In backlash, Israel allies, foes call for easing Gaza blockade.

Israel's blockade of Gaza will come under even more pressure later this week as the ship named after Rachel Corrie attempts to bring humanitarian assistance to Gaza and put the Israelis once again in the spotlight.

Despite Monday's bloodshed the activists onboard the Irish aid ship the MV Rachel Corrie say they will continue their efforts to brake the blockade and enter Gaza.

Despite the deadly outcome of the aid ships' attempts to reach Gaza on Monday, the eighth and final vessel in the so-called "freedom flotilla" is still planning break the blockade and enter the strip.

The activists on board the converted merchant ship the MV Rachel Corrie, named after the American woman killed in Gaza in 2003, say they are determined that their shipment of supplies should reach those in need.

Mark Daly, a member of Ireland's upper house of parliament, says passengers aboard the aid vessel had heard about the attacks on the rest of the flotilla but had decided not to turn back. "After having a discussion among themselves about what to do, they decided to keep going."

And there are signs that the Obama administration have finally realised that Israel's illegal siege of Gaza is not going to be feasible in the future.

Behind the scenes, administration officials pressed Israel to make sure the confrontation is not repeated, especially with a new aid ship heading for the besieged coastal strip within days.

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and Israel’s national security adviser, Uzi Arad, spent four hours in meetings yesterday at the White House, including a session with James Jones, President Obama’s national security adviser. The meetings focused on how to contain the immediate diplomatic fallout from the raid, which has endangered the push for sanctions against Iran and peace efforts in the Middle East.

The discussions also explored ways for future humanitarian deliveries to reach Gaza without jeopardizing Israel’s security, a White House official said. Behind the White House’s message was a sense within the administration that Israel’s approach toward upholding its blockade is unworkable over the long term, and the focus now is on preventing another deadly raid at sea.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Defense Minster Ehud Barak during a phone conversation that “we should be extremely cautious in both what we say and what we do in coming days,’’ State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

The Irish and the Turks are merely replicating the tactics of Gandhi towards the British occupation of India. When a nation is engaged in such an historic wrong one has to keep challenging them to force them to defend what they are doing. Gandhi wanted the British to react. That was the entire point of what he was doing.

Gandhi sought to hold a mirror up to Britain so that she would be able to see the wrong of the occupation.

The Irish are daring Israel to replicate the behaviour which she indulged in the other day to further invoke world condemnation or to allow the ship through and concede that the blockade is over.

I can't help but think that this blockade is in it's final days. And what I find astonishing is that it is ordinary people, not governments, who have finally said,"Enough is enough", and demanded that this outrage cease.

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Tags: Israel, Palestine, Rachel Corrie