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WILL THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA SAIL TO GAZA?  
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Medea Benjamin
April 23, 2024
Common Dreams
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_ We are calling on countries around the world to pressure Israel to
allow us “free and safe passage” to deliver much-needed
humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. _

The flotilla waits to sail from Istanbul. , Medea Benjamin

 

The non-violence training to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s
ships to Gaza [[link removed]] has been
intense. As hundreds of us from 32 countries gathered in Istanbul, we
were briefed about what we might encounter on this voyage. “We have
to be ready for every possibility,” our trainers insisted.

The best scenario, they said, is that our three ships—one carrying
5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and two carrying the passengers—will
reach Gaza and accomplish our mission. Another scenario would be that
the Turkish government might cave to pressure from Israel
[[link removed]], the United States, and
Germany, and prevent the boats from even leaving Istanbul. This
happened in 2011, when the Greek government buckled under pressure and
10 boats were stalled in Greece. With our boats docked in Istanbul
today, we fear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who
recently suffered a crushing blow in local elections, is vulnerable to
any economic blackmail the Western powers might be threatening.

Another possibility is that the ships take off, but the Israelis
illegally hijack us in international waters, confiscate our boats and
supplies, arrest and imprison us, and eventually deport us.

This happened on several other voyages to Gaza, one of them with
deadly consequences. In 2010, a flotilla of six boats was stopped by
the Israeli military in international waters. They boarded the biggest
boat, the _Mavi Marmara_. According to a United Nations report, the
Israelis opened fire with live rounds from a helicopter hovering above
the ship and from commando boats along the side of the ship. In a
horrific display of force, nine passengers were killed, and one more
later succumbed to his wounds.

To try to prevent another nightmare like that, potential passengers on
this flotilla have to undergo rigorous training. We watched a video of
what we might face—from extremely potent tear gas to ear-splitting
concussion grenades—and we were told that the Israeli commandos will
be armed with weapons with live rounds. Then we divided up into small
groups to discuss how best to react, non-violently, to such an attack.
Do we sit, stand, or lie down? Do we link arms? Do we put our hands up
in the air to show we are unarmed?

The most frightening part of the training was a simulation replete
with deafening booms of gunfire and exploding percussion grenades and
masked soldiers screaming at us, hitting us with simulated rifles,
dragging us across the floor, and arresting us. It was indeed sobering
to get a glimpse of what might await us. Equally sobering are Israeli
media reports indicating that the Israeli military has begun
“security preparations,” including preparations for taking over
the flotilla.

That’s why everyone who has signed up for this mission deserves
tremendous credit. The largest group of passengers are from Turkey,
and many are affiliated with the humanitarian group, IHH, an enormous
Turkish NGO with 82 offices throughout the country. It has
consultative status at the U.N. and does charity work in 115
countries. Through IHH, millions of supporters donated money to buy
and stock the ships. Israel, however, has designated this very
respected charity as a terrorist group.

The next largest group comes from Malaysia, some of them affiliated
with another very large humanitarian group called MyCARE. MyCARE,
known for helping out in emergency situations such as floods and other
natural disasters, has contributed millions of dollars in emergency
aid to Gaza over the years.

From the U.S., there are about 35 participants. Leading the group, and
key to the international coalition, is 77-year-old retired U.S. Army
colonel and State Department diplomat Ann Wright
[[link removed]]. After quitting the
State Department in protest over the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Wright has
put her diplomatic skills to good use in helping to pull together a
motley group of internationals. Her co-organizer from the U.S. is
Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American attorney who is a co-founder of
the International Solidarity Movement and who ran for congress in
2022. Arraf was key to organizing the very first flotillas that
started in 2008. So far, there have been about 15 attempts to get to
Gaza by boat, only five of them successful.

The incredible breadth of participants is evident in our nightly
meetings, where you can hear clusters of groups chatting away in
Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Malay, French, Italian, and English in
diverse accents from Australian to Welsh. The ages range from students
in their 20s to an 86-year-old Argentine medical doctor.

What brings us together is our outrage that the world community is
allowing this genocide in Gaza to happen, and a burning desire to do
more than we have been doing to stop people from being murdered,
maimed, and starved. The aid we are bringing is enormous—it is the
equivalent of over 100 trucks—but that is not the only purpose of
this trip. “This is an aid mission to bring food to hungry
people,” said Huwaida Arraf, “but Palestinians do not want to live
on charity. So we are also challenging Israeli policies that make them
dependent on aid. We are trying to break the siege.”

Israel’s vicious attacks on the people of Gaza, its blocking of aid
deliveries and its targeting of relief organizations, have fueled a
massive humanitarian crisis. The killing of seven World Central
Kitchen workers by Israeli forces on April 1 highlighted the dangerous
environment in which relief agencies operate, which has forced many of
them to shut down their operations.

The U.S. government is building a temporary port for aid that is
supposed to be finished in early May, but this is the same government
that provides weapons and diplomatic cover for the Israelis. And while
President Joe Biden expresses concern for the suffering Palestinians,
he has suspended aid to UNRWA, the main U.N, agency responsible for
helping them, after Israel made unsubstantiated claims that 12 of its
13,000 employees in Gaza participated in the October 7 attacks.

Given the urgency and danger this moment presents, the Freedom
Flotilla Coalition is entering rough and uncharted waters. We are
calling on countries around the world to pressure Israel to allow us
“free and safe passage” to Gaza. In the U.S., we are asking for
help from our Congress, but as they have just approved another $26
billion to Israel, it is doubtful that we can count on their support.

And even if our governments did pressure Israel, would Israel pay
attention? Their defiance of international law and world opinion
during the past seven months indicates otherwise. But still, we will
push forward. The people of Gaza are the wind in our sails. Freedom
for Palestine [[link removed]] is our
North Star. We are determined to reach Gaza with food, medicines, and,
most of all, our solidarity and love.

_MEDEA BENJAMIN is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international
human rights organization Global Exchange. She has been an advocate
for social justice for more than 30 years._

* Israel-Gaza War
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* famine
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* Humanitarian Aid
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* Freedom Flotilla
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