Tel Aviv's lies and murder

The example of peaceful civilians being attacked at sea by troops of a colonial power ought not to be lost on Israelis, who commemorate next month the 63rd anniversary of the boarding of the Exodus by British forces.

The Exodus was carrying Holocaust survivors from Europe to Palestine, three of whom were killed during the attack, and they were all returned to Germany.

Just as the Exodus attained mythical symbolism for Israelis, the flotilla and those slaughtered by Israeli commandos will do likewise for the Palestinian cause.

The Israeli propaganda services have been given ample opportunity by the BBC to give their version of events, but they stand condemned by the enormity of their own lies.

One military spokesperson told of Israeli commandos being "lynched" and described the 600 peace and human rights campaigners as "terrorists."

Not even the traditional pro-zionist stance of the BBC can dress up this atrocity as a proportionate response or the fault of Hamas for its hostile attitude to Israel.

It is simply the latest in a series of criminal acts by Tel Aviv, from the massacre of 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza just over a year ago to the assassination of Hamas representative Mahmoud Mahboub in Dubai in February.

The Israeli government believes that its alliance with the US and, to a lesser agreement, European states means that it can disregard international law and rely on brute force to continue ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and expansion of its borders.

And the limp response of the international community will tend to encourage Israel in this belief.

There has been no price to pay for Israel's forging of passports belonging to citizens of its allies, including Britain, and, unless there are mass demands for retribution over this latest outrage, Tel Aviv will once more ride out the crisis.

Israel claims to have offered the flotilla the opportunity of landing its aid at the Israeli port of Ashdod for it to be screened for weapons and then forwarded to Gaza.

But the whole reason for the flotilla and similar initiatives is that Israel is holding the entire population of Gaza to ransom and has done so for two years.

Israeli government spokesman Dov Weisglass commented callously that Palestinians in Gaza, 80 per cent of whom rely on external aid, would be "put on a diet."

True to its word, Israel has allowed barely a quarter of necessary supplies to enter the Gaza Strip.

Medical supplies, building materials to repair the results of Israel's military blitzkrieg, paper and pencils, toys and petrol for generators are all restricted, causing the death, according to Oxfam, of 15 people through broken-down generators since January.

Foreign Secretary William Hague's call for Israel to open the crossings to allow unfettered access for aid to Gaza is welcome, but he knows that Tel Aviv will do nothing unless there is real international pressure to do so.

The protests that have already taken place across Britain must be more numerous and more widespread.

And there must be demands for economic, cultural and military boycotts of Israel just as there were of apartheid South Africa.

The Palestinian struggle for national independence against Israeli colonisation is today's global cause. Israel's bloody hands must be stayed.