A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is due to leave from Barcelona on Sunday to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers said.
The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”, said the Global Sumud Flotilla.
They did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure. The flotilla is expected to arrive at the war-ravaged coastal enclave in mid-September.
“This will be the largest solidarity mission in history, with more people and more boats than all previous attempts combined,” Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila told journalists in Barcelona last week.
It’s great to see aid reaching those in need. Hopefully, this brings relief to many families
To be honest, I don’t think any aid will reach anyone. I think this is a move that puts Israel in a position to either let them through (unlikely) or violently intercept them and do something bad enough that the western governments whose members are on those ships are actually forced to care by the public.
I like how tenacious they are, but I feel like announcing where you are at all times either defeats their stated purpose, or they’re lying about the purpose. You aren’t going to get aid in there as long as Israel knows your every move. If you actually want to help them with food and stuff, you sneak it in.
This serves a different purpose, showing the world how awful Israel is for attacking civilian boats loaded with food for a starving population. My only real problem with that is that we all know this. Everyone who gives half a shit about what is happening, has known for at least a year at this point. Spreading awareness about it at this point comes off more as virtuesignalling than actually trying to help.
There’s no way you can move a surface ship with enough food for a significant number of people to Gaza without every government in the area knowing. They are announcing their location so Israel can’t shoot at them and later say they thought they were pirates.
Of course, Israel doesn’t exactly have a good record in following rules.
Isrsel has the cspability to intercept even without flotilla members annoucements
