Freedom Flotilla Defies Israeli Piracy, Launches 4 New Vessels from Siracusa Italy
Just days after the Israeli government’s assault on 22 unarmed civilian vessels of the Global Samud Flotilla (GSF) as they sailed toward Gaza in international waters west of Crete, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is pressing forward with new vessels.
On Saturday May 2, the FFC launched four new sailboats from Siracusa, Italy. The FFC is determined not to give in to the Israeli violence.
The launch continues the demand to end the siege of Gaza, to end the policy of collective punishment, to end the genocide Israel is inflicting on Gaza, and to end the apartheid system Israel established in the occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem.
Israel’s April 29 attack on the GSF flotilla was carried out while the boats were more than 600 nautical miles (over 1100 km) from its shores. The attack revoked the freedom of the seas. It violated the exclusive jurisdiction of the countries that flagged the 22 GSF vessels. It seized boats and property and physically assaulted sailors and passengers, putting many in the hospital. It kidnapped and tortured two GSF leaders, Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek. It was vicious state-sponsored piracy.
If the Israeli government had persuasive facts or arguments with which to answer the charge that its siege on Gaza inflicted heinous crimes on its 2 million people it would have used them. Its resort to violence against sailboats filled with civilians and humanitarian aid admits it had none.
The attack on civilian sailboats was part of a pattern of abuse, lawlessness, and violence that has been enabled, normalized, and shielded by powerful western countries for decades, especially by the United States.
“The launch of our four FFC vessels is a direct response to Israel’s escalation of violence,” said Colonel (Ret) and former US diplomat Ann Wright of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
“Israel’s violent attack on the GSF boats should have triggered immediate international action to defend the freedom of the seas, to defend the exclusive jurisdiction of the countries that flagged the vessels, and to defend the right of the civilian participants to take peaceful and legal action to stop a genocide.
“Instead, we see the same pattern of inaction that has enabled Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Yemen, and Iran. So more people are stepping up—organizing across borders, launching vessels, and refusing to accept a world where war crimes and crimes against humanity are normalized and where civilians protesting them are met with armed force.”
The four FFC boats have 30 participants from 12 countries.
While governments continue to enable Israel through silence or complicity, the Freedom Flotilla boats and complementary land mobilizations represent collective acts of global civil society intervention to support the people of Gaza.
“Sailing to Gaza is both an act of solidarity and a call for accountability,” adds David Heap, another Freedom Flotilla Coalition spokesperson. “It tells Palestinians that they are not alone and not forgotten. It tells the political leaders enabling these crimes that the world is watching, organizing, and acting. It says we will not accept the violent, lawless world that they want to create for us. Our mission is both to break the siege of Gaza and to confront the shameful silence and complicity of our governments that has enabled the genocide.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition issued a call on people in every country to demand accountability for Israel’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla and for its attacks on Gaza. It calls on people to press their government officials to guarantee safe passage for all flotilla vessels and to uphold the basic principles of international law on sea, in Gaza, and in every country. It calls on all people not to look away from the heinous crimes the Israeli government continues to inflict on Gaza.
Now they come for Gaza. But it won’t stop there. Do not be deterred. Do not be silenced.
Follow the live video feeds:
Track the flotilla here: https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/ and here:
https://mycaregazaflotilla.org.my/
🇪🇭🎈 Good for the flotilla & all the heroes aboard ! Best wishes & be safe. We are keeping track of you. Long live Palestine !! 💕🇪🇭🎈