The Israeli protesters trying to stop food aid getting to Gaza – podcast
International aid organisations are warning Gaza is on the brink of famine. But since the start of the year groups of protesters have been trying to prevent food and supplies from getting in. Emma Graham-Harrison reports
Since the start of the year, groups of Israeli demonstrators have been gathering, first on the border with Gaza and then later in the West Bank, to lie down in front of food trucks – or in the West Bank even to attack them and their drivers – to try to prevent food aid getting into Gaza.
Who are these protesters and why would they try to prevent supplies from getting into the Gaza Strip, where international agencies say some children are already starving? Emma Graham-Harrison went to speak to the protesters to find out. She tells Michael Safi how, while their actions may seem extreme, believing aid should not be sent to Gaza is a worryingly mainstream view in Israel.
Michael Safi hears too about other protesters – those who are trying to help the truck drivers get through. Emma tells Michael of her interview with an activist from Standing Together who has risked his life to try to ensure people in Gaza will get aid.
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