100 Americans Face Israeli Military at Gaza Gate

Israel blocks the entrances and exits to the Gaza Strip and has been blocking nearly every attempt to bring human relief aid to the people there.

Rafah border being closed in 2008. Photo: imemc.org

(BETHLEHEM, Ma'an) - At least 100 Americans arrived in Egypt Sunday and made their way up to the Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah with a rumored 1 million US dollars in medical supplies for the besieged Strip.

Less than a week after Israeli naval boats seized and boarded the Free Gaza ship, the Spirit of Humanity, and as activists from half a dozen countries remain in Israeli prison from the first group of activists, the Americans, with the Viva Palestina movement, will try to enter the Strip via Rafah.

Following the first British Viva Palestina convoy which was allowed into the Strip in early October 2008, the American group - also lead by British MP George Galloway - will attempt to deliver supplies and show solidarity with the closed-off coastal area.

Israel attacked Gaza City in December and January, killing hundreds of school children and nearly 1500 people in total. Israel claimed at the time that the attacks on the civilian populace was a reprisal to Hamas rocket attacks, which had killed up to 4 Israeli citizens according to reports.

Israel blocks the entrances and exits to the Gaza Strip and has been blocking nearly every attempt to bring human relief aid to the people there.

We write frequently about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or "PTSD" among returning American combat veterans fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The PTSD sufferers in Gaza account for every age group and almost nobody there isn't related to someone who has been either killed or attacked by soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces.

While the U.S. government looked the other way, Israel also used illegal white phosphorous on the people of Gaza, with many families burned by the materials raining down on their homes.

Possibly the most disturbing aspect of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and Gaza in particular, is the fact that the Israeli soldiers are not held accountable for shooting civilians from well secured guard towers in Gaza. Murder and other criminal acts committed on a fairly regular basis, with the U.S. mainstream media, fully under the control of Israel's influence, ignores the problems.