SAJFP notes with extreme concern news that Alma, a boat that forms part of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, has been attacked by a drone. This is the second drone attack directed at the Flotilla’s unarmed civilian passengers in the last two days. These attacks follow Israeli Minister of National Security Ben Gvir’s threat to designate the peaceful protestors onboard the Flotilla as terrorists. It is, however, the drone attacks on these boats full of unarmed humanitarian activists that are themselves terrorist acts. It is ludicrous to designate ordinary concerned civilians peacefully bringing aid to a starving and besieged population ‘terrorists’. On the contrary, such a label is properly fitted to those currently responsible both for genocide and for violent attacks on these unarmed boats.
The attacks, in Tunisian airspace, involve a flagrant violation of Tunisian sovereignty. These attacks come as Israel escalates its aggression, obliterating over 200 residential apartments in Gaza within 72 hours. One million Palestinians taking shelter in the city have again been ordered to flee.
At the same time, Israel has also bombed residential areas in Qatar, targeting the political representatives of Hamas who were in the country to engage in talks around a US-proposed ceasefire deal. This follows almost two years of genocide, involving the dismantling of Gaza’s medical system, the deliberate targeting of children (Gaza is now home to the largest amount of child amputees anywhere in the world), the bombing of schools, universities and mosques. We have witnessed starving people queuing for aid being shot at en masse, as well as the murder of aid workers and journalists. It is clear that Israel will not stop its campaign of terror unless we force it to.
Now is the time for all of us invested in a better and safer world to raise our voices, even louder than before. We must do everything we can to force governments across the world to exercise their responsibility and end the genocide.
We call for an immediate escalation of pressure against Zionist impunity through all the avenues of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and through the urgent enforcement of arms and trade embargoes. We call on both formal structures like the world’s states, organisations, unions, religious groups and multilateral agencies and individuals – academics, public figures and cultural workers to come together to bring an immediate end to the ongoing crimes against humanity.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is a civilian mission made necessary by states across the world failing in their moral and legal duty to prevent and end genocide. What we as a movement are left wondering is where will the line finally be drawn? Are civilian activists, citizens of countries from around the world, going to be abandoned by their governments just as the people of Gaza have been? Will governments fail even to protect their own citizens? Governments need to act now, decisively!
We stand in solidarity with the dockworkers in Italy. They have announced their intention to “shut down all of Europe” and block shipments to Israel if communication with the aid Flotilla is lost. This is the kind of action needed to fill the vacuum left by the inaction and complicity of global governments.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is well within the law. Much legal expertise has gone into both its formation and plans. The possibility of taking legal action against those who attack it should be fully explored. A pending investigation is ongoing, and we join our allies in calling for an assessment as to whether the way it has been targeted is itself a war crime.
Those responsible for these attacks would like us to believe that the consequences of opposing genocide will be far worse than the consequences of perpetrating one. We firmly reject this message and call on the international community to do everything possible to guarantee the Flotilla safe passage.
Those committing crimes against humanity must be held to account and those risking their very lives to protect the innocent should be supported – not attacked. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and with those aboard the Flotilla. Let us stand together in working towards a better world.