Category World News

Mediterranean Sea – Everyone gathered on the top deck of a Global Sumud Flotilla vessel, which had volunteers determined to deliver the supplies.

Life vests, head counts, and designated muster points were all reviewed and put into practice as security protocols in case of an emergency.

They were getting ready for collisions, fire, someone falling overboard, or other possible scenarios on any vessel.

This training, however, was different because of a different situation.

In the event that Israeli soldiers boarded the vessel, intercepted it, or detained them, they were given instructions on how to raise their hands. The main goal is to carry out their mission in a non-violent manner.

After departing from Sicily, Italy, the flotilla was approaching the “yellow zone,” which is the area where Israeli attacks are possible in international waters between Italy and Cyprus.

Old propaganda strategy

The humanitarian flotilla, which is attempting to remove the Israeli military’s hold on the people of Gaza, was recently referred to as a “jihadi flotilla” by the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, who claimed it has ties to Hamas.

Hamas, a jihadi organization, has publicly supported the so-called “Flotilla to Gaza.”

We demand mobilization of all means to support the Gaza-bound Global Steadfastness Flotilla, according to Hamas.

Not at all humanitarian. This is a jihadist initiative that advances the terror group’s goals. pic. twitter.com/vciWdnTswC

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security in Israel, made the announcement earlier this month that he wanted to detain the humanitarian activists as they were leaving Spain.

Saif Abukeshek, a member of the flotilla steering committee, described these claims as “psychological warfare” and said: “The propaganda is an old strategy” in an interview on Saturday.

A coordinator tells the gathered group during training that “we have to decide collectively whether we will react or whether someone should intervene if soldiers begin to beat one of us.”

The question was met with silence, but it was impossible to avoid. The coordinator took the initiative while wearing a bullhorn.

I don’t want any of you to react or order the soldiers to stop if I’m dragged or beaten. Respect my choice, please.

The bullhorn was circling. The volunteers each repeated the phrase one by one. The phrase was reduced to the three volunteers’ two words: “the same.” It was echoed by everyone who volunteers.

The intent behind the strategy was to stop more hostility. They might start a new conflict by threatening any reaction by even asking Israeli soldiers to stop.

One volunteer put it this way: “If you react or speak up while being beat, you will not only put your own safety at risk, but you will also violate the group’s will.”

Another person stated to Al Jazeera, “We are aware of the risks we have taken and why we are here.”

Physical and mental strains

Organizers and volunteers have had to deal with the delays and difficulties the flotilla has encountered.

Everyone has been under pressure because of drone attacks at Tunisian ports, technical difficulties faced by boats ill-suited for the high seas, and general difficulties in organizing an underfunded civilian initiative to sail to Gaza.

While their companions sleep, everyone on board must also perform a night watch, keeping an eye out for more drone attacks all night.

When asked what keeps them going, each of them cites the need to intervene to help Gaza’s citizens who are suffering from bombardments, starvation, and loss as a result of Israel’s war.

Because Israel has intercepted all previous flotillas, including the one that killed ten people aboard the Mavi Marmara ten years ago, they are aware that they are heading into risky waters.

After making difficult decisions, the boats had already left Tunisia for Sicily on Tuesday, with fewer people on board.

More people wanted to board a flotilla boat than there was capacity, especially since some of the vessels failed technical inspections, raising questions about their ability to deal with the Mediterranean’s unpredictable nature.

Tunisian Bizerte read lists. As volunteers who had formed strong emotional ties bid their farewells among the boats, crews were rearranged and tears poured down.

Their involvement in the mission was ended at this point, but they would continue to support the flotilla that was headed for Gaza.

Some contacted the coordinators to ask for their reserved seats. On the boats, other people waited patiently with their coworkers before returning to a hotel to board the planes to check in with them.

Please place this Palestinian flag on the boat, please. It has been in my friend’s window for years, according to Marcin, a Norwegian-born Polish volunteer who was one of the crew members who was removed.

After that, everyone boarded the ships they had assigned and met their crews. All hands were on deck to clean and get ready for the ship’s upcoming Italy-bound journey. Some of the volunteers have sailing experience, while others have little sailing experience.

The boats have returned to Italy after a short while, sailing through the yellow zone and getting ever closer to the red zone, where the danger grows 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) away from the Gaza shore.

The drills continue, too.

During demonstrations against President Dina Boluarte’s government, police in Peru have opened fire on Gen Z protesters. Young demonstrators want justice for corruption and repression.

Senator Bernie Sanders finally acknowledged the genocide as a genocide after almost two years of abominable atrocities committed in Gaza. He stated in an op-ed published on the website of his US Senate: “The intent is clear. Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, and that is unquestionable.

This declaration arrived too late, like other recent declarations from the UN and the IAG. However, it was included in a very problematic framework, making matters worse. In essence, Sanders suggested that “Hamas started it” before beginning his op-ed. This eliminates eight decades of plunder, ethnic cleansing, and victim-blaming as well.

This framing goes beyond being morally bankrupt to being legally irrelevant, and it sets a dangerous precedent for those who resist being repressed by any occupied or colonized people to lay down their weapons in order to avoid suffering the same fate as Gaza. Every oppressed population is screamed at by the world that their complete submission to those who want to eradicate them is essential for their survival, not international law or humanity.

Genocide is defined as “any of the acts that have been committed with the intention to completely or partially destroy a national, racial, or religious group” according to the 1948 Genocide Convention. The five prohibited acts include forcing the transfer of a population to the occupied West Bank, causing serious bodily or mental harm, intentionally creating conditions intended to cause physical destruction, and imposing measures to prevent births.

There are no asterisks or exceptions in the legal framework. “Unless you believe the other side started it,” is not a clause. No proportional genocide is mentioned in any paragraphs. There is no section that specifies the justifiable or implausible times for genocide.

Sanders acknowledges that Israel has a “right to defend itself,” which it does not in this case. A state cannot, under international law, assert that a territory is “foreign” and poses a threat to national security while also claiming control over it.

Israel’s construction of the apartheid wall was confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its own 2004 decision. Because it occupies them, the ICJ ruled that Article 51 of the UN Charter, which permits a state to exercise self-defense, does not apply to Israel in the event of a Palestinian alleged threat.

Since 1967, Israel has sworn to a perpetual, unquestioned rule over Gaza’s borders, airspace, and territorial waters. It has for decades dictated what enters and exits, as well as who lives and dies. It does not have “the right to defend itself” from occupiers in full.

Sanders and others object to the Palestinians’ right to resist occupation under international law. The UN General Assembly’s Resolution 37/43 declared “the legitimacy of the struggle for independence, territorial integrity, national unity, and freedom from foreign dominance and occupation through all means, including armed struggle.”

This does not make it appropriate to attack people in the street. Palestinian resistance must follow international law and distinguish between combatants and civilians, just like it does for all other resistance. However, it implies that resistance itself is not inherently unlawful and that it cannot be used to justify genocide in response.

Sanders is not just victim-blaming when he acknowledges the genocide with “But Hamas.” He denies Palestinians the rights that international law specifically denies while affirming Israel’s rights.

Therefore, it is genocidal to start off the Gaza genocide with “But Hamas.” It suggests that a people’s ability to live peacefully without genocide depends on their complete pacifism, their willingness to accept their own oppression, and their “perfect behavior.” This premise would retroactively support every historical colonial genocide. German colonization of Namibia was averted by the Herero and Nama populations. That served as a justification for their genocide. White European settlers were fought by the Native Americans. That legitimized their complete extermination, right? Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe gathered for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and various resistance organizations. The gas chambers and concentration camps would have been justified by that.

In addition to erasing more than a century of history, Sanders is also getting into the “But Hamas” argument.

The genocide is not scheduled to end on October 7, 2023. It is the most extreme instance of a project that began in the late 19th century when Zionist settlers arrived with the intention of establishing a Jewish state with the highest number of Jews and Palestinians possible. More than 500 Palestinian villages and towns were razed by Zionist forces during the Nakba of 1948, resulting in the expulsion of 750, 000 Palestinians, or more than 50% of the original Palestinian population, from their homes. More than 15, 000 Palestinians were killed between 1947 and 1949.

The Israeli governments continued to pursue the vision of Greater Israel, which extended from the Sinai to the Euphrates River, throughout the next seven decades. Israel committed a crime that has been ongoing since October 7, 2023, but it did not suddenly commit genocide.

Yet, there are still those like Sanders who pick to blame Palestinians for their own extermination.

For a reason, a genocide is referred to as the “crime of crimes.” It embodies humanity’s acceptance that, regardless of context or provocation, some actions can never be justified and others can never be crossed. We have made it so that one group’s lives matter more than another’s when we start making exceptions and when we say “but they started it.”

Without asterisks, without exceptions, or without the comforting lies that allow the powerful sleep while children are torn apart or starved, history will assess whether we can see genocide for what it is. We do not just fail Palestinians if we don’t grasp this fundamental truth. We fall short of all oppressed, colonized, and occupied people who may one day be told that their resistance only serves to justify their extermination.

More than 2,800 people were forced to flee after a 450-kg bomb from the World War II was discovered at a construction site in Hong Kong. Authorities claimed that if handled improperly, the device was still “fully functional” and could have resulted in a large number of casualties.