[Image: Instagram / gazafreedomflotilla]
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is back at it – this time launching a fresh attempt to get aid into Gaza by sea, after a previous voyage ended in drone-induced disaster. One of their vessels has set sail from Sicily, undeterred by the Mediterranean having turned into something of a military minefield.
The ship, the Madleen, chugged out of Catania on Sunday with a 12-person crew that reads like the cast list of a politically charged Netflix docu-drama: Swedish climate firebrand Greta Thunberg, Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan.
They’re hauling what the group admits are “limited amounts, though symbolic” barrels of relief supplies, per Al Jazeera – think less mega-mission, more moral message.
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Their previous ship, the Conscience, didn’t get far. In early May, just outside Maltese waters, it got acquainted with not one but two drones. FFC pointed fingers at Israel, which ghosted all requests for comment.
Still, Thunberg’s not one to slink away quietly. “We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” she said at a press conference before the Madleen launched. She was meant to be on the Conscience before it got clipped.
She doubled down: “No matter how dangerous this mission is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the lives being genocised.”
The group expects the voyage to take about a week, assuming they don’t get intercepted, impounded, or worse.
Launched in 2010, the FFC isn’t exactly trying to win any humanitarian awards. Their mission is deliberately political: direct action against what they call Israel’s “illegal siege” of Gaza. In their words, this trip “is not charity. This is a non-violent, direct action to challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes.”
Aid agencies and UN groups agree that getting supplies into Gaza right now is about as easy as squeezing water from a stone – thanks to Israeli restrictions, rampant lawlessness, and looters who aren’t picky about their victims.
The UN says Gaza is in its worst state since the war between Israel and Hamas kicked off 19 months ago, and that’s with the so-called “resumption” of aid deliveries. On May 19, under heavy international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week blockade, letting in a trickle of UN-led aid.
Then there’s the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a shiny new mechanism backed by the U.S. and Israel, unveiled on Monday. Sounds promising until you hear that the UN and every major aid group worth their salt want nothing to do with it. Their issue? It’s not neutral, and it allegedly forces Palestinians to move just to get help.
The FFC, unsurprisingly, is having none of it. They’re among a growing chorus calling Israel’s actions in Gaza genocidal, accusations that Israel has flatly and furiously rejected.
“This is part of a broader strategy,” said activist Thiago Avila. “We are breaking the siege of Gaza by sea, but that’s part of a broader strategy of mobilisations that will also attempt to break the siege by land.”
He’s talking about the Global March to Gaza, an upcoming push involving not just activists, but doctors, lawyers, and media types, aiming to reach the Rafah crossing from Egypt in mid-June. Their goal? A mass protest demanding that Israel stop its assault and reopen the border.
Whether by land or by sea, this movement’s clearly not going quietly.
[Source: Al Jazeera]
