Freedom Flotilla to sail Sunday: 'Gaza must live; freedom must sail'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen English
31 May 2025 14:29
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The vessel Madleen, named after Gaza’s only known fisherwoman, will carry activists, including Greta Thunberg and MEP Rima Hassan, to break the Israeli siege.

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The coalition’s new vessel, Madleen, named after Gaza’s only known fisherwoman in 2014, will set sail to challenge "Israel’s" ongoing blockade of the besieged Strip. (@GazaFFlotilla, X)

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has confirmed that it will move forward with its next humanitarian mission to Gaza, undeterred by a recent Israeli drone strike and mounting global inaction.

The coalition’s new vessel, Madleen, named after Gaza’s only known fisherwoman in 2014, will set sail this May to challenge "Israel’s" ongoing blockade of the besieged Strip.

This mission follows the targeting of the civilian aid ship Conscience, which was bombed by Israeli drones in international waters earlier in May. The attack injured four crew members, destroyed the vessel’s communications, and left it burning and adrift. The FFC denounced the incident as “a deliberate act of aggression and intimidation,” calling it a violation of international law that has been largely ignored by the media and world governments.

Meet 'Madleen', named after a Palestinian fisher: a symbol of resistance and resilience. This month, she will sail to Gaza, carrying a cargo of hope and humanitarian aid. https://t.co/q03iKkczbm #BreakTheSiege pic.twitter.com/lqteIHgdBR
— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 15, 2025

“We live in a time where ships carrying the most advanced weaponry in the world pass freely, and ships carrying urgent humanitarian aid to a starving population burn,” said Dr. Shahd Hammouri of the University of Kent on May 2.

@mayadeenenglish
No limits for Israeli brutality. A #Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel was hit with a drone strike in international waters off the coast of #Malta, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition reported. #FreedomFlotilla #Palestine (this video is for news reporting purposes only)
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“‘Israel’ is willing to bomb humanitarian ships to maintain its policy of starving the Palestinian people as a method of warfare,” Hammouri added.

'Freedom must sail'

Despite this, the coalition is pressing ahead. Among those joining the mission are high-profile figures, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, a member of the France Unbowed Party (LFI). Hassan, of Palestinian origin, has described the mission’s aims as both humanitarian and political: “to denounce the humanitarian blockade, the ongoing genocide, and the impunity granted to the state of Israel, and to raise international awareness.”

🚨 🇵🇸 🛳️ ce week-end j’embarque à bord du nouveau navire humanitaire avec @GazaFFlotilla le seul moyen de garantir notre sécurité et le succès de cette mission c’est votre mobilisation ! pic.twitter.com/nFL8oWJAW5
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) May 28, 2025

Hassan said on social media that to “guarantee our security, and also the success of our [new] mission, we need maximum mobilization by the public for this initiative.”

Thunberg had originally planned to join an earlier flotilla but was forced to delay after the attack on the Conscience.

“This was yet another test on the world’s principles, and once again, the world failed,” said Tan Safi, an FFC volunteer. “But we won’t let ‘Israel’ silence us through violence, or allow Europe’s silence to frighten us. That’s never happened before – it’s never going to happen.”

The flotilla continues to draw participants from over 20 countries, including doctors, educators, engineers, and artists, all trained in nonviolent resistance. They are united by a shared conviction that no people should be deliberately starved or denied basic human rights.

The mission comes as the airtight siege on Gaza surpasses 75 days, with "Israel" having blocked the entry of all food, water, and medicine since March 2. The FFC argues that the blockade is not only illegal but part of a broader campaign to crush the Palestinian people’s will to survive.

“The siege on Gaza is protected not just by Israeli firepower, but by global inaction,” the coalition stated in a press release on its website.

“Despite the risks, we believe that direct, civil resistance still matters, that active solidarity can shift the moral compass of the world,” the coalition stressed.

The voyage also approaches the 15th anniversary of the deadly 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, in which Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists during an earlier Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The coalition sees that history as a reminder of the ongoing need for international civil resistance.

The FFC is calling on civil society, the media, and governments to demand accountability for the recent attack on the Conscience and to guarantee safe passage for the Madleen and future missions.

“We will not be deterred. We will not be silenced. Gaza must live — and freedom must sail,” the coalition concluded.

This comes as the Israeli genocide in Gaza continues unabated, marked by harrowing daily massacres that have killed over 53,000 people, most of them women and children, while the population faces death by starvation.