"Do you deny that Israel delivered all the aid to Gaza anyway, but it turned out to be junk that the Gazans did not want or need."
Can we just clear this load of viciously unpleasant (and rather typical of Keith) nonsense up about what is sent as relief.
The volunteers who collect the goods to break the blockade are ordinary people who collect what they can in donations - they send what they collect and what they can give themselves. Their actions are as much a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people as anything else, and in the circumstances created by the viciousness of the Israeli regime, it's a huge, life - risking gesture, as the Israelis have made it quite clear that they are not averse to killing volunteers to maintain their squalid blockade.
Keith says he is "only putting the Israelis case" (and he accuses the rest of us of being "prejudiced!!!). I have no doubt whatever that the Israelis are happy for us to believe that "it turned out to be junk" - they would say that, wouldn't they?
I'm sure the Palestinians need the medicines Keith mentioned; the Israeli 'wonderfully humanitarian behaviour' in setting up this blockade is aimed at creating the maximum suffering and inconvenience as possible to the men, women and children of Palestine, an already greatly impoverished and deprived people; we've all seen the inhumanly selected list of banned goods (yet to be acknowledged by Keith). Unfortunately the the volunteers' meagre resources don't run to such expensive items, assuming that the 'humanitarian' Israelis would allow such useful and necessary items through. If Keith would like to make a donation to relieve the suffering, we are hoping that one of the volunteers will be here next week at our singing week-end - she and her two young daughters are very fine Irish language singers who have sung here before.
But I'm sure he would rather stand on the sidelines and sneer in support of yet another inhumanly terrorist regime - as is his wont.
There still remains the unanswered question of why Israel should expend manpower and expense - not to mention continuing to receive the incredibly bad publicity - if these goods are such "junk".
Jim Carroll