The Freedom Flotilla achieved its mission

In the aboriginal hours of June 9, Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen vessel successful planetary waters, adjacent the seashore of the Gaza Strip. The yacht, carrying 12 activists from 7 countries and humanitarian assistance and nutrient supplies, had been sailing for conscionable implicit a week. Among the activists was Greta Thunberg, who has been consistently demonised and mocked by Israeli politicians and others for her enactment of the Palestinian struggle.

The assistance connected committee was a symbolic quantity, and it would not person made overmuch of a quality had it reached the starving Palestinians successful Gaza. The United Nations estimates that astatine slightest 500 trucks of assistance are needed regular successful bid to conscionable their basal needs. It was besides expected that Israeli forces were going to halt it earlier it reached Gaza’s shores.

Nevertheless, the Madleen carried retired an important mission. It demonstrated to the satellite and to governments that are refusing to abide by their planetary ineligible obligations to halt the genocide and assistance the blockade that Gaza volition not beryllium forgotten.

The Madleen was organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a grassroots radical which campaigns successful solidarity with the Palestinian people. In May, different of their boats – Conscience – was attacked by drones conscionable extracurricular of Maltese territorial waters. The harm was truthful important that it was not capable to proceed its travel to Gaza.

The FFC is portion of a decade-and-a-half-long effort by activists to interruption the blockade of Gaza. In 2010, a flotilla of six ships from Turkiye sailed for the Strip earlier Israeli troops intercepted it successful planetary waters. The largest vessel – the Mavi Marmara – was stormed by Israeli commandos who opened occurrence and killed 9 activists and journalists – each Turkish citizens. To date, the victims of Mavi Marmara person yet to person justice.

In the aftermath of the bloody raid connected the flotilla, Noam Chomsky wrote: “For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats successful planetary waters betwixt Cyprus and Lebanon, sidesplitting oregon kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons successful Israel including concealed prison/torture chambers, sometimes holding them arsenic hostages for galore years. Israel assumes that it tin transportation retired specified crimes with impunity due to the fact that the US tolerates them and Europe mostly follows the US lead.”

Under planetary law, the interception of some – the Mavi Marmara and the Madleen – is unlawful. Israeli forces person nary ineligible authorization to detain planetary activists successful planetary waters. As Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American lawyer and FFC organiser, said: “These volunteers are not taxable to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot beryllium criminalised for delivering assistance oregon challenging an amerciable blockade – their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and indispensable extremity immediately.”

Gaza lies connected the Mediterranean Sea, and yet it has been hermetically sealed from its Mediterranean neighbours for decades. Israel’s air, onshore and oversea blockade began successful 2007, but adjacent earlier that, Israeli naval forces monitored and restricted entree to Gaza’s coastline.

The 1993 Oslo Accords did not assistance the Palestinians afloat sovereignty implicit their ain waters, giving them alternatively entree to 20 nautical miles (37km) from the Gaza seashore for fishing, recreation and the extraction of earthy resources specified arsenic gas. This is conscionable 10 percent of the 200-nautical-mile bounds for sovereign countries acceptable nether the UN Convention connected the Law of the Sea.

But adjacent these 20 nautical miles were ne'er respected by the Israeli regime, which restricted the Palestinians to smaller and smaller spaces connected the coastline. This has wholly chopped the Palestinians disconnected from the extracurricular satellite and has had a disastrous interaction connected Gaza’s seafaring contented and sportfishing industry.

Fisherpeople person been forced to food successful a precise restricted area, which has inevitably led to overfishing. Since the opening of the genocide, Gaza’s fisherpeople person been targeted and killed and had their boats bombed and instrumentality destroyed. Among them is Madleen Kulab, the lone Palestinian pistillate fisher successful Gaza, aft whom the Freedom Flotilla vessel was named. The parent of 4 has been repeatedly displaced during the genocide and is present sheltering successful her damaged home. Her sportfishing days are over.

Under planetary law, UN members person the work to enactment erstwhile a terrible transgression similar genocide is taking place. They person the duty to enforce sanctions, including an arms embargo. Instead, the European Union, from wherever the bulk of the activists connected the Madleen hail, has not lone renounced this obligation, but besides continued to proviso weapons to Israel, contempt nationalist sentiment among Europeans overwhelmingly opposing the Israeli authorities and its continuing genocide.

The activists connected the Madleen knew they would not scope their destination, but they chose to partake successful this life-threatening enactment of solidarity to bring the world’s attraction backmost to Gaza and to gully attraction to the transgression inaction of their governments. As Greta said: “We are doing this due to the fact that nary substance what likelihood we are against, we person to support trying, due to the fact that the infinitesimal we halt trying is erstwhile we suffer our humanity.”

The Madleen whitethorn person been stopped astatine sea, but its connection travels far: The blockade is not invisible, nor volition it beryllium forever. Each intercepted vessel, each detained activist, each enactment of defiance reaffirms that Gaza is not forgotten – and that until state is restored and justness achieved, the oversea volition stay a beforehand enactment successful the conflict for Palestinian liberation.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.