The boats were initially scheduled to depart from Tunis on Thursday. However, the Tunisian boats will have to wait until the Spanish flotilla, which is being delayed by a storm, arrives that is led by, among others, Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist.
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On Sunday, the Tunisian flotilla will join the other one, with all the vessels heading eastward in parallel and heading eastward.
Doctors, activists, convoy organizers, lawyers, and social media influencers will be on board the vessels. Along with the holds are some heartfelt messages and gifts from Tunisian children to their counterparts in Gaza and cardboard boxes filled with infant formula and medicine.
Before even reaching Gaza’s territorial waters, the Israeli army has intercepted or attacked all of the seven flotillas that have entered the country since 2010. Conscience, which was only 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Malta’s shores, experienced two strikes from Israeli-armed drones on May 2.
Raring to leave
Tunis, Bizerte, Beja, Sousse, Sfax, and Gabes are all currently undergoing thorough preparations for the flotilla. Many of the volunteers who work in Tunisia’s donation centers have a close relationship with Gaza, and many have watched as more than 62, 000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombardment there for almost two years.
Many of you are familiar with the efforts of local political activist Hatem Laayouni and the Tunisian-led Sumud convoy that attempted to pass through the month prior.
Many people are now volunteering to supply and sail in the most recent flotilla, which seems to have made Gaza feel within reach. “Tunisians no longer believe that Palestine is far away. Nearly everyone in Palestine. A volunteer who uses the name Sahraoui asserts that it is undoubtedly not far away.
Volunteers from all over the world are participating, especially since Gaza is currently officially in a famine, and they are aware of their limitations.
The team that led the Maghreb flotilla has quickly put together a plan. The flotilla’s organizing committee launched a fundraising campaign and a request for in-kind donations on August 22. The vessels were purchased ten days later.
We’re good at sharing the number of boats, according to Ghassan Boughdiri, a member of the organizing committee, adding, “We have the exact number we need.”
Once the flotilla is ready to sail, Boughdiri confirmed that the names and number of participants would be shared.
Donations
Organizers are prepared to provide more donations once Israel lifts its blockade, with large amounts of donations already being collected and packed into cardboard boxes.
The only things left to do are getting the vessels equipped with wi-fi, cameras, life jackets, and other safety tools, after the preparations have been completed for the most part.
Tunisians continue to queue up long at Station Street to donate money and other items in exchange for this.
The number of people who showed up to give donations, according to Boughdiri, is what makes this campaign unique. “We’ve had people bringing five and 10 dinars]$1.70 to $3.40]. These five dinars are so priceless for us, especially if your day’s pay is [$6.80] per day. It demonstrates how effectively we are helping our neighbors in Gaza.
There is hope that the world will be forced to act if Israel attempts to violently stop the boats as the world’s population grows in support of the flotilla.
However, Israel still has a higher chance of using violence, despite international law allowing the flow of humanitarian aid on flotillas to crises.
Source: Aljazeera
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