Israeli forces prevent aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching Gaza
Activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, board the Madleen boat, ahead of setting sail for Gaza, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.
'The `selfie yacht' of the `celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel,' the Foreign Ministry said in a social media post. 'The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.'
The 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.
While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included… pic.twitter.com/eEZSJJHVfd — Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 9, 2025
It said the humanitarian aid aboard the ship would be transferred to Gaza through established channels. It later circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing orange life vests.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and protest Israel's blockade and wartime conduct, said the activists had been 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' and released pre-recorded messages from them.
Thunberg, a climate campaigner, was among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it had stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by the Libyan coast guard.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
After a 2 1/2-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn't say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
30 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized
JERUSALEM (AP) — Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the country's Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military. Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, who shuns air travel, seated on a plane. Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel's ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off of Gaza's coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel's actions were a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it says is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza. The boat, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. The other eight activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities, Adalah said. The activists were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday, the group added. Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported. Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not immediately clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and will leave Israel on Tuesday for France. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW On Monday, Adalah, the rights group, said that Israel had 'no legal authority' to take over the ship, because the group said it was in international waters and it was headed not to Israel but to the 'territorial waters of the state of Palestine.' Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on Israel to release the activists immediately and unconditionally. 'The arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law,' Adalah said in a statement. Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the 'selfie yacht.' Israeli officials said that the flotilla was bringing 'meager' aid with what amounted to less than a truckload of goods. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
Winnipeg Free Press
41 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Holocaust education and current conflicts
Opinion John R. Wiens's recent op-ed (We must teach the Holocaust — but that won't be easy, Think Tank, June 6) raises important concerns about the challenges of teaching the Holocaust amid the Israel-Hamas war. Best practices in Holocaust education continue to evolve along with present-day realities and challenges. Available in more than a dozen languages, the 2019 IHRA Recommendations on Teaching and Learning About the Holocaust was crafted by international scholars in the field to help curriculum developers and educators teach about the complex and nuanced history of the Holocaust. We are working on a new edition for 2026. In November of 2023, I approached the Manitoba government about a mandated curriculum on Holocaust education and was delighted by the positive response from the province, which subsequently announced its partnership with the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada to introduce mandatory Holocaust education in schools. 'This includes developing new curriculum guidance, implementation tools, and resources for educators. The partnership aims to ensure all students in Manitoba are educated about the Holocaust and its impact, and to combat antisemitism.' Kelly Hiebert, an award-winning educator, was then selected by the Manitoba government to help develop a new Holocaust curriculum for the province's students. Wiens claims that 'today's politics of difference' inform him that a non-Jew cannot understand or appreciate the injustices of antisemitism and that one must choose between being a Zionist and pro-Palestinian. Many respected scholars on antisemitism are in fact not Jewish. Zionism is simply the right of Jews to self-determination in our ancestral homeland. Support for Palestinians is not anathema to that belief. As for criticism of the policies of the Israeli government, we have been clear that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. I respectfully challenge a central claim of Wien's argument — that Holocaust education today must be inextricably linked with current events in Gaza, and that such teaching risks doing more harm than good in the current political climate. This approach risks weakening both the effectiveness of Holocaust education and the clarity students need when learning about mass atrocities. To begin, the Holocaust was a defining event in the history of humanity that shook the foundations of Western civilization and transformed international politics and justice. It was a singular, systematic genocide: the industrialized murder of six million Jews alongside the targeted killing of millions of others. Teaching about the Holocaust requires careful attention to historical specificity, rooted in facts, survivor testimony, and the ideological machinery of antisemitism that enabled it. To connect Holocaust education directly with the Gaza conflict — however pressing and tragic — risks distorting both topics. These are not interchangeable events, nor are they parallel in scope, intent, or execution. Conflating them, even in the spirit of contemporary relevance, invites students to draw inappropriate moral equivalencies and may unintentionally reinforce antisemitic tropes — including the idea that Jews are collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel. Wiens expresses concern that teachers are unprepared for the political backlash they may face when tackling such topics. But the answer is not to sideline Holocaust education or to dilute it with present-day disputes. The answer is to better support educators: with training, curriculum resources, and clear guidance on how to engage students in both historical thinking and ethical reflection. We have already begun that process with a Manitoba-wide professional development day a few weeks ago, that included the participation of recognized national experts in the field, and we will be offering many more opportunities next year. It is entirely possible — and necessary — to teach the Holocaust without turning the classroom into a battleground over modern geopolitics. Teachers should not be asked to resolve the Israeli-Hamas conflict in real time. Nor should Holocaust instruction be framed as contingent on 'cleaning up' adult failures in the political sphere. Our students deserve a focused space to learn about antisemitism — both past and present — and to understand how hatred and conspiracy theories fuel violence. Let us be clear: we must also teach about human rights violations wherever they occur. Manitoba offers a curriculum on global issues that addresses these concerns. These discussions matter, and they belong in our classrooms — but not at the cost of obscuring or distorting the Holocaust's historical reality. In this time of polarization, clarity is a moral necessity. At a time when Holocaust denial and distortion both online and offline is increasing dramatically, accompanied by an exponential rise in antisemitism, Holocaust education remains a key tool for countering prejudice and cultivating inclusion. We must ensure that this important subject is taught with the depth, care, and context it deserves. Belle Jarniewski is the executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada and serves on the Education Working Group of Canada's federally appointed delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the only intergovernmental organization with a mandate focused on addressing contemporary challenges related to the Holocaust and the genocide of the Roma.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Live updates: Israel attacks Yemeni port city of Hodeida
The Israeli navy attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday, likely damaging facilities that are key to aid shipments to the hungry, war-wracked nation. The Israeli military said navy missile ships conducted the strikes, the first time its forces have been involved in attacks against the Houthi rebels. Tuesday's attack comes as the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah satellite news channel. They said the attack targeted docks there, without elaborating. ___ Here's the latest: Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Israel deports Greta Thunberg after seizing the ship she was on Activist Greta Thunberg is being deported from Israel, Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military. In a post on X, the Foreign Ministry shared a photo of Thunberg on a plane, saying that she was headed for France. Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on board the Madleen, a boat carrying aid destined for people in war-torn Gaza. The activists said they were protesting the ongoing war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel says such ships violate its naval blockade of Gaza.
