Barcelona, Spain (EFE).- Some 20 boats set sail from the Port of Barcelona in north-east Spain on Sunday with the challenging objective of breaking the siege of Gaza.
Israel usually responds to such initiatives by blocking them at sea before they arrive, but the organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla promise to live up to their name “sumud,” which means “steadfastness” and “perseverance” in Arabic to “break the illegal siege of Gaza.”
The above was stated by the organisers and participants of the flotilla on Sunday, hours before departure, and throughout the weekend at the farewell event organized at Moll de la Fusta in Barcelona.
“We believe we will break the siege,” said Thiago Ávila, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla organization, in front of the 5,000 people who gathered to see the boats depart.
“Free Palestine!”
The first boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Barcelona at 03:00 pm on Sunday, amidst shouts of “Free Palestine.”
Among the 300 people enlisted for this humanitarian mission is the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has called on citizens to resist the “failure” of governments in the face of the “genocide” perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.
Also on board is the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, who recalled that the Catalan capital was “the first European city to break relations with Israel.”
“We are going to demand this to be materialized in all institutions and European governments,” she said.
In addition to the in-person demonstrations in Barcelona, the Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and the Second Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, participated virtually.
Through the social platform Bluesky, Díaz said that Israel “must allow” the flotilla to arrive and called for “breaking relations and applying sanctions” to the country.
The biggest attempt to break the siege
Thunberg announced on Aug. 10 that the flotilla would be the biggest attempt to break the illegal Israeli siege on Gaza, comprising “dozens” of boats that will converge with others from various Mediterranean locations, including Italy and Tunisia, on Sep. 4.
Since then, the Global Sumud Flotilla, with participants from 44 countries, has received support from social activists in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain, as well as from internationally renowned actors and actresses, including Susan Sarandon and Liam Cunningham, who were present at the Moll de la Fusta.
Alongside Spanish actor Eduard Fernández, Cunningham shared a posthumous message recorded by a five-year-old Palestinian girl, in which she detailed the music she wanted played at her funeral if killed.
Accompanied by the organisation of the Global Sumud Flotilla and with the boats behind her, Thunberg warned that if the government of Benjamin Netanyahu “decides once again to violate international law” by preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid in Gaza with the squadron,” Plan B” is to return with an even greater presence.
“Our aim is to get to Gaza, to deliver the humanitarian aid, announce the opening of a humanitarian corridor, and then bring more aid, and thus also end, break Israel’s illegal and inhumane siege on Gaza,” she reiterated.
In a more elevated tone, German human rights activist Yasemin Acar warned that any act of violence against the Global Sumud Flotilla and its members would be another war crime committed by the “Zionist entity.” EFE
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