On November 19th, an Israeli-owned ship, the Galaxy Leader, was hijacked in the Red Sea by the Yemeni Ansar Allah group. Israeli PM Netanyahu's office condemned the seizure of the vessel, calling it “another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Iran's belligerence against the citizens of the free world". This gall is appalling, coming from someone who's unleashed a barbarity killing thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians since October 7th. Yet this hijacking must have been a real kick in the face for Netanyahu. His smugness would have never allowed him to imagine this happening, ironically, 13 years after he ordered the hijacking of the Mavi Marmara ship and five other vessels in international waters, which were trying to reach Gaza. Needless to say, that the USA, as with any action directed against the Israelis, was quick to condemn the Yemeni hijacking as well.

While some may try - disingenuously or not- to equate the two incidents as acts of piracy, the truth is that these two events couldn’t be more different. To understand this, one must provide the background and context surrounding both incidents, something many self-proclaimed journalists today fail - or rather refuse - to do, in regard to Palestine.

I was aboard the Mavi Marmara when we were attacked that fateful night in 2010 by the Israeli navy. There was no such US condemnation at the time. Hundreds of activists had joined that Freedom Flotilla, in order to break the Israeli illegal blockade of Gaza – which is still ongoing- and deliver relief and humanitarian aid to its people. The Israeli navy attacked us under the cover of darkness in international waters with helicopters, zodiac boats, submarines and ships, firing upon us with lethal force. They killed 10 of our fellow activists and wounded dozens of us.

The UN Human Rights Council international fact-finding mission concluded that the conduct of the Israeli military “demonstrated levels of totally unnecessary and incredible violence” and “betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality”. It added that their conduct “constituted a grave violation of human rights law and international humanitarian law”. It added that there was evidence to support prosecutions of the crimes of willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, and willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health. Many of us witnessed these crimes firsthand.

Fast forward 13 years later, to compare the context and background of the Ansar Allah hijacking of the Galaxy Leader. The same aforementioned Israeli military which unconscionably attacked the Freedom Flotilla, has been committing a genocide against the people of Gaza since October 7th. These are the same people we tried to help in 2010, with an illegal Israeli blockade having continuously been imposed on them for all these years. Their situation is now much worse and is a living hell.

The takeover of the Galaxy Leader was filmed and then broadcast by the Ansar Allah, and all indicators seem to show that it was done quite peacefully. (Contrast this with the fact that the Israeli army tried to disrupt our live broadcast from the ship, to conceal their crimes). Yet besides all this and more importantly, the Ansar Allah group stated that they did this in response to the heinous acts being perpetrated by the Israelis in Gaza. The Ansar Allah military spokesperson summarized this, saying “If the international community is concerned about regional security and stability, rather than expanding the conflict, it should put an end to Israel’s aggression against Gaza.”

At a time when Western governments and leaders have continued to encourage the daily slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians and support this politically, militarily and financially, these Yemenis stood up and said enough is enough. We, the hijacked victims aboard the Freedom Flotilla, took a stand for what is right and just, and now Ansar Allah, the hijackers here, are doing the same. I applaud their noble action, and hope they continue with more such hijackings in the near future. If that is what it takes to save the lives of innocents, so be it.