The Hypocrisy of “Humanitarian Activists”

It’s now been two months since the UN officially declared a famine in Somalia; last week, it said the famine had spread to a sixth region of the country, and without aid, as many as 750,000 people are facing “imminent” death. Strangely, there have been no reports of  humanitarian aid flotillas mobilizing to answer the call. Yet just two months ago, 10 boats from all over the world mobilized to try to relieve the  “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, where the UN has never declared a famine or warned that anyone risks dying of hunger; indeed, on key measures of  humanitarian wellbeing like life expectancy and infant mortality, Gazans surpass  even some OECD countries, not to mention much of the developing world.

It’s also now been one week since Syria’s opposition begged human rights activists to come to the country to monitor the government’s attacks on civilians, and thereby hopefully deter them. In Syria, unlike in Gaza, soldiers slaughter civilians on a daily basis; this week, the UN estimated  that some 2,600 Syrian civilians have been killed since March. During this same period, Israeli forces killed 72 Gazans, according to B’Tselem; of these, 28 were civilians. In short, Syria’s civilian death toll is almost 100 times higher. But there have been no reports of any humanitarian flotillas organizing to help Syria either.

If anyone needed proof that “humanitarian concerns” are not what motivate the Gaza flotillas, this ought to provide it. But it also attests to something else: the relative safety of the ventures in question.

For all their talk about “the brutal Israelis” and their willingness “to die for their cause,” flotilla activists know perfectly well sailing to Gaza poses no risk as long as they themselves refrain from violence. With the sole exception of last year’s Turkish-sponsored flotilla, every “aid” ship to Gaza has docked unharmed in either Israel or Egypt, and even in last year’s convoy, five of the six ships reached shore unscathed. It was only when passengers on the sixth ship brutally attacked Israeli soldiers that casualties ensued.

In contrast, sailing to Syria or Somalia definitely isn’t safe. Somalia is so unsafe even many real aid organizations – the kind that succor conflict zones worldwide – have been driven out, and that’s without even mentioning the risk of interception by Somali pirates. As for Syria, which has barred all foreign journalists and aid workers from the country ever since its uprising began, would a regime that shoots its own citizens without compunction truly hesitate to do the same to “humanitarian activists” openly seeking to break this blockade? The very fact no one has tried amply shows everyone knows the answer.

Somalia and Syria both prove the utter falsity of all the spin about “humanitarian activists” challenging “brutal Israelis.” Unfortunately, as Mark Twain once wrote, “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”