By Stan Goodenough
Oct 30, 2008
After initially insisting that the Israeli government would not allow yet another boatload of troublemakers masquerading as peacemakers to breach Israel's blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stood down and let the vessel sail in unhindered Wednesday.
The 27 leftists, representing the US-based Free Gaza group, crowed at their victory and called on others to defy Israel's efforts to limit the anti-Jewish terrorism burgeoning in Gaza.
A spokesman for the group, Huwaida Arraf, said that "once again we've been able to defy an unjust and illegal policy while the rest of the world is too intimidated to do anything. Our small boat is a huge cry to the international community to follow in our footsteps and open a lifeline to the people of Gaza."
The Jerusalem Post quoted Olmert spokesman Mark Regev as saying that the protesters and organizers of the boat were not the only ones who wanted a "free Gaza."
"We are also interested in freeing Gaza," Regev said. "We want to free the civilian population of the Gaza Strip from the authoritative, totalitarian, Taliban-type regime that is oppressing it."
Observers noted that catering to the efforts of leftist activists instead of robustly resisting them is only further strengthening the Hamas regime, which only respects and understands the force it so readily wields.