Barcelona, Spain – In the main hall of one of Spain’s oldest labor unions, the , UGT, a registration center for foreign volunteers who fought fascism during the Spanish Civil War, volunteers from all over the world gathered to pay homage.
The nonviolent international volunteers who support Palestine, support activists, journalists, and politicians who will sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza on Sunday have been trained by the organization.
“We are not heroes,” he said. The story is not ours. Before the ships set sail, organiser Thiago Avila, a lifelong supporter of Palestine and environmental justice, addressed the crowds for a press conference. “The story is the people of Gaza.
Their goal is to provide humanitarian aid, which is the only cargo on board, and to establish a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians who are facing Israeli starvation and assassination.
More than 63, 000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in less than two years of conflict, with tens of thousands more still being injured and missing.
sailing into the unknown
Around 26 000 applications from all over the world were received, and the hundreds were narrowed down. The roughly 100 flotilla boats will be used for this purpose.
The flotilla will begin in Barcelona before heading to Tunisia, where additional vessels will be on Thursday to join it.
It will converge with more boats leaving Italy and other undisclosed ports once more, and they will sail together in formation to the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s air strikes and ground forces, as well as a man-made famine that it has imposed, are all known to be deadly against them, according to the organizers.
Israeli forces have been attempting to intercept or attack all freedom flotillas to Gaza since 2010.
The ship Madleen was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters in the region of 185 kilometers (115 miles) west of Gaza, where Israel has no authority. Greta Thunberg, a climate activist, was on its crew, and they were arrested or expelled.
Israeli commandos stormed the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in Mediterranean waters in 2010 carrying more than 600 passengers and humanitarian aid.
Several people were hurt and 10 activists were killed by the commandos.
Israel thwarted several attempts in 2025, including the Conscience, which was struck twice by drones 25 kilometers (14 nautical miles) off Malta, in 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2018.
The Global March to Gaza, a previous land-based effort, set out in June to deliver aid to Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Many of those volunteers have since moved to Tunisia to gather ships for the Global Sumud Flotilla.
determined volunteers
Delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, and the United States were a part of the Barcelona gathering, which reflected a sizable international audience.
The volunteers, some of whom have served on multiple flotillas, are focused on achieving their collective goal of removing Israel’s occupation of Gaza and providing aid to its citizens.
In Barcelona, intensive training sessions were held to prepare participants for situations like interception in international waters, arrest, detention, deportation, violent assault, or bureaucratic tactics to halt boat departures.
However, they’re putting nonviolence back into any of these situations as the foundation of their preparation, which the organizers repeatedly highlighted and warned against breaking that principle.
Every volunteer has a strict code of conduct that, throughout the mission, will reject oppressive and exploitation systems.
From Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership in India’s independence movement to Rosa Parks’ defiance of racial segregation, workshops covered the history of nonviolent struggle.
Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian volunteer, was one of the participants. She has lived in exile herself after being targeted in Colombia for her activism against the right-wing former president Ivan Duque and is married to a Palestinian refugee.
![Luna Valentina [Mauricio Morales/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/576A6746-1756632046.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
She told Al Jazeera that the couple, who had faced racism in Europe, now reside in Jordan.
Valentina traveled to Rafah along with other Colombians during the Global March to Gaza. She recalled the support, strength, and care she found among Colombian female activists who will support the mission from land and those who will now sail with her.
getting ready to sail
As the countdown for their departure drew near, a three-day celebration of the volunteers and their work began on Barcelona’s Moll de la Fusta, a port walkway.
As the crowds gathered for a festival of music, culture, and art to show their support for the Palestinians in Gaza and the volunteers of the flotilla, drums filled the air, hundreds of Palestinian flags fluttering, and crowds gathered, it was a warm outpouring of support.
Everyone is hoping that Israel’s blockade of entering Gaza’s coast will be met with humanitarian aid.
This flotilla continues a legacy for Avila, the father of a young child: “We cannot leave a world like this because of the love we have with our daughter. He told Al Jazeera, “We must change the society that allows a genocide to occur.”
“With every child in Gaza that passes away, I think anyone who is not dead inside dies a little bit,” he said.
An Australian mother of four who has also joined the flotilla shared that view. No one should live and perish like this, she said in a sour voice. Everyone is deserving of the same respect and freedom.
