13 July 2011
The flotilla and the siege – resistance and complicity
Miri Weingarten – Open Democracy -Despite widespread Greek support for the Palestinian cause, the Greek government bent to intense pressure from various quarters and declared that the flotilla’s boats were forbidden to leave for Gaza. On Monday afternoon Greek coastguards boarded the ‘Tahrir’, a Canadian boat bound for Gaza, and forced it back to port.
It seems the second flotilla to Gaza tried to set sail a few days too late. As hundreds of passengers from 40 countries were loading their cargo onto the ‘Stay Human’ flotilla, a narrow majority of the Greek parliament voted ‘Yes’ for austerity measures and for a bailout by an EU-IMF loan.
For a short moment, Greece had been the only country that might have had reason enough to defy the almost unconditional support offered by the EU and the US to Israel and its policies in the occupied Palestinian territory. But the approval of the bailout program robbed Greece’s passionate street protests of their sting, and rendered Greek public opinion regarding its own economy – as well as regarding Palestinians – powerless.