At this moment Israeli military forces are illegally attacking and boarding the sailboats of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) in international waters east of Cyprus. As this article is being written, the heavily armed Israeli commandos are seizing control of one boat after another and detaining its participants in a large prison ship.
Israeli forces are deployed in international waters as they approach the Global Sumud Flotilla [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]
Flotilla organizers are reaching out with an URGENT REQUEST for solidarity and action.
The Israeli attack on the boats of the flotilla was preceded by intensive hostile rhetoric from Israeli media and political circles, including the false accusation that it is a “terror” threat. Such rhetoric is designed to delegitimize the mission and lay the groundwork for the unlawful aggression and violence by Israeli forces now underway against unarmed civilians and their boats as they lawfully sail on the high seas.
The attack today follows the 29 April attack on 22 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) by Israeli forces east of Crete. Both of these Israeli government actions are blatant violations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Customary International Law, which makes provisions of the Convention mandatory for all countries, including Israel. The Convention protects freedom of navigation in international waters and provides exclusive jurisdiction to the country in which the vessel is flagged. The Convention specifically prohibits personnel of a warship from boarding a foreign ship or boat on the high seas except under narrowly defined circumstances—none of which apply in this instance. The Convention also reserves the high seas for peaceful purposes and requires states to refrain from any threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, including their vessels, operating on the high seas.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls upon all governments to enforce the Law of the Sea in the same way it was enforced in cases of previous violations, including:
• Demanding the prompt release of vessels
• Demanding compensation
• Banning Israel from accessing ports
• Freezing the assets of Israel
• Restricting trade with Israel
• Banning the transfer of military goods to Israel
• Establishing a tribunal to investigate and prosecute the Israeli political and military leaders who are responsible.
US Army Colonel Ann Wright (ret.) an FFC spokesperson said: “Flag countries have a heavy responsibility to enforce the law. If they fail to act, they effectively grant impunity to the perpetrators, invite further violations, and encourage even more extreme illegal actions by Israel and any other rogue state that follows its example.”
Boats of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Global Sumud Flotilla were sailing together in a lawful, civilian-led initiative challenging the ongoing illegal blockade of Gaza imposed by the Israeli government. The boats carry unarmed civilians and humanitarian aid. The blockade has devastated Gaza for nearly two decades.
The blockade is violence. Along with the Israeli government’s bombing of farms and fishing boats, the blockade has been critical to implementing and maintaining starvation and genocide in Gaza. Efforts to portray the sailboats of the flotilla as “terrorism” reveal the extent to which roles are reversed.
The unsupported allegations against the flotilla follow a familiar pattern in which humanitarian and solidarity efforts are deliberately misrepresented to rationalize state violence. Nevertheless, these threats must be taken seriously. Israeli forces have murdered civilians, humanitarian workers, journalists, and solidarity activists while facing no meaningful accountability from powerful governments.
Silence at this stage only increases the danger. Flotilla organizers say it is critical that organizations, elected officials, community leaders, and individuals publicly demand the protection of ships and boats in international waters and everyone on board, as required by the law of the sea.
Organizers are calling on everyone to take the following actions immediately:
- Follow all the boats of the flotilla on the tracker: freedomflotilla.org/ffc-gsf-tracker
- Share news from the flotilla across social media and public platforms, including Instagram content FFC and GSF.
Follow on: Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, Bluesky, and LinkedIn and share that content. - National and community organizations, unions, and faith institutions: Issue a public statement or press release calling for the flotilla’s protection, the right of civilians to reach Gaza, and end to the blockade, for release of flotilla participants, and for release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Organize a local vigil or protest.
- CONTACT members of Congress and demand that they publicly oppose the attack on the vessels. Call on them to demand an end to the blockade and an end to U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. The U.S. Capitol switchboard is: (202) 224-3121.
- Contact the governments of the flotilla participants who’ve been kidnapped by Israeli forces and demand that they take action to ensure the safety and immediate release of their citizen, to condemn the kidnapping, to call for an independent investigation, and to end complicity. Here is the contact information for 13 of the governments: https://freedomflotilla.org/action/
- CALL ON local and state officials to speak against any violence targeting civilian flotilla participants and call for the immediate release of detainees.
- DONATE: http://usboatstogaza.org/donate
Howaida Arraf, a Palestinian American lawyer from Detroit Michigan and one of the founders of the flotilla campaign in 2008, said: “The violations against the GSF and FFC flotillas are nothing compared to the mass murder committed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Yet they are still an escalation. The law-breaking is now directed against the European countries that flagged the vessels. The failure of European governments to enforce the International Law requirement to stop the genocide in Gaza is coming home to roost. Israel is now directing its law violations against European governments.”
“It’s never too late to enforce the law,” said Col. Ann Wright. “But pressure from members of the public and from civic organizations is needed. Contact your members of parliament and foreign ministry. In the US contact your members of Congress and the State Department. Demand enforcement action to protect the boats, to protect Palestine, and to protect international law.”
