crisis.

A further lie spread by Tel Aviv is the assertion that Israeli forces had to search the cargos of ships in the aid flotilla to ensure that no weapons were being carried.

Not only had the ships been checked by the authorities in Turkey and Malta but it would be unthinkable that the charities behind the aid initiative would risk discrediting themselves by carrying weapons to Hamas forces.

The land, sea and air blockade on Gaza is not a military necessity. It contributes nothing to Israel's security.

It is simply a political weapon - an illegal weapon based on collective punishment of civilians - to enhance the suffering and humiliation of the Palestinian people in the vain hope of forcing them to throw off the leadership of Hamas.

As countless supporters of Israel, including Britain, have recognised, that strategy is an abject failure.

Collaborationist Egypt has been forced to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza and even Britain's Con-Dem government has called for the blockade to be lifted.

But these are simply words unless they are translated into action. Israel's European allies are famous for hand-wringing gestures and pleas for leniency, but they continue to trade with Israel and to co-operate militarily with it.

If European Union states were serious about breaking Gaza's shackles, they could provide military escorts for aid flotillas to Palestine and force Israel's hand.

In the absence of concrete action, it is left to pro-Palestinian campaigners such as Viva Palestina and the Free Gaza Movement to continue to challenge the blockade, as George Galloway announced at the weekend.

Growing numbers of demonstrations show that here has been a tidal change in public opinion in Britain and across the globe.

People have seen through the mouldy image of Israel as victim to view the reality of Israel as a zionist apartheid state intent on grabbing and annexing its neighbours' land.

To put pressure on Israel and its apologists in government, there must be more insistent demands for a multi-faceted boycott, disinvestment and sanctions.