3 days ago
Irish activists help plan new flotilla to get aid into Gaza
Irish activists are playing a big role in organising a new international flotilla to try to get vital humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel is continuing to block the access of aid trucks into Gaza while it starves and kills Palestinian civilians.
The numbers of civilians killed by Israel, either by starvation or violence, continues to rise every day and this new flotilla will attempt to break the blockade in the coming weeks. People gather around the Freedom Flotilla ship 'Handala' ahead of the boat's departure for Gaza back in July. Pic: Giovanni Isolino/AFP via Getty Images
The flotilla will depart from Spain on August 31, before stopping at Tunisia and other countries on September 4 as it sails towards Gaza.
People from over 44 countries are planning to participate in the movement.
The new Global Sumud Flotilla, organised by the Global Movement to Gaza (GMTG) campaign, aims to break Israel's blockade and raise attention to the starvation happening in Gaza. A protester holds up a poster reading 'Defend The Freedom Flotilla' during a protest in London earlier this year. Pic: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images
However, it is likely that Israel will intercept the flotilla before it can deliver the necessary aid, just as they did for Greta Thunberg's 'Freedom Flotilla' earlier this summer.
Greta will once again be a part of this flotilla. Greta Thunberg will once again be a part of this flotilla. Pic:Karen Moynihan, GMTG Irish coordinator, stated: 'The people of Ireland are steadfast in our support for the liberation of Palestine.
'The Global Sumud Flotilla sails with more boats than ever seen before to break the siege on Gaza.
'We are calling everyone across Ireland to join the movement and support the flotilla. Citizens of the world are united, and we will not stop until Palestine is free. No one is free until Palestine is free.'
Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists were detained and deported by Israel when they attempted to provide aid to Palestinians in June. The humanitarian ship Handala, operated by the Freedom Flotilla humanitarian organisation, as it set sail for Gaza earlier this year. Pic: Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The 'Freedom Flotilla', on the boat the Madleen, departed from Sicily but got intercepted in international waters.
Israel proceeded to mock the activists, who were trying to save lives, on its social media accounts afterwards.
This new flotilla comes as a joint statement from 24 countries and the EU denounce the 'famine unfolding before our eyes' in Gaza.
They continued: 'We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO (non-governmental organisations) aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.
'All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment.'
The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.
The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and two other members of the European Commission also signed the statement.
Some EU member countries, including Germany and Hungary, did not sign it.
Recently, Israel killed the Al Jazeera news team, including prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif, in a deliberate strike on their media tent.
The attack was condemned by the United Nations, the EU and media rights groups.
Anas was one of Al Jazeera's most recognisable faces working in Gaza, providing daily reports on the slaughter.
The UN human rights agency called their deaths a 'grave breach of international humanitarian law'.
