The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) will attempt to break Israel’s months-long blockade of Gaza by taking the place of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and actor Liam Cunningham from Game of Thrones.
On Sunday, the “Madleen” will depart from Catania, Sicily, carrying a load of humanitarian aid and several well-known activists, including Thunberg, Rima Hassan, a European Parliamentarian, and Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American lawyer.
Cunningham, an Irish actor best known for playing Davos Seaworth in the popular HBO series, has long supported Palestine and related issues.
The FFC, a coalition of humanitarian organizations, attempted to reach Gaza twice in as many months with the sailing.
After two alleged drones attacked another FFC vessel, the “Conscience,” while sailing in international waters off Malta’s coast, a mission was called off at the start of May.
The ship’s front section was severely damaged, according to the FFC, and Israel is to blame for the attack.
Meet some of the panelists, volunteers, and supporters who are preparing to sail to Israel’s illegal Gaza siege in Catania. ⛵️#AllEyesOnDeck #BreakTheSiege https://t.co/ZoCnr45S3I @RimaHas pic. twitter.com/IqAhOSHBv9
In a short video posted on social media, MEP Hassan claimed that the “Madleen’s” trip is both an attempt to provide Gaza with much-needed aid and a protest against Israel.
The first priority is, of course, to reject the blockade of humanitarian aid, the ongoing genocide, and the impunity imposed by the State of Israel, she said, and to raise awareness of the world at large.
The previous ship was attacked on May 2 in international waters close to Malta, and this is also the subject of this action.
Israel partially lifted its nearly three-month-long blockade of Gaza last week, but it has since restricted humanitarian travel to the Palestinian territory, which the United States has warned is nearing famine.
At least three people died and dozens of others were injured in the chaos that resulted as desperate people frantically searched for food supplies as a result of thousands of Palestinians rushing to so-called aid distribution stations set up by the contentious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation this week.
The US and other international aid organizations are boycotting the US-backed initiative, accusing Israel of attempting to coordinate and distribute aid across Gaza in a further attempt to fuel food and hunger.
About a quarter of Gaza’s population is in a “catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death,” according to the World Health Organization, and that the country is in “catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death” after months of protracted food shortages in response to Israel’s punishing blockade.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply