A flotilla member on internationalism and more
JVL Introduction
This interview with one of the flotilla participants is a fascinating personal and political read.
David Adler is a Jewish US citizen is committed to internationalism and developing, recreating and strengthening the social society organisations we need to fight back not only and most importantly against the genocide, occupation and oppression of Palestinian people but also the actions by ICE and more in the USA, the growing fascism and, I would add, also the issue of free speech.
There is much of relevance for those of us in the struggle for rights for Palestine and, eg for freedoms and against austerity elsewhere. For example, he noted that it was the strike by Trade Unions in Italy, despite their far right Prime Minister and despite their allegiance to the USA, that provided the flotilla with some protection.
And, this is a message for us all:
“There are ultimately no shortcuts, and that’s the bad news. We do have to do the work of rebuilding a lot of these social institutions that have crumbled over the past half-century. But there’s a lot of promise there as well that, if we do that work in the face of this galloping fascism, we can actually fight back in ways that feel more substantial than going down to the No Kings protests for a half-hour and going to brunch after.”
LL
This article was originally published by Interview Magazine on Wed 22 Oct 2025. Read the original here.
Inside David Adler’s Abduction and Detainment on the Global Sumud Flotilla
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I could say this interview is an eye opener to the treatment the Flotilla was subjected to, but it was a confirmation of what I had imagined these brave people would suffer when they decided to join in. I have known Fascism first hand, and the role the US play in preserving their economic interests throughout their areas of dominance in the the world, but I experienced it slowly, not being completely aware what it really meant. The Flotilla knew what the risks were, and they did it not just to defend their rights as citizens in a world where democracy is dying, but they did it to save basic humanitarian principles and international law that have to be preserved in a civilised world.