June 3, 2025
Juan Cole
The
mission is sponsored by the Freedom Flotilla in a symbolic effort to break
Israel's blockade of food and aid to the Strip.
Climate
activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag before setting
sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition,
departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025. (AP
Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
The Anadolu Agency reports that
the humanitarian aid ship set out for Gaza on Sunday from Catania in Sicily in
a bid to break the food and aid blockade imposed on the Strip by Israel. A
crowd of supporters gathered at the port with Palestinian flags to encourage
the 12-person crew. The mission is sponsored by the Freedom Flotilla
organization.
The crew includes Swedish
environmentalist Greta Thunberg, Rima Hassan (a French-Palestinian member of
the European Parliament), Jewish activist Zohar Chamberlain Regev, and retired
U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, and Irish actor Liam Cunningham, who played Davos
Seaworth in the HBO series “Game of Thrones.”
Before the launch, Thunberg
addressed a press conference, saying that the aid ship sought to break the
blockade of Gaza symbolically.
“Our governments and the
international community are failing to uphold human dignity. They contribute to
the impunity of those responsible for ecological and human genocide. That
leaves us as the only adults in the room.
“Regardless of the difficulties
we face, we must keep trying — because the moment we stop is the moment we lose
our humanity. As dangerous as this mission is, it pales in comparison to the
danger of global silence in the face of a live-broadcast genocide.”
She told the reporters present,
“We’re counting on you to use your voices, your platforms and every tool you
have to protect humanity, defend human rights and stand on the right side of
history.”
The U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports:
“On 19 May, after almost 80 days of a full aid
blockade on the entry of aid and any other supplies into Gaza, including food,
medicine and fuel, the Israeli authorities allowed the UN to temporarily resume
the delivery of limited aid into Gaza. Between 19 and 27 May, the UN submitted
900 truckloads for Israeli approval, of which about 800 were cleared and just
over 500 could be offloaded on the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom crossing.
Humanitarian organizations have been able to collect only about 200 truckloads
on the Palestinian side of the crossing due to insecurity and restricted
access.”
Thousands of cases of severe
malnutrition has been found in the Palestinian population of Gaza by health
workers.
A previous mission failed when
the ship was damaged by a drone strike off Malta on May 2, which the Times of
Malta attributed to Israel.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed
10 unarmed activists on the Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt
sponsored by the Freedom Flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which
has been in place since 2007 — though its severity in the past two years has
been unprecedented.
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