As Next Ship Approaches, Israelis Defend Gaza Ban

JERUSALEM (June 4) -- A new confrontation between Israel and opponents of its Gaza blockade loomed today as the aid-laden Irish ship Rachel Corrie made its way toward Gaza.

The ship is expected to try to land sometime Saturday, but Israeli officials have already said they will not allow the ship to reach the Palestinian enclave, offering instead to escort it to the port of Ashdod for a supervised discharge of its cargo.

The protesters are approaching Gaza with a mix of hope and resignation. "Israel is in deep trouble now in terms of its image, and maybe they will let it through," Mary Hughes, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement told AOL News in a telephone interview from Cyprus. "We will certainly not resist. The Israelis can do with us what they want."

Hughes said the ship is carrying 20 tons of paper as well as cement, medical equipment and toys. There are 20 people on board, including Mairead Maguire, an Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The Rachel Corrie -- named for a young American activist crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer in a 2003 protest in Gaza -- was originally part of the fleet that ended up confronted by Israeli forces on Monday, but it stayed behind due to mechanical problems.

It sails into a storm after Israel killed nine activists on a Turkish-flagged ship, the Marmara, on Monday. The event has sparked calls around the world for Israel to lift its three-year-old blockade of Gaza. Yet Israeli officials are adamant that there will be no change in policy, saying that opening Gaza to ships like the Marmara would mean a steady flow of weapons to Hamas, which controls Gaza. Israel and the U.S. say Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, is a terrorist organization.

Israel imposed the blockade of Gaza after Hamas captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, almost four years ago. It was intensified after Hamas took sole control of Gaza in the summer of 2007. Israeli officials say the blockade has a political goal, although they insist there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"The ongoing transfer of goods into Gaza is aimed at providing for the basic needs of the residents of the territories while preventing strengthening Hamas, either militarily or governmentally," a spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, told AOL News. "Hamas engages in hostile activity against the state of Israel and its citizens and holds an IDF soldier captive without reason or justification."

The spokesman could not be identified, according to Israeli army regulations. He refused to provide a list of which products are allowed into Gaza and which are prohibited, saying that releasing a list could harm state security.

But Israeli nonprofit organization Gisha, the Legal Center for the Freedom of Movement, has compiled a list based on information from Israeli and Palestinian merchants. Among the prohibited products: sage, cardamom, coriander, ginger, jam, halva, vinegar, chocolate, seeds and nuts, potato chips and fresh meat.

Sari Bashi, Gisha's executive director, told AOL News that the list changes from time to time and that it is impossible to understand why some products are allowed and others prohibited.

"Israel's policy is not a policy of security but rather of collective punishment," Bashi said. "Israel can better protect its security by making security the criteria for goods entering Gaza and not political goals which have not been met."

The COGAT spokesman would not comment on specific banned items, saying only that "food products are delivered almost without restriction -- with the exception of luxury goods, which the average Gazan cannot afford but which are purchased by the wealthy and corrupt leaders of Hamas. Raw materials, however, are not permitted since they can be used for military purposes, although exceptions have been made for humanitarian needs."

Palestinians in Gaza have built a network of underground tunnels from Egypt to Gaza, through which anything from car parts to cola enters Gaza. Hamas even collects taxes from the tunnels. Earlier this week, Egypt opened its border with Gaza indefinitely, allowing Gaza merchants to stock up on missing goods despite Israel's military blockade.

The Israeli boycott has not substantially weakened Hamas, which remains firmly in control of Gaza. Aluf Benn, an editor and columnist at the dovish Ha'aretz newspaper, this week wrote that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is no longer effective.

"The attempt to control Gaza from outside, via its residents' diet and shopping lists, casts a heavy moral stain on Israel and increases its international isolation," he wrote. "Every Israeli should be ashamed of the list of goods prepared by the Defense Ministry, which allows cinnamon and plastic buckets into Gaza but not houseplants and coriander. It's time to find more important things for our officers and bureaucrats to do than update lists."