Vessels expected to reach Gaza in mid-September in third attempt by sea to end a war that has killed over 63,000 Palestinians.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has left the Spanish port city of Barcelona, with the stated goal of “breaking Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza”.
The boats started moving out of the port at approximately 3:30pm on Sunday, with crowds of activists, support staff, and well-wishers there to see the crews off.
Mauricio Morales, reporting from on board the Familia, one of the Flotilla boats, said: “The turnout was overwhelming, I think nobody was expecting so many people to wave goodbye to the volunteers. Spirits are high, people are strangers in this particular boat, but [each has] a particular role.”
Hours before their departure, Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg spoke out against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, as did a number of other high-profile people who were sailing with the Flotilla.
“Israel [is] very clear about their genocidal intent. They want to erase the Palestinian nation. They want to take over the Gaza Strip,” said Thunberg, hitting out at politicians and governments “failing to uphold international law”.
“They are failing to do their most basic, legal duties to act, to prevent a genocide, to stop their complicity and support for … the occupation and the genocide of Palestinians,” she said.
Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian activist based in Barcelona, denounced Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. “Palestinians are being starved to death because there is a government that is intentionally starving those people to death,” he said.
“There is a government that is intentionally bombing Palestinian kids and families every day for the purpose of killing as many Palestinians as possible,” Abukeshek added. “When you bomb hospitals, when you bomb schools, when you bomb educational centres, your main aim is basically to … end the presence of the Palestinian population.”
The flotilla’s launch comes after the United Nations declared a state of famine in Gaza this month, as Israel doubled down on its push to seize Gaza City and forcibly displace about a million Palestinians living there as part of its plan to take over the enclave.
‘We will be back’
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party, did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure, but Thunberg spoke of “dozens” of vessels.
Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.
Everyone who signed up to join the Flotilla believes strongly in its mission.
“It was hard to say goodbye to my two kids, but this is something I am doing because I believe that continuing to document what is happening in Palestine is just a grain of what our colleagues in Gaza and the West Bank are doing … this is easy compared with what they endure every day,” Morales said from on board the Familia.
Yasemin Acar, a flotilla organiser, confirmed that the flotilla, made up of delegations from 44 countries, would be “joined by many more boats from different ports” in Greece, Italy and Tunisia.
The maritime convoy, which will carry activists, European lawmakers and public figures from a number of countries, is expected to arrive in Gaza by mid-September.
Left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortagua, who will join the mission, told journalists in Lisbon last week that the flotilla was “a legal mission under international law”.
Two previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza were blocked by Israel.
In June, 12 activists on board the Madleen were intercepted by Israeli forces 185km (115 miles) west of Gaza. Its passengers, who included Acar and Thunberg, were detained and eventually expelled.
In July, 21 activists from 10 countries were intercepted as they tried to approach Gaza in another vessel, the Handala.
“We tried to … set sail two months ago with the Madleen, and then we set sail with the Handala. And we were attacked, kidnapped, and brought against our will to the Zionist entity. But we did say that we will be back,” said Acar.
Mohamad Elmasry of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies told media the flotilla was “an important act of symbolic resistance” that would “create a spectacle”, with Israel likely to find it “logistically difficult” to deal with the number of vessels arriving at the same time.
“Ultimately, they will be intercepted. They’ll be detained or otherwise sent back,” he said. “This is not going to solve the famine. What’s going to solve the famine, ultimately, is governments doing their job to stop genocide and deliberate starvation programmes.”
