Unsieging the Siege: the Politics of Aid Convoys to Gaza (2009-2012)

UNSIEGING THE SIEGE: THE POLITICS OF AID CONVOYS TO GAZA (2009-2012)

JEMAIMAH BADARUDDIN MUSTAPHA

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in Political Science

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia

AUGUST 2014 ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to analyse the nature, characteristics and effectiveness of the citizen-led aid convoys to break the siege on the Gaza Strip of Palestine that has been imposed by Israel. This study is significant as the issue became politically important and the convoys attracted global attention. Therefore, it is important to see if there is evidence that convoys do make a difference for the people of Gaza. In particular two large organisations named the Free Gaza Movement and Viva Palestina were extensively examined in this study. Based on data gathered from important people who are the leaders of these organisations as well as the views of the activists who have either joined a convoy or support the cause, this research has found that sending these aid convoys have caused massive awareness around the world, which then created an even bigger movement. Even if the convoys could not force Israel to break the siege, they proved to be useful in shaping international public opinion.

ii ملخص البحث

إن اذلدف من ىذه الدراسة ىو حتليل طبيعة وخصائص وفعالية قوافل ادلساعدات اليت يقودىا ادلواطنون لكسر احلصار اإلسرائيلي ادلفروض على قطاع الغزة يف فلسطيني .ىذا األمر الذي يشكل قضية مهمة سياسيا وتسليط أنظار العامل عليها . وبناء عليو، فمن ادلهم معرفة ما إذا كان ىناك دليل على أن القوافل مل حتقق جناحا كبريا بالنسبة لسكان قطاع غزة على وجو اخلصوص مت دراسة جهود منظمني كبرييني مها: حركة غزة احل رة، و حتيا فلسطني على نطاق واسع يف ىذه الدراسة. استنادا إىل البيانات مت مجعها من األخشااص ادلهمني وقادة ىاتني ادلنظمتني، وكذلك وجهات نظر الناخشطني الذين انضموا ذلذه الق وافل أو دعموا القضية، ونتائج ىذه الدراسة تشري إىل أن إرسال قوافل ادلساعدات عمل على نشر الوعي وزيادة الرأي العام على نطاق دويل تكسر ىذا احلصار بشكل كامل. على الرغم من أن القوافل ىذه ال ميكنها اجبار اسرائيل على كسر احلصار، وأثبتت أهنا مفيدة يف تشكيل الرأي العام الدويل.

iii APPROVAL PAGE

I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in Political Science.

…...... Md. Moniruzzaman Supervisor

I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in Political Science.

…...... Muhammad Rashaad Bakashmar Examiner

This dissertation was submitted to the Department of Political Science and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in Political Science

…...... Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar Head, Department of Political Science

This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in Political Science.

…...... Ibrahim Mohamed Zein Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences

iv DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Jemaimah Badaruddin Mustapha

Signature ...... Date ......

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH

CREATIVITY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NATIONAL AND ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below.

1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may only be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.

2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.

3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries.

Affirmed by Jemaimah Badaruddin Mustapha

...... Signature Date

vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I am so grateful to God for giving me the strength and concentration within myself to be able to work through the difficulties that I went through and without Him, this whole project would not be completed. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone in the Political Science Department at IIUM, especially to my supervisor, Dr Moniruzzaman for his useful comments, suggestions and patience through this learning process during the thesis. Your guidance helped me tremendously in order to finish this project. I would also like to thank all the activists I have met over the years, especially to those who were on the Viva Palestina land convoy 6 with me, who inspired me to this topic as well for their support along the way. I am extremely grateful to all my donors who helped me to participate in this fieldwork whereby without you, this thesis would not have been able to have the depth it personally needed. Furthermore, I would like to thank the participants in my survey and interviews, who have willingly shared their precious time and input. My appreciation goes especially to my loved ones who have supported me throughout the entire process, both by keeping me calm and being patient in helping me to put this project together. I will be forever grateful for your unconditional support.

vii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ...... ii Abstract in Arabic ...... iii Approval Page ...... iv Declaration Page ...... v Copyright Page ...... vi Acknowledgements ...... vii List of Tables ...... x List of Figures ...... xi List of Abbreviations ...... xiii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 Background to the Study ...... 1 1.1.1 Severity of the Siege ...... 3 1.1.2 International Response to the Siege ...... 4 1.2 Statement of the Problem ...... 6 1.3 Justification of the Problem ...... 7 1.4 Literature Review ...... 8 1.5 Theroretical Framework ...... 11 1.6 Analytical Framework ...... 19 1.6.1 Definition of Terms: ...... 21 1.7 Methodology ...... 22 1.7.1 Data Collection ...... 22 1.7.2 Data Analysis ...... 24 1.8 Proposed Chapter Outline ...... 25

CHAPTER TWO: THE ISRAELI SIEGE ON GAZA: AN HISTORICAL CONTEXT ...... 27 2.1 Jews, Immigration and Politics in Palestine ...... 29 2.2 Palestine Becomes Divided ...... 31 2.3 What Became of Gaza ...... 34 2.4 Israeli Occupation ...... 35 2.5 Political Change ...... 40 2.6 Operation Cast Lead ...... 41 2.7 International Response ...... 43

CHAPTER THREE: THE CITIZEN MOVEMENTS TO BREAK THE SEIGE ...... 45 3.1 The Free Gaza Movement ...... 46 3.2 The Convoys and Viva Palestina ...... 61 3.3 Other Convoys ...... 77

viii CHAPTER FOUR: DATA AND ANALYSIS ...... 79 4.1 Data Presentation ...... 79 4.1.1 Demographic information ...... 80 4.1.2 Responses from those who went on the convoy ...... 84 4.1.3 Responses from those who did not go on a convoy ...... 92 4.2 Analysis of the Data ...... 98 4.2.1 Analysis from those who went on the convoy ...... 99 4.2.1.1 Humanitarian Effort ...... 102 4.2.1.2 Political Effort ...... 105 4.2.1.3 Awareness ...... 109 4.2.2 Analysis from those who did not go on the convoy ...... 110 4.2.2.1 Humanitarian Effort ...... 110 4.2.2.2 Political Effort ...... 113 4.2.2.3 Awareness ...... 117 4.3 Conclusion ...... 119

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION ...... 120

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 126

APPENDIX I ...... 141

ix LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Page No.

4.1 Represented countries from respondents who did not participate in a 81 convoy

4.2 Represented countries from respondents who did participate in a 81 convoy

4.3 Number of respondents on the type of convoys 84

4.4 Number of respondents on the different convoys 85

4.5 Why respondents thought that Gaza should be helped 89

4.6 Respondents stating the role of international organisations 90

4.7 Respondents stating if convoys can break the siege on Gaza 91

4.8 Reasons respondent’s would or would not go on a future convoy 93

4.9 Why respondents who did not go on a convoy thought that Gaza 95 should be helped

4.10 Respondents stating the role of international organisations 96

4.11 Respondents stating if convoys can break the siege on Gaza 97

4.12 Respondents who have not gone on a convoy responding on how 98 they will support future convoys

x LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Page No.

1.1 File:Palestine Map 2007.gif 1

1.2 Institutional change processes in social movement, organizational, 14 and legal fields

1.3 The Process of Creating Participatory Democracy 18

1.4 Model of the Analytical Framework 20

2.1 A map showing loss of Palestinian land from 1946-2010 33

2.2 Map of Gaza 39

3.1 Israel accused of ramming Gaza aid boat 54

3.2 Fire Engine on the way to Gaza 64

3.3 Vehicle sponsored by orthodox Jews from Neturei-Karta 68

4.1 Difference in the age groups for the total number of respondents 80

4.2 Respondents religious background 82

4.3 The different income groups of the respondents 83

4.4 The different education groups of the respondents 83

4.5 Reasons respondents went on the convoys 85

4.6 Why respondents would go on a future convoys 86

4.7 Correlation between Question 7-9 for respondents who went on a 87 convoy

4.8 Why do respondents think convoys are important 88

4.9 Responding on who should help to break the siege from respondents 90 who went on a convoy

4.10 Responding on how they will support future convoys 92

xi 4.11 Correlation between Question 7-9 for respondents who have not gone 93 on a convoy

4.12 Why do respondents, who did not go on a convoy, think convoys are 94 important

4.13 Responding on who should help to break the siege from respondents 95 who did not go on a convoy

4.14 Adaptation of the Analytical Framework 99

4.15 Distribution of sources of funding by donor category and funding 116 channel

xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome AFP Agence France-Presse BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BRICUP British Committee for University for Palestine BDS Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions ECESG European Campaign to End the Siege et al. (et alia): and others EU European Union FGM Free Gaza Movement FIMA Federation of Islamic Medical Association GCM Global Citizen Movement GICDF Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation IHH Insani Yardim Vakfi IMEMC International Middle East Media Center IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding ISM International Solidarity Movement MEChA Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán MP Member of Parliament MSRI Malaysian Social Research Institute n.d. No date No. Number NGO/NGOs Non-Governmental Organisation/Non-Governmental Organisations OCL Operation Cast Lead p. page PLO Palestinian Liberation Organisation PR Public relations TV television UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency USA/U.S. United States of America VP Viva Palestina VPM Viva Palestina Malaysia VPUK Viva Palestina in the UK VPUS Viva Palestina US

xiii CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The history of the Palestinian and Israeli problem has been on-going for centuries.

Palestine now consists of two areas, the West Bank and Gaza, separated by Israel in between (see Figure 1.1). The smaller area that is known as the Gaza Strip has, in recent years, been the focus of Middle East politics within the Israel-Palestine conflict, especially since the 2006 elections that brought the political party Hamas into power in Palestine. It is this political development that brought Gaza ultimately under Israeli siege.

Figure 1.1. Wikimedia Commons, File:Palestine Map 2007.gif, 2007 Retrieved: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestine_Map_2007.gif

A siege, according to the Human Rights Education Associations (n.d.), is “the surrounding of a city or geographic area by one party to an armed conflict”. However in the case of Gaza it is an all-out siege that is very comprehensive and extensive. In response to Hamas winning the 2006 elections, Israel and the Western powers, including the United States, did not accept this result because they deemed Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Therefore, this siege on Gaza was put into place. The borders were sealed from all sides connected to Israel and the one border point leading to

Egypt was closed. Imports and exports of goods were virtually blocked including basic food types such as wheat and pasta as well as medical supplies. The Gazans have been virtually living on supplies secretly transported through tunnels from Egypt.

According to the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) the Israeli actions on Gaza is an illegal siege (IMEU, 2011). This is also supported by an Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, stating that “the Israeli occupation is the longest military occupation of modern times,” (Laor, Haaretz, 2011) on both Gaza and the West Bank.

Under this siege, Israel controls Gaza‟s territorial waters, airspace, flow of people and goods through its land borders. The IMEU (2011) also maintains that the siege on

Gaza is not only an illegal one but also violates the Fourth Geneva Convention under which Israel has the legal obligation to protect the citizens under its control. Israel clearly denies this “by denying Gazan Palestinian civilians access to adequate amounts of the most basic food and medical supplies,” (IMEU, 2011). Additionally,

Israel has not been allowing necessary supplies the Gazans need for rebuilding Gaza after the destruction Israel inflicted on them during Operation Cast Lead (OCL) in

2008/2009.

1.1.1 Severity of the Siege

The population of Gaza increased enormously, especially when Palestinian refugees fled to Gaza from other areas of Palestine to get away from the horrific violence that was happening to some of the villages, what has become known to the Palestinians as the Nakba. Now 1.6 million people are cramped into a very small area, roughly 139 square mile area in size, resulting in Gaza having the highest populated density in the world, with two-thirds of the population being refugees of which nearly half of the population is under the age of fourteen. The siege has tightly controlled the access of food, water, electricity and other basic items into Gaza making the people‟s life extremely difficult, a situation which has been described by Robert Serry, the UN

Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, as “collective punishment,”

(Amnesty International, 2008).

In addition to Gaza being overcrowded, Israel controls all the borders surrounding Gaza making it hard for the people to travel in and out of the area. The

Israeli navy ships, which are clearly visible along the coastline, patrol Gaza‟s seaboard enforcing their sea blockade. This then makes it very hard even for the Gazan fishermen to fish being restricted to no more than three nautical miles out to sea.

Originally, under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement back in 1993, they had been allowed to fish up to a distance of 20 nautical miles. It has been recorded by human rights groups such as the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) that “there were occasional reports of the Israeli navy firing on fishing boats,” (Chomsky and Pappe, 2010, p. 108) and that these regular attacks led to “Gaza‟s 40,000 fishermen…deprived of their livelihood,” (cited by Gideon Levy, Chomsky and Pappe, 2010, p. 108). These attacks appeared to increase when the BG Group in 2000 discovered perhaps a promising natural gas fields in Gazan‟s territorial waters.

With Hamas winning the elections in 2006, this also affected the amount of aid that was earlier coming into Palestine. Many aid agencies stopped providing aid to the region, especially money that was supposed to help rebuild the infrastructure and help to improve the economy for the whole of Palestine. Michael Bailey from Oxfam stated that eventual decrease in foreign aid affected the institution building in Palestine

(Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera English, 2007).

Overall, there is some aid that is coming in but not only is that a small amount but this aid is from governments who state clearly that "the funds provided were strictly designated to emergency relief and humanitarian intervention projects,"

(Qarmout and Beland, 2012, p.6) and these agencies are bound to this contract.

1.1.2 International Response to the Siege

This siege over the past few years has damaged the economy of Gaza further as businesses are unable to export their products to the outside world. The only working airport that used to be in Gaza has been bombed by Israel to the extent that no plane can land there. The UN officials frequently stated that the situation in Gaza is deteriorating. Even the United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron stated that

Gaza is like “a prison camp,” (Watt and Sherwood, The Guardian, 2010). With all this said and done, seven years on and Gaza is still under siege.

This siege has been declared as illegal by The United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay (Press TV, 2010) and a number of UN officials have reiterated this view. Over the years, some foreign officials have visited

Gaza and stated that the siege has to end. Recently former USA Attorney General

William Ramsey Clark emphasised that “this country must be open to the world,”

(Maan News Agency, 2011). The United States, the most powerful player in the

Middle East politics and the strongest political patron of Israel has generally remained supportive of the Israeli actions. However, governments around the world have remained largely silent.

Due to the failure of states and international institutions in ending the siege, this then led ordinary peace activists from around the world to try and break the siege either via land or by sea and to bring in much needed aid into Gaza. The first convoy, done by sea, was organised by the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) in August 2008 and was a successful mission with two fishing boats breaking the siege and entering Gaza.

Since then, there have been ten other flotilla attempts (Free Gaza Movement, 2011).

However, the recent five flotillas, which happened to be growing in size each time, have been stopped by Israel, with the tenth flotilla in May 2010 being the deadliest violence to have occurred leaving nine activists dead and hundreds injured on the main ship named the Mavi Marmara being led by the Turkish NGO, Insani

Yardim Vakfi, also known as IHH. The recent flotilla in June 2011 was prevented from even leaving for Gaza from Greece by the Greek authorities and some of the boats were severely damaged.

In addition to sea flotillas, the activists have taken the land route as well to break the siege. The land convoys were started and led by the United Kingdom charity named Viva Palestina, which was formed by British Parliamentarian George

Galloway in direct response to Operation Cast Lead. Their other name that is registered under the UK Charity Commission is Lifeline for Gaza (Charity

Commission, 2008) with their charitable objectives being:

1. Provision from the UK of food, medicine and essential goods and

services needed by the civilian population; and

2. Highlighting the causes and results of wars with a view to achieving

peace.

The name of the charity and the objectives clearly shows that the main goals of

Viva Palestina are “breaking the siege on Gaza”, a tagline that is clearly seen on their website (Viva Palestina, 2009); and to bring in much needed humanitarian aid. Since setting up the charity, Viva Palestina have organised five land convoys into Gaza and have grown tremendously in support, with Viva Palestina now having eight countries under the same umbrella and making it an internationally recognised organisation. A recent addition to the movement is called flytilla – that is the attempt by the peace activists to fly into the West Bank by airplane. The first abortive attempt in July 2011 had successfully drawn world attention. However, the second flytilla in 2012 was stopped not only by Israel refusing people to enter Israel but several airlines and countries. For example, Lufthansa airlines prevented people from boarding the airplane and told them "that their reservation was canceled at the behest of Israel,"

(AFP, Ynet News, 2012). However, due to the flytilla's being focused on the West

Bank, there will not be too much focus on them.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Gaza Strip of Palestine has been under the Israeli siege since 2007 causing inhumane suffering to its inhabitants. International communities have called this siege illegal, yet the state institutions have officially remained inactive to unsiege the siege.

In this context, the ordinary citizens have taken an alternative approach to confront the siege. This crisis of Gaza generates fundamental questions, such as have the state institutions failed to unsiege Gaza leading ordinary people to become more active? Is the situation in Gaza such an humanitarian crisis that ordinary people around the

6 world feel that this is the only way they can help? Keeping this context in consideration, the aim of this study is to analyse the nature, characteristics and effectiveness of the citizen-led aid convoy to unsiege the Gaza Strip..

The basic questions that the study addresses are:

1. What are the characteristics, nature and types of aid convoys and what

do they convey to the Gazan people?

2. How do aid convoys help shape international opinion that may

influence Israeli policies leading to unsieging Gaza?

1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

The issue about aid going into Gaza is a fairly new concept since the siege only started in 2007. There have been other forms of aid that have gone to Palestine from international donors and states but the types of aid that will be looked into is the aid convoys that have been made specifically to highlight and break the siege on Gaza.

Secondly, this type of study has never been done before and its significance lies in the fact that with more and more people around the world wanting to be part of these convoys and by raising millions of dollars for these trips. Moreover, understanding more about this issue and seeing if there is evidence that it does make a difference to the people of Gaza, thereby making this research very important.

Thirdly, if the aid going into Gaza is making a difference for the people, then it would prove that sending the aid and going on these trips is a positive form of action.

However, perhaps this sort of action is aggravating the situation, or perhaps not helping the situation whatsoever, especially when it has been so hard for peace talks to take place between the Israelis and Palestinians. If outside 'actors', such as the convoys, are making the peace talks and deals more difficult then perhaps all the

7 effort, time and money that go into organising them should not be undertaken. This is an extremely important question that needs to be investigated.

Finally, as mentioned, this form of aid is a recent idea and increased tremendously when Operation Cast Lead happened and overtime, these convoys are becoming larger bearing in mind ordinary people have responded by contributing towards these trips. By conducting this research, it will see whether popular actions of these types can in addition make an international impact. With the attacks on the flotilla trip to Gaza in May 2010 that left nine activists dead, perhaps understanding more about this incident is better before a volunteer agrees to participate.

1.4 LITERATURE REVIEW

Since this study is a fairly new study, searching for information, specifically in regards to Gaza has been limited. However, the concept of aid and international help is not new, therefore in order to gain more understanding most of the research has concentrated on the experience of aid convoys to other countries. The difference with this research is that the aid to Gaza has come from civilians, not from states. Majority of previous studies have been focused on aid given to the civilians in need by states.

Since most of the aid is coming from a different country or several different countries the logistical part of organising such a convoy is a massive challenge. For example, the Viva Palestina convoys start from London, England and they drive all the way through to Gaza. This involves considerable time and planning to organise the exact logistics. The Fritz Institute (2005) is quoted as saying, “The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 proved beyond doubt that logistics is central to humanitarian aid,”

(Whiting and Ayala-Ostrom, 2009, p. 1). Not only does logistics have to deal with the route but one has to look into providing a way that the aid can be given effectively and

8 that the goods themselves do not get damaged. There have been many cases, especially items such as medicines, which have either expired or have been tainted.

Another area that needs to be examined in this research is to see if a state is helped by aid. Looking at aid helping in a macroeconomic sense, one could assume that aid would help to create growth in the state. However, according to Robert Cassen and associates (1994), there seemed to be no correlation between the two. He notes that there have been certain cases whereby if there had been no aid, perhaps these countries would have been worse off. An example he gives is in Bangladesh whereby if there had been no reconstruction aid available to the country in 1971, perhaps it may not have survived that event. Of course it has to be noted that there are different forms of aid such as agricultural projects, industrial projects, education programmes and food aid. For Gaza, it appears that all forms of aid are being sent there. This shows how much of a grasp Israel has over Gaza.

Cassen learnt that there is a close relationship between the effectiveness of aid and the success of policy dialogue, which creates a linkage between politics and the aid convoys. However, in order to achieve positive results, Cassen states certain conditions that need to be met, such as having country experience. If this proves true, perhaps having some form of political agenda in these convoys can help on the political level.

One has to also wonder whether aid can actually bring peace to that region or does it aggravate the situation more. James Boyce (2002, p.14) states how “aid does not guarantee that external assistance will materialise” meaning that one cannot be certain that aid will come from an outside actor and help to change the policies placed on that area. Boyce also states how the idea of aid has been used as leverage in order to gain peace in a state or region. An example he clearly uses in other examples is the

9 case of Bosnia. It proved to be very difficult but by using aid, it helped the situation in

Bosnia after the civil war. In a recent statement by the United Nations Secretary

General, Ban-Ki Moon, it was suggested to the European Governments that they should try to discourage the next flotilla to Gaza that was happening in June 2011

(AFP, 2011). His reasons for making this statement was that, in his opinion, having another flotilla to Gaza may escalate more violence in the region. There are many debates on whether this is true or not.

To further prove that Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) not only help with the humanitarian side of the issue but are also very influential on the political side of it, one can look at the response and actions of Israel. Since the beginning of

2010, Israel started to withdraw work permits for social workers who are part of

NGOs, some of which are very well-known internationally such as Oxfam, Save the

Children and Médecins Sans Frontières (Slier, Russian TV, 2010). The reason for this change of policy towards aid workers was because Israel sees these NGOs as adding

“more fuel to the conflict”, quoted by the founder of the Im Tirtzu movement, Ronen

Shoval, and the Israeli Foreign Minister shares the same view (Slier, Russian TV,

2010). If Israel did not feel that NGOs were influential there would be no reason to start this policy.

Mary Anderson (1999) states how aid can help to support local capacities for peace but she also stated how aid can neither cause wars nor end wars. Wars are usually fought for people‟s own reasons. This also proves that outsiders cannot even prevent wars from happening, therefore suggesting that even if aid is going into a region, a war can still happen. There are limitations when it comes to international aid.

These convoys that have been entering Gaza are by no means able to control whether

Israel goes to war with the Palestinians or vice versa. They may be able to raise awareness but the power still lies with the governments.

By looking at only a few studies that have been done about international aid, one can already see how the aid to Gaza has several different aspects than the usual aid one talks about. The obvious one being that these convoys have been organised by the people themselves and the governments have not been involved in such trips. Even though some governments have spoken out against what have happened to their people on these trips, countries such as Turkey, Ireland and Malaysia to name a few, the governments were not the ones that organised them. It took the will and hard work by their people in order for it to be done.

It is also important to determine exactly what the organisations intentions are and whether politics is accounted for. For example, the Viva Palestina organisation has many different branches and countries under the same name. The Viva Palestina

Arabia organisation however has a different motto from the other Viva Palestina‟s in the other countries. They mention “bringing material and political aid to the besieged people of Gaza,” (Viva Palestina Arabia, 2010). This is a clear indication that their intentions are also in part political. If so, why and is this good in the long-term? Using aid for politics could be a good idea as it could help to change the policies that are being enforced onto the Palestinians. However, if it is not done properly it could make the situation, in this case the peace talks, worse.

1.5 THERORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Due to the frustration caused by the inactions of governments and conventional political institutions, citizens often take issues into their own hands. This is known as a citizen‟s movement. Since 1970s, there was a “virtual explosion of citizen activity,”