Israel is expected to deport the last of the activists it had detained and imprisoned after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla last Wednesday. On Monday, 171 members of the flotilla, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were flown out of Israel to Greece, where they were received by crowds of supporters chanting “Free, Free Palestine!” Thunberg and others called on governments to end their complicity, demanding the world act on the obligation to stop an ongoing genocide. Many members of the flotilla alleged abuse and mistreatment at the hands of Israeli guards in the notorious Ketziot prison: “sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, being subjected to insults and being made to watch footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.”
The flotilla left its port in Barcelona, Spain late in August. While the most high profile member of the group is no doubt Thunberg, she is just one of nearly 500 lawmakers, journalists, doctors and activists from over 40 nations. The Sumud (“perseverance” in Arabic) flotilla follows attempts in June to break the siege by the Global March to Gaza, which was violently blocked by Egyptian authorities, and the Madleen flotilla, intercepted by Israeli naval forces. The flotilla faced constant repression and attempts at sabotage, first being denied entry into ports across North Africa. Then, while in port in Tunis, came under apparent attack by drones which dropped incendiary devices onto the ships. At the time, Tunisian authorities ludicrously blamed a dropped cigarette or a misfired flare, but in the face of video evidence were forced to conduct a real investigation, which further delayed the flotilla’s progress. CBS News recently reported that – surprise – Israel conducted the attacks, launching drones from a submarine which then dropped incendiary grenades, all on Prime Minister Netenyahu’s orders.
Meanwhile, strikes and protests in solidarity with the flotilla and with Palestine have exploded around the world; millions marched in Italy over the weekend, tens of thousands more in Spain and France. In London, over 400 protestors were arrested for carrying messages in opposition to genocide, despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s posturing around recognising a Palestinian state. Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Malaysia, demanding an end to the blockade that is starving Palestinians in Gaza. Further protests drew tens of thousands in Brazil, Tunisia, Turkey and elsewhere.
Today marks two years since Israel began its latest assault on the people of Gaza. Over sixty thousand people have been confirmed as killed in Israeli shelling and bombing. Tens of thousands more undoubtedly lie dead under the rubble which once made up Palestinian life in Gaza. There is no safety in Gaza. Most, if not all, of the residents of Gaza have been displaced multiple times, pushed from one end of the strip to the other, watching as friends, strangers, family members are picked off by bombardment, by snipers, by disease and by famine. The worst crime of our lifetimes is playing out daily, live-streamed all across the world for all to see, and yet it continues.
Another flotilla has departed from Italy and is currently off the coast of Egypt, making for Gaza in another attempt to open a humanitarian corridor and break the inhumane, criminal siege of the Palestinian people. We must not simply wait and watch to see if it is a success before acting ourselves. We must demand an end to the wanton destruction and murder, funded with American dollars and prosecuted with American munitions. If we fall victim to fear or cynicism, and those who carried out this historic crime walk free of any consequences, these horrors will certainly repeat, perhaps next in the West Bank, in Sudan, in Syria or, as anti-immigrant, anti-minority rhetoric ramps up, perhaps much closer to home.
