In the classic novel “1984,” author George Orwell gives this famous example of how language is manipulated:. “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” What then would Orwell call “blockade”?

A generally accepted definition of a blockade might be “the isolating of a place…. preventing entrance or exit…” (Random House).
That would mean that there is no blockade on a border where:
724,925 tons of humanitarian aid travels from one side of the border to another. (January 19 2009 and January 16 2010.)
It would also not be a blockade if 29 millions gallons of diesel fuel is shipped from one side of a border to another to provide a generating station with the energy to produce electricity. (same dates)
It also isn’t a blockade if 18,500 people went from one side of a border to another to travel overseas.
Nor would there be a blockade in place if 1.3 million flowers were shipped over the border to European markets where they were sold along with 41 tons of strawberries and other commodities sent with them.
It also couldn’t be a place that was ‘blockaded’ if 10,346 residents from one place traveled to the other to receive hospital care not available to them on their side of the border.
Monetary payments would also likely not flow between a place blockaded and one doing the blockade. Yet $6.7 million passed from one place to the other on January 24th of this year in the same way other funds have been distributed before. In the main they were social security type payments and pensions.
All of this and more is happening on the border between Gaza and Israel. And all the while rockets from Gaza fly into Israel every single day, while the Israeli military works hard every day to prevent militant Gaza’s terrorists from penetrating into Israel to kill her people.
So what would Orwell call what is going on between Gaza and Israel today? We’re not sure, but “blockade” is not the right word for it. He would probably note again that when one controls the language, words can be made to say things that aren’t true.
Those who choose to demonize, delegitimize and eliminate Israel call this a “blockade.” There might not be a precise word for what Israel is doing on the borders surrounding Gaza while they contain the threat to their people from Hamas. But we do know that they try to do it as humanely as possible.
We note that 54 members of Congress, including Jim Himes from Greenwich, have chosen to ignore what is happening on the border between Israel and Gaza, and use the word “blockade” instead. Orwell would not be surprised.

(Thanks to Jinsa and the Israel Project for compiling these numbers.)

nrg

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