Revealed On 31 Aug 2025
The World Sumud Flotilla has left the Spanish port metropolis of Barcelona, with the acknowledged aim of “breaking Israel’s unlawful siege of Gaza”.
The boats began shifting out of the port at roughly 3:30pm on Sunday, with crowds of activists, assist employees, and well-wishers there to see the crews off.
Mauricio Morales, reporting from on board the Familia, one of many Flotilla boats, stated: “The turnout was overwhelming, I believe no person was anticipating so many individuals to wave goodbye to the volunteers. Spirits are excessive, persons are strangers on this specific boat, however [each has] a specific function.”
Hours earlier than their departure, Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg spoke out in opposition to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, as did plenty of different high-profile individuals who had been crusing with the Flotilla.
“Israel [is] very clear about their genocidal intent. They need to erase the Palestinian nation. They need to take over the Gaza Strip,” stated Thunberg, hitting out at politicians and governments “failing to uphold worldwide legislation”.
“They’re failing to do their most simple, authorized duties to behave, to stop a genocide, to cease their complicity and assist for … the occupation and the genocide of Palestinians,” she stated.
Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian activist primarily based in Barcelona, denounced Israel’s ethnic cleaning of Palestinians in Gaza. “Palestinians are being starved to loss of life as a result of there’s a authorities that’s deliberately ravenous these folks to loss of life,” he stated.
“There’s a authorities that’s deliberately bombing Palestinian youngsters and households every single day for the aim of killing as many Palestinians as potential,” Abukeshek added. “Whenever you bomb hospitals, while you bomb colleges, while you bomb instructional centres, your primary goal is mainly to … finish the presence of the Palestinian inhabitants.”
The flotilla’s launch comes after the United Nations declared a state of famine in Gaza this month, as Israel doubled down on its push to grab Gaza Metropolis and forcibly displace about 1,000,000 Palestinians residing there as a part of its plan to take over the enclave.
‘We might be again’
The World Sumud Flotilla, which describes itself as an unbiased group not linked to any authorities or political occasion, didn’t say what number of ships would set sail or the precise time of departure, however Thunberg spoke of “dozens” of vessels.
Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.
Yasemin Acar, a flotilla organiser, confirmed that the flotilla, made up of delegations from 44 nations, could be “joined by many extra boats from totally different ports” in Greece, Italy and Tunisia.
The maritime convoy, which can carry activists, European lawmakers and public figures from plenty of nations, is anticipated to reach in Gaza by mid-September.
Left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortagua, who will be part of the mission, instructed journalists in Lisbon final week that the flotilla was “a authorized mission below worldwide legislation”.
Two earlier makes an attempt by activists to ship assist by ship to Gaza had been blocked by Israel.
In June, 12 activists on board the Madleen had been intercepted by Israeli forces 185km (115 miles) west of Gaza. Its passengers, who included Acar and Thunberg, had been detained and ultimately expelled.
In July, 21 activists from 10 nations had been intercepted as they tried to method Gaza in one other vessel, the Handala.
“We tried to … set sail two months in the past with the Madleen, after which we set sail with the Handala. And we had been attacked, kidnapped, and introduced in opposition to our will to the Zionist entity. However we did say that we’ll be again,” stated Acar.
Mohamad Elmasry of the Doha Institute for Graduate Research instructed Al Jazeera the flotilla was “an vital act of symbolic resistance” that may “create a spectacle”, with Israel more likely to discover it “logistically tough” to cope with the variety of vessels arriving on the identical time.
“In the end, they are going to be intercepted. They’ll be detained or in any other case despatched again,” he stated. “This isn’t going to resolve the famine. What’s going to resolve the famine, finally, is governments doing their job to cease genocide and deliberate hunger programmes.”
