Turkish Armada or Peace Flotilla?

It is hard to believe that aid workers carrying 10,000 tonnes of supplies to 1.5 million people could have provoked an attack against the powerful Israeli military, as reported by BBC. Although with a media blackout, speculation is all we have.

Of course, if events did unfold as they say they did, why have a media blackout? Why not show the world that the aid was a façade and that every inch of the western media has been right about Gazans and Hamas?

With 10 people dead, the United Nations (UN) has still only verbally condemned the attack. But in all honesty, we should not hold our breath waiting for some action by them. It took the UN over 10 years to rule on the ethnic cleansing that took place in Bosnia, such as the incident in Srbrenica.

How desperate does a situation have to get before some real action is taken? For three years, the Gazans have been facing a blockade of food, water, medicine and fuel. At this desperate time, we turn to Europe and the United States - Israel's strongest ally - and wait to see some form of action or reprimand at least, but nothing has happened. And I'm not surprised. When it comes to Israel, a spade is not a spade and there is always 'some' explanation.

Last January, Israel carried out air strikes in Gaza and in two weeks had killed over 900 people and injured around 4,500. The world watched as Israel pounded the Gaza strip. David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary at the time, blamed Hamas for initiating the conflict and then went on to say that Hamas was a murderous organisation, and of course, all the while the only murder taking place was in the Gaza Strip, as bombs fell on innocent civilians and others starved to death.

Can we really expect something different this time? It really couldn't be any clearer or bare-faced than this incident, but apparently there are some grey areas that the UN simply cannot overcome.

For further analysis on media coverage of the event, visit senior journalist at the Arab News, Siraj Wahab’s blog.

Manal Shakir is a freelance writer and Junior Editor at Oxford University Press ([e-mail])