The Freedom Flotilla Is Not the Crime
A boat carrying food and medicine tries to reach Gaza. Israel blocks it. Again.
This time, it was the Freedom Flotilla joined by international activists, including Greta Thunberg. The boat was intercepted before reaching its destination. Preventing humanitarian aid from reaching a besieged civilian population of over two million people—more than half of them children.
This is not an isolated event. In April, another vessel in the Freedom Flotilla, the Conscience, was reportedly attacked by Israeli drones in international waters. It carried no weapons. Just humanitarian aid and volunteers. Israel attacked it anyway. And nothing happened. No red lines were drawn. Not even for that.
Some call the flotilla a “stunt.” But that accusation misses the point—and shifts the blame. All activism is meant to draw attention to injustice. What matters is what they are drawing attention to: the mass starvation of a trapped civilian population. If bringing food to starving children is considered a stunt, then the moral compass is broken.
And we must not forget: Israel is doing this with all of us watching. This isn’t happening in the dark. It’s happening on live video, under satellite surveillance, in the headlines. Children are dying slowly—on camera—and still, the siege continues. Still, governments do nothing.
What’s happening in Gaza is not a “complex conflict.” It is the deliberate starvation of a civilian population. It is collective punishment on a mass scale. Gaza is being deprived of food, clean water, medicine, fuel, electricity. Famine is already killing children. This is not accidental. It is policy.
The blockade violates international law. Blocking humanitarian aid is illegal. Starving civilians is illegal. Bombing civilian infrastructure, displacing the population, and targeting aid workers—also illegal. These are not grey areas. These are war crimes.
Please watch the interview with UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, conducted by Ahmed Alnaouq for Palestine Deep Dive. She is crystal clear where our politicians are, unfortunately, not. Albanese is calling on countries nearby to send their navies—to break the siege, to enforce international law where it has collapsed, to deliver aid, protect civilians, and stop the use of starvation as a weapon.
Her message is as clear as it is urgent: the siege must be broken by force of law, and if necessary, by a coordinated international sea fleet to ensure aid reaches Gaza. If civilian activists can risk their lives to do this in small boats, why can’t governments?
Greta Thunberg’s participation has been criticised by some—but I believe it’s both brave and necessary. Her involvement helps draw global attention to what should never be ignored. But in the end, the issue isn’t who is on the boat. It’s who is being kept in a cage. The real scandal isn’t civil disobedience at sea—it’s the daily war crimes being committed against a trapped civilian population.
The Freedom Flotilla is not the crime. The siege is. The starvation is. Our silence is.
All articles on Diaspora Dialogue are free to read for one year from publication. If you’ve enjoyed this piece and would like to support my work, you can do so by subscribing, or by buying me a coffee. Thank you for reading and being part of the dialogue!
Article Series Zionism
Thank you Francesca Albanese and Ahmed Alnaouq.