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Why Alice Walker Shouldn't Sail to Gaza

(CNN) Howard Jacobson - Gaza is under siege, Israelis will tell you, because weapons are fired from it into Israel, threatening the lives of Israeli children. If the blockade is lifted there is a fear that more lethal and far-reaching weapons will be acquired, and the lives of more Israeli children endangered. The boat on which Alice Walker will be traveling will be carrying, she tells us, "Letters expressing solidarity and love." Solidarity is a political term implying commonality of interest or aspiration. So what interest or aspiration does Alice Walker and her fellow travelers share with the people of Gaza? A longing to live in peace? Is the firing of rockets from Gaza an expression of such a longing? And what about the declared hostility of Hamas to the very existence of Israel? Hamas, we are often told, is the elected government of Gaza, a government that fairly represents the wishes of its people. In which case we must assume that Hamas' implacable hostility towards Israel fairly represents the implacable hostility felt by the people of Gaza. Are Alice Walker's letters of love and solidarity solid with the people of Gaza in that hostility? The writer is a British Jewish author and journalist.
2011-06-28 00:00:00
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