Another day, another set of histrionics from Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of Tony Blair and activist with the “Free Gaza” movement - a group which, despite its name, is careful not to make any criticisms of Hamas.
After talking darkly about the dangers posed by the IDF in making the journey to Gaza by boat, the shipmates made it into the Hamas-controlled Strip without so much as a boat search, much less a torpedo. Most of the activists left last week; Booth and a few others stayed on, apparently to do “human rights work.” This did not include any declarations of solidarity with those striking Gaza teachers facing a Hamas purge.
Now she’s complaining that she can’t leave Gaza (check this aptly-entitled post on Fresno Zionism). The Israelis won’t let her in via the Erez crossing. The Egyptians won’t let her in via the Rafah crossing.
Hold on! The Egyptians? But isn’t Gaza totally blockaded by Israel?? No surprises for guessing how Booth gets around this conundrum: the Egyptians aren’t letting her through because of Israeli pressure.
As for Israel, why would Booth even want to enter what for her is Satan’s lair? She really is displaying classic spoiled brat behavior: she actively consorts with sworn antisemites and murderers, then throws a fit when she’s deemed a security risk by the country she’d quite happily see wiped off the face of the earth. Which is why Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, was somewhat understated when he said, “This is something she should have thought about before entering Gaza. Nothing was coordinated with Israel.”
Now Booth is pronouncing dramatically that her predicament “…is a punishment, and it’s a warning to the people who may in the future want to come on the boat: imprisonment in the largest internment camp in history.” Meanwhile, Tony Blair is in Jerusalem on official business as Middle East Envoy. Wisely, he’s leaving his sister-in-laws antics to locally-based British diplomats.
Some commenter on TNR suggested a deal: “Booth can leave by land if she spends a month in Sderot helping repair damage from the Qassams & working with the victims there of her useful idiocy. Alternatively she could spend half her time in Sderot and half her time volunteering at One Family, a fine organization that helps victims of terrorism”.
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I’m pretty pleased with the way Israel handled this venture. They seem to have applied a parental guide for dealing with reclacitrant kids:
Remove privileges that you can control (she is subjected to the same policies as Palestinians who wish to enter Israel from Gaza. She is not priveleged for being a British scitizen or a relation to Blair);
Put the kid in time-out;
let the child suffer the logical consequences of their choices;
Make it very clear what the undesirable behavior is (She did not coordinate her movements with Israel. If she had, she wouldn’t find herself in this bind).
Here’s Lauren Booth shopping in a well-stacked grocery store in ’starving’ Gaza
http://www.daylife.com/photo/02uy2JZ8Uw445/gaza
Care of Meryl Yourish http://www.yourish.com/2008/09/05/5306
Why is she wanting to leave so soon? Is the humanitarian work all done, or has she done as much of it as she can stand?
In any event, why doesn’t she take the tube? The Gaza Strip has quite a good underground system, with connections to Sinai. Surely the very hospitable people of Hamas, who wouldn’t want her to be kept away from her children — and who are collecting the ticket money — would help her use it.
Paul Malin:
The urgent need to leave is probably due to the insufficient attention Ms. Booth is getting from the media.
Lauren Booth is a publicity-hound. While in Gaza, she should have interposed herself between the feuding Palestinian factions to stop the horrendous internecine killings lauched by Hamas against Fatah supporters.
She should be thankful that Israel did not sink her vessel when she came ashore in Gaza. Had she pulled this stunt in Georgia, the Russians would have made minced meat out of her.