The Israeli Navy boarded and hijacked several ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters. The operation, still in progress, constitutes an act of State piracy and a flagrant violation of international law. The global included mobilizations, protests and strikes in support of the flotilla, for the end of the genocide against the Palestinian people and of the Zionist siege. There is also an open debate on how to achieve a just and lasting peace in Palestine and the Middle East.
Por Rubén Tzanoff
Assault and control by force
On the night of October 1, the Israeli Navy’s operation against the flotilla began, intercepting ships about 74 nautical miles (137 km) off the coast of Gaza. Our colleague Celeste Fierro is traveling on the “Adara”, representing the MST-Argentina and the International Socialist League (ISL), who managed to send us one last video before communications were blocked.
Prior to the attack, the Israeli fleet had threatened the flotilla by radio, warning to confiscate the vessels if they did not stop. He also executed intimidating maneuvers, cut off communications and used water cannons. On the night of October 1, the first ships intercepted and boarded were the “Alma”, the “Sirius” and the “Adara”.
Israel has fragmented the flotilla and is continuing the neutralization operation, which is why the lack of information makes it impossible to accurately project how events will end. In fact, being 11 am on October 2, the ships “Marinette”, “Mikeno”, “Shireen” and “Summertime Jong” have not been boarded.
The cynicism of the Israeli official narrative
The Israeli propaganda apparatus broadcast that the boats were detained “without incident“, that the people were ”safe and sound”, and that they would be deported after being interrogated at the port of Ashdod. For the operation, the regime prepared the Shayetet 13 naval command, with orders to tow the vessels or even sink them if they could not be recovered.
The Zionist narrative pretends to justify the aggression as a supposed “defensive maritime control” on the grounds that humanitarian aid could strengthen “hostile forces”. A cynicism that covers up the genocidal policy, the ethnic cleansing, the deliberately provoked famine and the systematic violation of human rights. There is nothing exaggerated about the parallel with Nazi methods, it is a regime willing to lie to perpetuate its occupation.
A compendium of violations of acquired rights
This attack is one of the long list of Israeli aggressions against humanitarian missions. International humanitarian law and maritime conventions prohibit preventing aid access to besieged populations. Boarding in international waters violates the principle of free navigation and is state piracy.
In addition, the communications outage seeks to censor what is happening in real time and hides possible abuses against activists. The disproportionate use of warships against civilian vessels loaded only with food and medicine shows the brutality of the action. The forced transfer of the activists to Israeli ports, incommunicado and under interrogation, amounts to arbitrary detention and an abuse of military power over unarmed civilians.
Far from the official propaganda, this operation is a compendium of violations of human, democratic and international rights.
Uncertain destinies and Israeli maneuvers
According to reports, the boarded ships would be transferred to the port of Ashdod, where the activists would be interrogated and deported to their countries of origin. Those who refuse could be imprisoned in Israel.
The Zionist rage could also be expressed in legal sanctions and future bans, with the aim of intimidating those who dare to organize new solidarity flotillas.
Immediate response and international mobilization
The popular reaction was swift. In Barcelona there was a rally in front of the Israeli consulate, blocking the Round of the Mig and demanding the release of the boats. There were also protests in various cities in Latin America and Europe: in Rome thousands marched in front of the Israeli embassy; in Naples train stations were occupied; in Milan and Turin there were actions at universities. In Italy, the CGIL trade union called for a general strike.
In Argentina, the MST and the FIT-U mobilized to Plaza de Mayo, where Alejandro Bodart, coordinator of the ISL, recently acquitted by the justice system after denouncing the genocide, spoke. Internationalist solidarity is expressed in streets, squares and workplaces.
To continue in the streets against genocide and with the flotilla
From the ISL we call to multiply the mobilization, to reinforce the strikes and actions of repudiation against the kidnapping of the flotilla. We demand the immediate restoration of communication and the release without charges of our compañera Cele Fierro and all the kidnapped activists.
We call for massive demands against genocide, ethnic cleansing and the criminal blockade. Let the governments immediately break all political, economic and military relations with the Zionist State of Israel!
You can also make statements and send emails to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of all countries demanding the release of activists guaranteeing their safety, respect for their rights and their physical integrity.
For a just and lasting peace
The current barbarism is concentrated in the figure of Netanyahu and in the fascist state of Israel. Defeating it through global mobilization is a political and humanitarian necessity. But the imperialists are already planning a ”future“ for Palestine behind the backs of their people: Trump dreaming of a Yankee protectorate; Netanyahu seeking to erase Palestine from the map; the European Union pushing the ”two states” trap, with the slavish complicity of the Palestinian Authority. None of these impositions will bring peace.
The only way out for a just and lasting peace will come from the socialist revolution in the Middle East, against colonialism, imperialism and the treacherous Arab bourgeoisies. It is the struggle for a unique, secular, non-racist, democratic and socialist Palestine, free from the river to the sea, with the borders prior to the Zionist usurpation of 1948. That is the strategic perspective we are fighting for.
