. food . . medical Shelter . movement freedom. Water . Air.
We have witnessed horror as apartheid Israel, supported by some of the most powerful governments in the world, steals the people of Gaza from these fundamental necessities for survival, which are six essential for any human being’s survival.
We have marched, spoken up, and boycotted, expressing the opinions of the world’s majority. However, this has not been enough to compel international organizations to halt Israel’s occupation of Gaza and put an end to a real-life genocide.
We hope to break the blockade and provide food, medicine, and water to a besieged and starving population while we are unable to deliver all six of the essentials listed above. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) has a mission similar to that.
The largest humanitarian flotilla led by a citizen group has ever been established, combining previous land, sea, and air humanitarian missions to Gaza. It builds on decades of international support for Palestinians. It includes activists, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, and attorneys who have all joined forces to directly intervene to end the siege.
10 members of the South African delegation come from all over the country and from a variety of backgrounds: Jews, Jews, Agnostics, Jews, Christians, and atheists all working together to provide aid to Gaza.
In accordance with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures taken on January 26, 2024, and its subsequent orders from March 28 and May 24, 2024, as part of the South Africa v. Israel case, our efforts are closely aligned. The ICJ specifically mandated that Israel take all necessary steps to enable the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza in the provisional ruling.
Israel has since failed to follow these orders, as South Africa has consistently pointed out in its advocacy before the court and in its leadership role as co-chair and founding member of The Hague Group. We can’t stay silent in the face of such impunity, as demonstrated by the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
In an effort to overthrow the illegal Israeli occupation of Gaza, people of conscience started organizing grassroots flotillas.
The Madleen vessel carrying humanitarian aid was intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9. About 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) away from Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces intercepted the Handala, a second ship carrying supplies, on July 25.
Some of the activists on board were subject to physical assaults and trauma from the Israeli military forces, which constitute crimes and warrant investigation. Continue Gaza’s medieval siege, which amounts to a crime against humanity, by apartheid Israel, which prevented the desperately needed food and supplies on board from getting there.
There are those who will ask, “Why do you think you will succeed where others have failed before?” given the history of activists’ attempts to end the siege of Gaza.
We respond by saying that our democracy was won in large part by the world’s conscienceless citizens who boycotted, divested, and demanded that apartheid be outlawed. In this regard, it is appropriate to take the GSF as a means of humanity.
We have reacted by protesting, boycotting, demanding divestment of our institutions, and putting pressure on governments to impose sanctions. This ongoing action includes the GSF mission.
Although many countries have the authority to ratify Israel and even authorize military action to put an end to the ongoing genocide, they have hardly ever done anything other than make rhyming claims. We applaud the South African government for bringing apartheid Israel to the ICJ for the genocide, but we also take note that South African businesses continue to export coal that fuels the genocide. Our government has not yet followed our requests for a coal embargo.
To maintain both the pressure and the optimism, we are sailing on the GSF. Giving up on Gaza’s citizens and giving them to a bad regime is the only way to lose hope. We must maintain our faith by having a conscience.
As more and more people understand that this is not a war but a genocide, we are attracted to the growing movement for justice and human rights. There are over 50 flotilles from more than 40 nations this time around.
Hunderte of people of good conscience from all over the world are working together to stop the siege and raise awareness of Israel’s planned Palestinian hunger. Although there are only ten South Africans in the delegation, we still represent the majority of South Africans. Ours is therefore a just mission, so we must sail confidently knowing that our people will be watching and wishing us success.
Despite the fact that we are just a few hundred people in the GSF mission, the majority of people around the world have been watching the live-streamed genocide committed by Israel. We travel on the GSF as South Africans who want a better and just world, bearing in mind that, as the president of Colombia Gustavo Petro Urrego wrote in a letter to the flotilla, “Peace is not a utopia, but an obligation.”
