Zionism did not succeed in breaking the Flotilla and its activists, who brought the Palestinian cause back to the forefront, with the support of global mobilizations and actions. It still remains to release the detained comrades of the Land Caravan. The struggle will continue until we achieve a Free Palestine from the river to the sea.
By Rubén Tzanoff and Oda Cuentas
Activists kidnapped and brutally mistreated
As of May 21, the nearly 500 GSF activists who had been kidnapped by Israel on May 18 were released. The testimonies of the crew members and the videos, both their own and those propagandized by the Zionists, gave an account of the violent actions against the boats, as well as the aggressions suffered during the kidnapping, both on the “torture boat” and on land. The miserable mockery and humiliations of the fascist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was so provocative that Netanyahu, his genocidal boss, cynically tried to take some distance from the facts and some European governments publicly protested. The truth is that Ben-Gvir is the rule and not the exception.
The joy for the liberation of each participant of the flotilla was accompanied by the firm denunciation against the responsible officials, who must pay for their actions. And, fundamentally, by the demand for freedom for the Palestinian prisoners.
Solidarity with Palestine was once again expressed in different parts of the world. Massive receptions for released activists, rallies at airports, public events and international campaigns marked the days following the interception of the flotilla. Ministers and foreign ministry of many countries also spoke out denouncing the treatment received by detained citizens.
Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners
The events were also a call for reflection on Zionist terrorism. In the face of the public actions of the Israeli authorities against activists from different parts of the world who were on a humanitarian mission to Gaza, it is shocking and outrageous to recall the inhuman treatment received in the dark Israeli prisons by the more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners, among them more than 400 children, and the serious threat posed by the introduction of the death penalty.
Brutal Ertzaintza repression
Most of the activists returned to their countries of origin without major problems, except for those who arrived in Bilbao, Spain. At the airport, when they tried to embrace with family, friends and activists, they were victims of heavy police charges by the Ertzaintza and four arrests. The scandal was of such magnitude that the Basque Government issued a statement apologizing for the disproportionate police repression.
The nuances and apologies of the governments of the European Union oscillate between their traditional hypocrisy and the pressure exerted on them by the widespread solidarity of their populations with the Palestinian cause. We must demand that they immediately break off economic, military and diplomatic relations with the genocidal state of Israel.
Interception also on land
Alongside the flotilla advanced the Global Sumud Land (Maghreb) Caravan, with more than 250 doctors, teachers and human rights defenders crossing North Africa in ambulances and trucks loaded with tons of aid on their way to the Rafah crossing. Since May 24, GSF has denounced the detention of 10 participants of the convoy in eastern Libya when they went to negotiate safe passage for the mission and since then, there has been no news of them. The detainees are civilians from: Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia and Italy. They were detained by a security force affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAF). It is necessary to continue to mobilize demanding their immediate release unharmed and the punishment of the kidnappers of the activists at sea and on land.
We stand with the Palestinian cause, more than ever
The flotilla was again violently interrupted by the Israel Defense Forces on its mission to Gaza and the caravan was intercepted by Libyan forces. Both at sea and on land it was demonstrated that Israel has complicity, by action or omission, as was seen in the actions of the authorities of Greece, Cyprus, Tunisia and Libya, among others.
However, they did not succeed in avoiding the great political objective of keeping the present and historical claims of the Palestinian cause on the global stage. Nor did they succeed in breaking the activists, who carried out their mission with courage and denounced the dramatic situation of the Palestinian people, fully aware that even the brutalities they endured are just a small sample of those suffered daily for the past 78 years by all Palestinians.
The GSF once again became a great global loudspeaker with a clear and firm message in defense of the Palestinian cause. Putting its body in the sea and on the land, and its eyes on Palestine, it revalidated the worldwide sympathy it enjoys among broad sectors of the vanguard and the masses, who mobilized for the freedom of their assaulted and kidnapped activists, in repudiation of the Israeli aggressions and demanding the rupture of the governments with Israel.
A cause of humanity also embraced by the ISL
We are proud of all the comrades who were part of the flotilla, both in the ships and in the land organization. Among them were our comrades Raul Laguna and Cele Fierro, representing the MST-Argentina and the International Socialist League (ISL). The struggle will continue until those responsible for the genocide are punished, the Palestinian prisoners are released and the right of return is executed. There will only be a just peace when the State of Israel and its accomplices are defeated by the Socialist Revolution in the Middle East that establishes a Free Palestine from the river to the sea, which is unique, secular, non-racist, democratic and socialist.
