Cele returned to Argentina. She was welcomed by her fellow comrades and activists and hundreds of friends and supporters of the Palestinian cause. She participated in a demanding and risky mission that has come to an end. The denunciation against genocide and the struggle for a Free and Socialist Palestine continues.
By Ruben Tzanoff
Cele had a massive and warm welcome. When she came out to the hall of the Ezeiza Airport, emotions ran high. Between smiles and tears everyone sang “Cele, Cele, we stand with you” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Palestinian flags filled the airport. Our comrades from MST and the ISL held banners with slogans such as: “Break agreements with Israel, Milei is complicit, Long live the Sumud Flotilla”. We are proud of Cele’s internationalist activity.
Also waiting for her was the coordinator of the International Socialist League (ISL) Alejandro Bodart, who, unusually, had to struggle with the Airport Police Force to free Cele so that she could hug her daughter Emilia, after more than a month without being able to do so. Cele received dozens of bouquets from militants and members of the Palestinian community.
Several leaders of the other organizations that, with MST, make up the Left Front Unity (FIT-U) were present, among them, Miryam Bregman and Romina del Plá. The same night, at different times, two other Argentine activists who were part of the flotilla, Ezequiel Peressini and Carlos “Cascote” Bertola, also returned.
We want to thank all member organizations, sympathizers, friends of the ISL or solidarity organizations that campaigned for the freedom of Cele and the activists of the flotilla.
Cele’s first words once she arrived:
The voyage was long, the rest will be very short. The mission lasted 43 days, for Cele it began with preparations and training in Barcelona on August 27. It ended with her return to Buenos Aires on October 8. There is no time for a break. Cele will continue to respond to the dramatic call of Gaza: “Denounce the horror we are going through to stop genocide”.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) accumulated several merits. It tried to break the blockade on humanitarian aid through civilian action. It challenged governments to break with Israel and take effective action. It has encouraged worldwide mobilization. Never, neither on land nor at sea, did it forget to keep the focus on denouncing the genocide in Gaza, nor to downplay its efforts, compared to those made by the Palestinians to survive.
That is why the worldwide mobilization embraced the flotilla when its members were intercepted and kidnapped. This is the reason why they were released and have not been subjected to long periods of imprisonment, as Zionism threatened to under the false accusation of them being “terrorists”.
Soon, we will publish Cele’s testimonies and the conclusions that will put an end to the chronicles “Heading for Gaza – Global Sumud Flotilla”. In the meantime, there are still tasks ahead.
Right now, as we write, there is no reliable information about the release of six kidnapped comrades, among them Reyes Rigo Cervilla, who joined Cele on the “Adara”. In addition, Israel intercepted nine ships of the “Second Freedom Flotilla” that had sailed from Italy and detained their crew members. We demand the immediate release of the activists of both flotillas!
From the ISL we call to promote mobilizations, boycott actions and, mainly, workers’ strikes for a ceasefire and demanding governments to break their relations with Israel and for them to effectively support to Palestine. We denounce Trump’s plans to consolidate the Zionist-imperialist domination in the region, without the right of return, with partition, occupation and legitimization of genocide. Which implies peace on a Palestinian cemetery. To achieve a just and lasting peace, it is necessary to defeat the State of Israel with a revolution in the Middle East, to establish a single, secular, non-racist, democratic and socialist Palestine.
