30

Nov

2:57pm
Saheli Chowdhury India
Freedom Flotilla to Sail Again to Gaza, International Platform Launched

Freedom Flotilla to Sail Again to Gaza, International Platform Launched

Saheli Chowdhury India//2:57pm, Nov 30th '23

Plans are underway to dispatch a freedom flotilla to Gaza to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by the occupation entity, and to take relief and medical aid to all parts of the region devastated by the occupation entity’s genocidal war of 49 days.

A platform named the International Campaign to Save Gaza was launched on Wednesday, November 23, in Istanbul, Türkiye, which will oversee the organization of this effort to break the siege.

Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the mission, said in an interview with Turkish news outlet Haber7 that approximately 1000 boats carrying 4,500 people from 40 countries will comprise the flotilla. Among the 1,000 vessels, 313 boats will carry Russian Palestine solidarity activists, and 104 boats will carry Spanish activists, Okçu said. Only 12 Turkish boats will join the flotilla this time.

https://twitter.com/moufidmostafa/status/1727031493820551661

On Wednesday, several Palestine solidarity organizations and civil society institutions from across the world gathered in Istanbul to launch the International Campaign to Save Gaza, in order to “mobilize advocacy, relief and rescue efforts though all available peaceful and legal means.”

The founding statement of the campaign declared: “In response to urgent pleas from the people of Gaza, civil society institutions, and official Palestinian authorities, and acknowledging our historical, legal, humanitarian, national, and moral responsibilities, we, as a coalition of international grassroots organizations and civil institutions in the Arab and Islamic world and worldwide, declare the commencement of the International Campaign to Save Gaza.”

The priority initiative of the platform, according to the founding statement, is “the prompt dispatch of relief ships and medical aid, in coordination with international entities experienced in overseeing relief convoys and humanitarian assistance in compliance with international laws and regulations governing aid delivery during times of conflict.”

The international Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which is part of the Campaign, stated on its website that they will “spare no efforts” to dispatch aid ships to the Gaza Strip before the end of December.

If you read our blogs then why not our magazine!!!
Image
Click here to subscribe our monthly magazine

The Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association, which had carried out the previous attempt to break the siege of Gaza in 2010, also joined the platform. “We are setting out again towards Gaza as a civil and independent movement,” the organization announced at the launch event.

In a statement, the solidarity group denounced the United States and Israel for being the “main causes of the crisis in the region” and for preventing humanitarian aid supplies from being sent to Gaza.

It also announced that one of its ships will carry medical personnel and will serve as a floating hospital.

“We invite all humanitarian organizations, civil formations, and competent authorities to support and participate in this fleet,” the association stated. “Our actions against the naval blockade in Gaza are always subject to the principles of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance.”

In May 2010, the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla, composed of six civilian ships with 750 activists from 37 countries, carrying about 6,000 tons of humanitarian aid headed from Turkiye to Gaza, was raided by the Israeli navy that shot dead nine Turkish activists and wounded dozens. Another activist later succumbed to his injuries.

In the aftermath of the attack, Türkiye had demanded an official apology from Israel, compensation for the families of the murdered activists, and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza. Three years later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to the Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and agreed to Türkiye’s humanitarian presence in Gaza, but the blockade was never lifted.

Comoros, the flag State of the Mavi Marmara ship that gave the flotilla its name, filed a war crimes case against Israel before the International Criminal Court. However, then Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, despite recognizing possible war crimes, refused to press charges against the occupation entity, claiming that the incident “did not carry sufficient gravity to justify further action by the Court.”

On Thursday, November 24, Israeli occupation soldiers destroyed a monument in Gaza dedicated to the Mavi Marmara flotilla.

Editor's Note:

The views and informations expressed in the article are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect the views of The International. We believe in providing a platform for a range of viewpoints from the left.

"The International" belongs to you.

Please take a moment to read this. We apologize for any interruption, we want you to know "The International" seeks your valued support at this time. We've proudly served as a pioneering online platform, delivering ad-free media content. With only 2% of our readers opting for a subscription, any contribution you choose holds immense significance—whether it's an annual fee of $25 or a monthly payment of $2.5. — The "The International" Team, committed to providing you with enlightening perspectives. We want to highlight that this sum is even less than what you'd spend on a cup of coffee, yet it greatly aids in sustaining our efforts to perpetuate and enhance your esteemed initiative.

Support Us →

A Poem by Yanis Iqbal
Yanis Iqbal India//8:27pm, Jan 9th '22

A Poem by Yanis Iqbal

Building On the streets of luxury - beyond the gardens of graves - lies a building,Tall, sturdy, hard.Engraved with glasses of wealth,Splattered with corpses of commodities,A nauseating stench permeates....

Read More
WITHIN THE WALLS: A memoir of the plague in Quebec City
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//8:08pm, Feb 17th '22

WITHIN THE WALLS: A memoir of the plague in Quebec City

Chapter V PART I: My Caput Galeatum, and the Divine Québec SceneryWhen I was a young boy in Haysville, Kansas, my mother told not long after my father’s death that I was born with “a veil” over....

Read More
The Many Faces of Marx's Capital
Marcello Musto Canada//10:37pm, Jan 7th '25

The Many Faces of Marx's Capital

No matter many decades pass since Karl Marx’s Capital was first published, and no matter how many times it is dismissed as outdated, this classic text time and again returns to the center of debate.....

Read More
Fascism: The Boot of Capital
Jack Peachey UK //4:36am, May 25th '22

Fascism: The Boot of Capital

III. Militant Malthusianism and Fascist PseudoscienceFascists have an obtuse relation with religion and humanism-highlighted greatly byMussolini’s inconsistent belief in theism. They abhor materialism....

Read More
Cuba's Fight against Imperialism
Yanis Iqbal India//1:48pm, Jul 22nd '21

Cuba's Fight against Imperialism

Cuba has been witnessing anti-government protests since July 11, 2021. Several objective factors account for these demonstrations. Cuba is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in 30 years. The devastating....

Read More
Sinister Plot Unveiled: The Covert Machinations of Canada in Haiti’s Tragic Destiny
Karl Fluri Canada//12:56am, May 21st '23

Sinister Plot Unveiled: The Covert Machinations of Canada in Haiti’s Tragic Destiny

Haiti, comrades, stands before us as a harrowing testament to the crimes committed by imperialist powers. More than two centuries ago, the brave Haitian people rose up against the chains of French colonialism,....

Read More