{"id":59427,"date":"2026-05-20T07:11:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=59427"},"modified":"2026-05-20T07:11:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:11:55","slug":"aiding-and-abetting-genocide-us-sanctions-peaceful-gaza-flotilla-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/20\/aiding-and-abetting-genocide-us-sanctions-peaceful-gaza-flotilla-organizers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Aiding and Abetting Genocide\u2019: US Sanctions Peaceful Gaza Flotilla Organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Palestine defenders decried Tuesday\u2019s announcement by the Trump administration of US sanctions targeting four nonviolent campaigners involved in the recent humanitarian flotillas that tried to break Israel\u2019s illegal siege of Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The US Department of the Treasury said in a statement that its Office of Foreign Assets Control \u201cis taking action against four individuals associated with the pro-Hamas flotilla organized by the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sb0368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">US-designated<\/a> Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) that is attempting to access Gaza in support of Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sanctioned individuals are Saif Abu Keshek, a Palestinian with Spanish and Swedish citizenship and PCPA leader who helped organize and lead Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) missions; Jordan-based PCPA president Hisham Abdallah Sulayman Abu Mahfuz; Mohammed Khatib, who is based in Belgium and is the European coordinator for Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network; and Jaldia Abubakra Aueda, Samidoun\u2019s coordinator in Madrid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hylFW73Hmt\">https:\/\/t.co\/hylFW73Hmt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Maureen Murphy (@maureenclarem) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maureenclarem\/status\/2056830855016800652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe pro-terror flotilla attempting to reach Gaza is a ludicrous attempt to undermine President [Donald] Trump\u2019s successful progress toward lasting peace in the region,\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sb0501\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> Tuesday. \u201cTreasury will continue to sever Hamas\u2019 global financial support networks, no matter where in the world they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is no substantiated evidence that the Gaza flotillas are linked to Hamas. Meanwhile, United Nations experts, numerous national governments, human rights groups, and experts say Israel is perpetrating <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/united-nations-report-on-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">genocide<\/a>, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/academics-israeli-apartheid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">apartheid<\/a>, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/settlements-in-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">colonization<\/a>, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/international-court-of-justice-israel-occupation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">occupation<\/a>, and <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/no-safe-place-in-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ethnic cleansing<\/a> against Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>Samidoun <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/19\/us-imposes-sanctions-on-gaza-flotilla-organisers-amid-israeli-crackdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> the sanctions \u2013 which freeze any of the targets\u2019 US assets and ban Americans from doing business with them \u2013 \u201cthe latest manifestation of the ongoing US genocidal war on the Palestinian people\u201d and pointed to Israel\u2019s <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/latest-sumud-flotilla-raid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ongoing violent interception<\/a> and seizure of GSF vessels on the high seas off the coast of Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s sanctions by the US come hand-in-hand with today\u2019s Israeli piracy of the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Freedom Flotilla, and the abduction of hundreds of international activists at sea,\u201d the group said in a statement. \u201cAll of these sanctions targeting Palestinian organizations, not only those targeting us, are aiding and abetting genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, the Biden and Trump administrations have supported Israel with tens of billions of dollars worth of <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/us-aid-to-israel-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">armed aid<\/a> and diplomatic cover, including vetoes of numerous United Nations Security Council Gaza ceasefire resolutions. Total US financial support for Israel since it was founded in 1948 \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/imeu.org\/resources\/resources\/quick-facts-the-palestinian-nakba-catastrophe\/142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">largely via the ethnic cleansing<\/a> of Palestinian Arabs \u2013 is <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/RL33222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approaching $300 billion<\/a> in inflation-adjusted dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Since returning to office, Trump has cracked down on pro-Palestinian activists, students, organizations, and foreign nationals. Critics \u2013 including advocacy groups, academics, and some judges \u2013 have condemned what they have called attacks on free speech, association, and academic freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/new-us-icc-sanctions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sanctioned<\/a> International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan and other numerous other ICC jurists after the Hague-based tribunal <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issued warrants<\/a> for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/benjamin-netanyahu\">Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders who were killed by Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/smotrich-icc-warrant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> that the ICC is also seeking his arrest, and that he would \u201cfight back\u201d by ordering the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of Palestinians from their homes in the illegally occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>The US administration has also <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/francesca-albanese-family-sues-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sanctioned<\/a> independent UN Palestine expert Francesca Albanese and her family \u2013 a move that was temporarily blocked earlier this month by a federal judge who <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/francesca-albanese-sanctions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asserted<\/a> that the Italian humanitarian \u201chas done nothing more than speak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time Palestinians and their supporters organize internationally, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/washington\">Washington<\/a> reaches for the terrorism label to shut them down,\u201d Isabelle Hayslip, advocacy manager at <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/democracy\">Democracy<\/a> for the Arab World Now, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. \u201cThe net keeps widening. Palestinian diaspora communities now live under constant threat of designation for demanding their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palestine defenders decried Tuesday\u2019s announcement by the Trump administration of US sanctions targeting four nonviolent campaigners involved in the recent humanitarian flotillas that tried to break Israel\u2019s illegal siege of Gaza. The US Department of the Treasury said in a statement that its Office of Foreign Assets Control \u201cis taking action against four individuals associated 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