“Free Palestine”: Freedom Flotilla’s Madeleine Launches Mission to Break Gaza Siege
Carrying a message of solidarity and resistance, the vessel departs Sicily to challenge Israel’s blockade and denounce the global silence on war crimes in Gaza.
Watan-Under the banner “Free Palestine,” the Freedom Flotilla ship Madeleine set sail from the port of Catania, Sicily, headed for the Gaza Strip. The mission aims to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and challenge the international silence surrounding the massacres being committed against the unarmed Palestinian population.
Onboard are 12 prominent international figures, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, Dutch artist and filmmaker Liam Cunningham, retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright, and Jewish activist Zohar Chamberlain Regev, among others.
At a press conference before departure, Greta Thunberg stated:“Our governments and the international community are failing to uphold human dignity. They contribute to the impunity of those responsible for ecological and human genocide. That leaves us as the only adults in the room.”
She added:“Regardless of the difficulties we face, we must keep trying—because the moment we stop is the moment we lose our humanity. As dangerous as this mission is, it pales in comparison to the danger of global silence in the face of a live-broadcast genocide.”
Speaking directly to the media, Thunberg urged:“We’re counting on you to use your voices, your platforms, and every tool you have to protect humanity, defend human rights, and stand on the right side of history.”
MP Rima Hassan called on countries along the flotilla’s route to ensure the ship’s safe passage and support its humanitarian mission to break the Gaza siege.
Addressing the international media and activists, she said:“We urgently need your mobilization and support. It’s the only way to ensure our safety throughout this journey.”
Yasmin Akar, an activist with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, declared:“Why are you starving them? Why are you ethnically cleansing Palestinians for the past 80 years? These are the questions we must ask.”
She continued:“Some ask us why we do this—calling it a suicide mission. But the real question must be posed to Israel and its complicit allies: Why do you do what you do—killing Palestinians, inducing famine, and committing genocide? That’s the real question.”
“And more importantly,” she added, “why do you kill human rights activists, as you did in 2010? Why do you bomb Flotilla ships like the Mavi Marmara in Malta, in Europe? Why? These are the questions that demand answers.”
Zaher Birawi, head of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza and a member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi:“Our ship Madeleine is a new attempt to break the Gaza blockade and raise our voices against Israeli crimes, particularly the siege, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. It carries a message of love, peace, support, and solidarity with our people in Gaza—and a protest against world governments that remain silent and fail to provide basic aid to over two million Palestinians facing extermination.”
He continued:“Though small, Madeleine carries a powerful message. It represents the responsibility felt by free people around the world and calls on everyone to do what they can to stop this crime against Gaza and its people.”
Birawi added:“The message of Madeleine to neighboring states—both their governments and their people—is that Gaza’s blood is on your hands. History will judge you, and it will not be kind to those who stood idle. The betrayal of Gaza by rulers does not absolve the people of their humanitarian duty to act, each according to their capacity.”
Earlier, Birawi confirmed to Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the coalition named the ship Madeleine in honor of Madeleine Kulab, the youngest professional fisherman in the world and the only one of her kind in Palestine.
