In the early hours of June 9, Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen ship in international waters, near the coast of the Gaza Strip. Yacht, carrying 12 activists from seven countries and humanitarian aid and food supplies, has been sailing for a little over a week. Among the activists, Greta Thunberg, who was constantly demonized and mocked by Israeli politicians and others to support the Palestinian struggle.
Help on board was a symbolic quantity, and it would not have made a lot of difference if it had reached the hungry Palestinians of Gaza. The United Nations estimate that at least 500 aid trucks are necessary daily to meet their basic needs. It was also planned that Israeli forces would stop it before reaching the banks of Gaza.
Nevertheless, Madleen carried out an important mission. He has demonstrated to the world and to governments which refuse to respect their international legal obligations to stop the genocide and to raise the blockade that Gaza will not be forgotten.
The Madleen was organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a basic group that campaigns in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In May, another of their boats – consciousness – was attacked by drones just outside Maltese territorial waters. The damage was so important that it was not able to continue his trip to Gaza.
The FFC is part of a decade and a half effort by activists to break the Gaza blocking. In 2010, a flotilla of six Turkiye ships sailed for the strip before Israeli troops intercept it in international waters. The largest ship – Mavi Marmara – was taken by storm by Israeli commandos who opened fire and killed nine activists and journalists – all Turkish citizens. To date, the victims of Mavi Marmara have not yet received justice.
In the aftermath of the bloody raid on the flotilla, Noam Chomsky wrote: “For decades, Israel has diverted boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them backhiles because the Talent University. They and Europe generally follows the American example. »»
Under international law, the interception of the two – Mavi Marmara and Madleen – is illegal. Israeli forces have no legal authority to hold international activists in international waters. Like Huwaida Arraf, American Palestinian lawyer and FFC organizer, said: “These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized to provide help or challenge an illegal blockage – their detention is arbitrary, illegal and must end immediately.”
Gaza is on the Mediterranean Sea, and yet it has been tightly sealed by its Mediterranean neighbors for decades. The blockade of the air, land and the sea of Israel began in 2007, but even before that, the Israeli naval forces watched and restricted access to the Littoral of Gaza.
The 1993 OSLO agreements did not grant the Palestinians full sovereignty over their own waters, which rather gives them access to 20 naval miles (37 km) from the Gaza coast for fishing, leisure and the extraction of natural resources such as gas. This represents only 10% of the limit of 200 kilometers for sovereign countries fixed under the United Nations Convention on the Act of the Sea.
But even these 20 marine miles have never been respected by the Israeli regime, which limited the Palestinians to increasingly small spaces on the coast. This has completely reduced Palestinians from the outside world and had a disastrous impact on the maritime tradition and the Fishing Industry of Gaza.
The fishermen were forced to fish in a very limited area, which inevitably led to overfishing. Since the start of the genocide, the Gaza fishermen have been targeted and killed and have bombed their boats and the equipment. Among them is Madleen Kulab, the only Palestinian fisherman in Gaza, after whom the Flotilla Flatilla ship was appointed. The mother of four has been moved several times during the genocide and now refers to her damaged house. His fishing days are over.
Under international law, UN members have the obligation to act when a serious crime like the genocide takes place. They have a duty to impose sanctions, including an embargo on arms. Instead, the European Union, hence the majority of militants in the hail of Madleen, not only renounced this obligation, but also continued to provide weapons to Israel, despite public opinion among Europeans massively opposing the Israeli regime and its continuous genocide.
Madleen activists knew that they would not reach their destination, but they chose to participate in this deadly solidarity act to bring the attention of the world to Gaza and draw attention to the criminal inaction of their governments. As Greta said, “We do this because no matter the chances that we are against, we must continue to try, because the moment when we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”
The Madleen may have been arrested at sea, but its message moves far: the blockade is not invisible, or forever. Each intercepted ship, each activist held, each act of challenge reaffirms that Gaza is not forgotten – and that until freedom is restored and justice is obtained, the sea will remain a first line in the struggle for the Palestinian Liberation.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.