No one can accuse history of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago, in July 1947, a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named the Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British-controlled Palestine. The British, facing Zionist terrorism and trying to keep promises made to the Palestinian Arabs to limit Jewish immigration, were determined to stop it. Accordingly, when the Royal Navy boarded the ship 20 miles out from Haifa, a full-scale battle ensued.
Three immigrants were killed and dozens injured as British troops beat the passengers on to three separate prison ships. From there these Holocaust survivors were transported back to Germany and were once again placed in camps. The world was horrified; an American newspaper ran the headline "Back to the Reich". Delegates from the UN Special Commission on Palestine who watched what occurred were similarly shocked; the Yugoslav delegate cited that what happened to the Exodus "is the best possible evidence we have for allowing Jews into Palestine".
Since then, the fate of the Exodus has achieved legendary status: Leon Uris used it as the basis of his 1958 bestseller of the same name; an award-winning film starring Paul Newman came out in 1960; and the former Israeli foreign minister, Abba Eban, drew a direct link between the Exodus story and the ending of British rule in Palestine. Tellingly, a 1996 documentary celebrating the story is entitled, "Exodus 1947: The Ship That Launched A Nation".
This week another small flotilla of ships was making its way to Palestine. Crammed with humanitarian aid and some 600 international peace activists and human rights workers, it was set for Gaza.
Beset by violence and poverty, Gaza is home to 1.5 million dispossessed and imprisoned Palestinians. Under Israeli control since 1967, Gaza has seen it all and been through it all. Yet the events of the last two years are without precedent. Under blockade since 2007, bombarded in a three-week-long assault that is called a war, its people have been barely subsisting since – "put on a diet", according to Israeli government adviser Dov Weisglass. Much that is essential for everyday life is banned: cement is banned, pencils banned, paper banned, toys banned, medicines and food restricted.
Of course you can agree with all this and say it is the terrorist organisation Hamas that is to blame. You can say that even though all this is illegal under international law it is necessary for Israel's security. Or you can ask how banning toys is fighting terror.
Like Mary Robinson after the war you can be shocked, of course: "Their whole civilisation has been destroyed. I'm not exaggerating … It's almost unbelievable that the world doesn't care while this is happening." Or you can believe Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman: "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Despite Hamas's war crimes against Israeli citizens … Israel continues to respond in the most humane way possible."
Regardless of whom you choose to believe, this week the world witnessed another example of Israel's humanity. Just like the British all those years ago, Israel boarded and attacked the small flotilla far out to sea; at least 10, possibly 16 were killed and dozens injured, the survivors transferred to holding camps or prisons inside Israel before deportation. But for Israel's foreign minister this was never an aid convoy, but "a blatant provocation" and "violent propaganda". Which is odd, really, since the convoy, if left unimpeded, would not have gone to Israel itself. As for violence, well, we can all see who supplied that.
However, even as Israel celebrates its success in stopping the aid for Gaza, it should be aware that its position on blockading a whole people is not sustainable. At the time of the Exodus affair, future Israeli prime minister Golda Meir declared: "To Britain we must say: it is a great illusion to believe us weak. Let Great Britain with her mighty fleet and her many guns and planes know that this people is not weak, and that its strength will stand it in good stead." Replace Great Britain with Israel and the same applies today.
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