A New "Break the Siege on Gaza" Campaign

A new campaign plans to "March on Gaza" in January 2010. The campaign is being initiated by an international group called Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza and efforts in the U.S. are being orchestrated by Norman Finkelstein, a staunch anti-Zionist who regularly aligns himself with Palestinian terrorist groups.

In the past year or so, "break the siege on Gaza" campaigns have become a new weapon utilized by the anti-Israel movement.

Last August, a group of international activists called the Free Gaza Movement sailed by boat to Gaza in the hope of provoking a confrontation with the Israeli military. They were allowed to sail into Gaza and while there, they met with Hamas leadership, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The group has since reached Gaza on several other occasions.

Four days ago, a land campaign called Viva Palestina US left to Gaza. The group traveled to Egypt from New York and is now preparing to cross into Gaza in a show of support for the Palestinian people. A previous Viva Palestina convoy that went from Europe donated more than a million dollars and several hundred vehicles to representatives of Hamas in Gaza.

While these "break the siege" campaigns bill themselves as "humanitarian efforts," their willingness to blatantly break Israeli maritime law and their association and support of Hamas, a U.S. designated terrorist organization, defines these missions as provocatively anti-Israel and a show of support for terrorism.