Struggle and Solidarity: Writing Toward Palestinian Liberation

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When word of an upcoming maritime flotilla coming from countries thousands of kilometers away first began circulating, Palestinians were in the heart of this war, in one of its harshest moments, with famine silently tearing through Gaza — heavier even than the shelling itself. Despite my awareness of the Israeli occupation’s brutality and severity, and my knowledge that it does not really distinguish much between one nationality and another, there was something that made me hold on to a small hope: that the flotilla would be allowed to pass. That those ships carrying aid, medicine, and teams of doctors whose only purpose was to save what could be saved, would actually reach us.

The first attempts to send a humanitarian maritime flotilla during the genocide emerged in the spring of 2024, when an international civil coalition announced it was sending ships loaded with aid toward Gaza in an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade — or, at least, to draw attention to the deepening humanitarian catastrophe. The route was never easy. From the very beginning, these efforts faced all manner of obstruction from the Israeli and U.S. governments and their allies. Some ships were stopped before arrival, and participants encountered various forms of pressure and restrictions.

Still, the idea could not be stopped. What began as a single attempt turned into continuous repetition. Each time the flotilla was blocked, it did not return the same — it became larger and more diverse: doctors, journalists, writers, and activists from different countries deciding to undertake this journey despite fully understanding the risks.

The idea did not disappear after the first failed attempt; it kept repeating and expanding, as if its persistence was stronger than the ability of Israel to stop it. Each time, the initiative was revived again in the face of a reality that was becoming more complex and harsher.

In 2025, another flotilla came, the Global Sumud Flotilla. Larger and more organized than the previous one, it carried both a humanitarian and a political message, determined to break the blockade and open a maritime corridor for aid. This effort faced a harsh response; it was intercepted at sea, participants were stopped and detained, and force was used against them, despite all of them being part of a purely civilian mission without any military element.

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