Gaza Sumud Flotilla inspires hope

Dear friends,

Last night and this morning, we watched as news of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla’s interception in international waters rolled in. This was the single largest flotilla that has attempted to break Israel’s almost two-decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip. The flotilla was not just composed of 41 boats, but teams of people around the world supporting its efforts — this became all the more visible last night when spontaneous demonstrations erupted at the news of Israel’s armed attacks on the fleet. While it appears that Israel has seized all of the boats and kidnapped the humanitarians aboard the vessels, there is something important that we must reflect on in this effort.

The flotilla’s attempts to break the siege continued well into the morning today, with at least one ship actually breaking Israel’s blockade and making it into Gaza’s territorial waters. Israeli forces scrambled to intercept all of the boats, including this one, sending out additional ships, speedboats, and even paragliders; these were supported by physical attacks on some of the boats, including the use of skunkwater against the humanitarians on board.

Many of us watching the flotilla approach Palestine understood that Israel must stop the ships from reaching Gaza, not only to prevent the creation of a new humanitarian corridor maintained by international solidarity, but to maintain the colony’s image as impenetrable. It is essential to the life of the colony that Israel sustains the story it projects both internally and externally: It is omnipotent, all-powerful, and righteous in its genocidal violence everywhere; those who attempt to organize efforts against it will not only fail, but also they will be made to suffer.

The boat that breached the Israeli naval blockade illustrated that creativity, willpower, and commitment in numbers spell the end of zionist colonialism and genocide. Though the flotilla did not reach Gaza’s shores this time, it showed another crack in Israel’s “impenetrable” armor. The one thing the state was built to do — militarily preserve its stolen goods and territory, and prevent any interruption of the century-long process of theft — it failed at. Again. In this, we have to see the reality that the Israeli forces’ speedboats and paragliders wish to cover over with their armed abductions: justice is coming, and we all have a role to play in bringing it about.

It is important, as we stand to support those risking their lives and safety to remind us of this, that we don’t turn away from the reality of Israel’s grinding genocide in Gaza. Israel continues to slaughter Palestinians in their homes, shelters, tents, on the streets, and in hospitals from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip. This morning, four brothers (Mohammad, Anwar, Nedal, and Akram Mousa Al-Nabahin) were killed by an Israeli drone while collecting firewood to cook for their families. Undercover Israeli forces abducted a nurse named Tasneem Al-Hams from a medical center in Khan Younis this morning, following the abduction of her father Dr. Al-Hams in July, who has been detained and disallowed from meeting with a lawyer for months. Israel bombed Palestinians on Al-Rashid Street in southwest Gaza City as they attempted to flee from the north to the south of the city, murdering several and wounding others. Israeli forces also bombed a charity kitchen feeding forcibly displaced people in a tent camp in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis today, killing at least nine people.

Yesterday, Israeli forces bombed the grounds of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for the fifteenth time. Hospitals across Gaza are suffering from Israel’s ongoing blockade, preventing the arrival of essential medical supplies and fuel for electricity. The remaining functioning hospitals are only able to offer the barest of support for wounded and ill people. Meanwhile, civil defense members who work to rescue wounded people from sites of Israel’s attacks and the rubble of buildings, continue to face targeted violence by Israeli forces. Emergency responders in the northern region of Gaza announced days ago that 80% of their ambulances are out of service as a result of Israel’s repeated assaults targeting them. This puts all wounded and ill people in this region at direct, increased risk, which of course is the point.

It is in response to this reality, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, that the Gaza Sumud Flotilla mobilized. In response to Israel’s seizure of the flotilla, Italy’s largest trade union has called for a general strike on Friday. From the spontaneous actions last night around the world, it seems likely that they won’t be alone in this action. But one important thing to remember is that we do not have to wait for the next flotilla to take action, or to rest our hopes on the boats sailing from Europe. Taking inspiration from those in Gaza who continue to organize in service of their communities, as well as global actions in solidarity from Yemen to Colombia, everyone can leverage the power in their community to help disrupt this genocide and bring us closer to decolonization and justice.

The colony is not impenetrable. More boats, more general strikes, more boycotts and sanctions, more honest efforts in the service of liberation.

Until liberation and return,

Lara Kilani