Look carefully at the picture at the top of this page. In the foreground there is the boat, Handala, which recently attempted to bring medicine and baby food to Gaza.  It is the third attempt at a freedom flotilla trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.  The first in 2010 was boarded by Israeli commandos who massacred ten activists. The second boat, the Madleen carrying Greta Thunberg and French parliamentary representatives, was intercepted again by the Israeli navy a few months ago. No one was allowed to stay in Palestine or Israel.

Look again in the background. You can see a luxury yacht  – one of 4000 available to hire in the Mediterranean for four thousand euros a head per week. Even bigger private yachts owned by the oligarchs and billionaires can be seen in all the fashionable resorts. We saw half a dozen off the Amalfi coast in Italy the other week.  Two different worlds but the rich are complicit in doing nothing to stop Israeli terrorism and genocide.

If the British government was sincere in their concerns about the humanitarian crisis it would facilitate the arrival of these ships. Since it was sailing under a UK red ensign, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said the UK government “has a legal duty to defend ‘Madleen’ and the civilians on board, and to prevent unlawful interference-including any threat or use of force-by foreign powers such as Israel”. – flying a British flag. 

The continued genocidal bombing of civilians in Gaza could be stopped today if the US, British  and French Air forces decided to establish a no fly zone over the territory. It has been done before – for example in Syria to protect the Kurds. But of course Israel is a strategic ally of US and British imperialist interests in the Middle East.

We salute the bravery of the activists who sail towards Gaza and Palestine knowing that the Israeli navy and commandos will probably intervene illegally in international waters to prevent that bringing nappies, baby food and medicine to a people suffering genocidal attacks. The international mass media cannot completely ignore what is happening and it exposes the impunity with which the IDF operates.

Here is a link for the video showing the activists and the Israeli commando hijacking.

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/25/freedom_flotilla_handala

photo at top courtesy of Franca Cammarotta