Break the Siege of Gaza––update
JVL Introduction
There are many plans afoot to sail to Gaza carrying much needed aid and solidarity. Isael is doing its best to sabotage these projects.
Here are updates on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s the Break the Siege mission and its “For the Children of Gaza” Handala mission, both of which have the goal of breaking the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and challenging the Israeli genocide of Gaza.
“The Freedom Flotilla Coalition came into being in 2010 and guides its work in accordance with explicit goals and plans of the people in Gaza. Our direct action missions support the dignity and humanity of Palestinians, working with civil society partners, rather than any party, faction or government. Our actions against the blockade are always governed by the principles of non-violence and non-violent resistance.”
Currently docked in Istanbul, the boat will carry 800 people from over 30 nations, from Indonesia to Hawaii, and is expected to transport 5500 tonnes of aid to Gaza once it sets sail from Turkey in the coming days, joined by other boats.
The Handala ship (20 crew/participants) began its voyage from Scandinavia May 1 and has to date called at and had rallies in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.
This information is taken from the latest mailing from US Boats to Gaza on 7th June 2014
RK
Break the Siege Flotilla delayed; For the Children of Gaza ship “Handala” on its journey
Break the Siege Flotilla delayed by withdrawal of flag
Handala has begun its journey from Norway toward Gaza
Thank you for your support for US Boats to Gaza and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
We want to update you on two projects of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition–the Break the Siege mission and the “For the Children of Gaza” Handala mission, both of which have the goal of breaking the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and challenging the Israeli genocide of Gaza.
The Break the Siege flotilla began in April 2024 with hundreds of participants from 40 countries arriving in Istanbul, Turkey, to set sail for Gaza. We had 35 U.S. citizens who flew to Istanbul to be a part of the Break the Siege Gaza flotilla.
Our U.S. participants engaged in many events in Istanbul including press conferences on one of the large passenger ships and a march and press conference in Sultanahmet Square, one of the major meeting points in the city.
We conducted three daylong nonviolence trainings for all the international and Turkish participants to ensure that everyone had a realistic view of the challenges of meeting Israeli military forces should the flotilla be stopped in international waters and participants arrested, imprisoned and deported from Israel.
Each night we held meetings with all the international participants to give them the latest information about the realities of challenging the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
Our coalition of 12 national campaigns faced daunting situations, as we have with every mission to sail. This time, the night before we were to put participants onto the large passenger vessel, the country of Guinea-Bissau, at the behest of the government of Israel no doubt, pulled the flags of our passenger ship and our cargo ship.
As you can imagine, we all—coalition members and participants—were very upset by this Israeli-inspired action, which meant we could not sail the ships without a flag.
However, many of our participants stayed in Istanbul for several weeks and some went to the West Bank to work with the International Solidarity Movement.
Our legal team is working very hard and continues to provide requested documents to the flagging agencies of several countries.
We hope the Break the Siege flotilla will sail by mid-summer.
Until then, we encourage everyone to continue the important work of bringing attention in your communities to the horrific Israeli genocide in Gaza, the brutal Israeli attack on Rafah, the Israeli closing of the Rafah gates and the lack of food and medicines coming into Gaza.
Here are some of the actions our participants have done:
- Jen Koonings, a participant from the U.S., is on a hunger strike for Gaza and stands at the White House every day with her sign “American Nurse on Hunger Strike For Gaza.” She is calling on all healthcare providers to oppose U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
- At least one of our Istanbul group is still in the West Bank doing accompaniment with shepherds.
- Several flotilla participants attended the People’s Conference on Palestine held last weekend in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Huwaida Arraf made two presentations at the conference. One of the panels she was on was moderated by flotilla participant and Pal Legal lawyer Dylan Saba. The conference had over 3,400 participants.
- Two other participants attended the conference on Palestine held in South Africa.
- Several articles about the history of the flotilla, about participants and by participants have been posted recently:
- Huwaida Arraf: The History of the Gaza Flotillas 2008-2024(with video footage of 2008 when boats got into Gaza, as well as footage of the Mavi Marmara and other ships)
- Wisconsin human rights activist frustrated after blocked attempt to bring aid to Palestinians (Cassandra Dixon)
- The Little Flotilla That Almost Could (Barry Riesch and Coleen Rowley
- Two articles and Instagram by Ann Wright:
- Why Did the US Spend $320 Million on a Rube Goldberg Pier For Gaza?
- Mother Nature Makes Mockery of US Military’s $320 Million Pier in Gaza
- Instagram: Ann Wright’s Prediction of Stupid US Military Pier in Gaza Being a Disaster
Be sure to check the Gaza flotilla Instagram and website as new postings are added frequently.
UPDATE ON THE HANDALA
Follow Handala’s progress here.
14 YEARS SINCE THE MAVI MARMARA WAS ATTACKED BY ISRAELI COMMANDOS
Fourteen years ago on May 31, 10 unarmed civilian participants on the Mavi Marmara were killed and 50 were wounded by Israeli commandos.
Commemoration ceremonies were held in Istanbul by the Mavi Marmara association and in London.
At the ceremony in London, a young man from Gaza spoke about the importance of the flotilla. See his moving statement “This is Why the Freedom Flotilla Sails” here.
Again, we are all very impatient to do something during these very terrible times in Gaza.
Please continue to work with your local Palestine solidarity groups as we resolve the issues for the sailing of the flotilla.We hope you will continue to support the many excellent organizations that are providing aid directly to Gaza.
If you have the means, we would appreciate any donation, no matter how small, to US Boats to Gaza for our national campaign contribution to the maintenance and movement of the ships in the Gaza flotillas.
Free, Free Palestine
US Boats to Gaza—Huwaida, Ann, Kit, Alex, Ellen, Sherri, Lori and Tova
The Freedom Flotilla Handala ship (20 crew/participants), which began its voyage from Scandinavia May 1, has had very successful port visits in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.
Handala has left Rotterdam on a 4-day sail to Cork, Ireland. Unfortunately, strong storms prevented Handala from going to London, but the Palestine Solidarity groups in London had spirited rallies for Gaza with members of the flotilla coalition
U.S. Boats to Gaza
US Boats to Gaza is one of the 12 national campaigns in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The coalition includes campaigns from Norway, Malaysia, the United States, Sweden, Canada, France, New Zealand, Turkey, Spain, South Africa, and Australia, as well as the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza.
We welcome you to join the campaign to break the painful, damaging, illegal blockade of more than 2 million Palestinians in the open-air prison that is Gaza. Be a part of the journey. Contribute today!
DONATE
Donate online at: usboatstogaza.org/donate
Or send a check to our fiscal sponsor, Nonviolence International, and put “Boats to Gaza” on the subject line. Mail checks to the new address for NVI:
US Boats to Gaza, c/o Nonviolence International
PO Box 39127 Friendship Station NW
Washington DC 20016 USA
+1 202 244 0951
Email: [email protected]
I Hope this important mission is successful and helps to ease the horrendous suffering being inflicted on the people in Gaza, hope this madness and the inhuman actions against the people are stopped and a ceasefire occurs,too many people are dying it is unforgivable.
I hope this flotilla and everyone involved in it are successful. Though I fear that Israel is going to attack it in a way, that not only does if fail but it puts off any similar future multi national effort to stop Israel in its tracks.
The US knows that for itself (The Warmongering Arms Industry Billionaires and The Oil Corporations that have been given licenses to extract the Gas under Gaza) will be desperate for Gaza to be cleared of Palestinians. Biden will back them, yes he’ll say all the right words and pretend he actually cares about the Palestinians but like Bush the deaths of a million Iraqis, was jus collateral damage and Biden is no different. If he had an ounce of humanity in him he would have stopped the Genocide months ago. He also knows that he’s got the backing of Germany, France and the UK Governments, in the case of the UK, even the Opposition’s leader. I don’t know how but it’s going to take Economic Sanctions to halt the Genocide but will it come too late for the Palestinians???