Global Sumud Flotilla: travellers bearing light into dark

For the past month the world’s attention has been fixed on a luminous naval convoy known as the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla’. The flotilla’s first voyage set off from Barcelona, Spain, on 31 August. From 13 to 15 September additional vessels joined the convoy from Tunisia and Italy’s Sicily. Later, further boats carrying relief joined from the Greek island of Syros. In the end the flotilla comprised over 40 vessels. Around 500 people from some 44 countries took part — including elected members of the European Parliament from the United States, Spain, Ireland, France and Belgium, as well as lawyers, rights activists, doctors and journalists. They were carrying food and medical supplies for starving and bomb-wounded people in Gaza. Where United Nations teams have sometimes been unable to deliver aid, there was hope that the Sumud Flotilla might reach the Gaza border after earlier attempts had failed.

But news published yesterday (2 October) reported that Israeli forces have intercepted all but one of the vessels. Hundreds of activists were detained, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Several countries have expressed concern over the incident. Turkey and Colombia, among others, have criticised Israel for obstructing movements in international waters. Israel has described the flotilla as provocative and said the detained human rights activists will be returned to Europe shortly.

Bangladesh is represented in the flotilla by Shahidul Alam, managing director of Drik and a photographer, who posted updates of the voyage on social media. They were navigating rough seas and at one point encountered a storm. In his final video message he showed Israeli forces firing shots and missiles at their convoy. No further news has been received from Shahidul Alam since. The Israeli defence minister, however, has said that Greta Thunberg and the other detainees are in good health.

The Israeli defence minister has also declared that all residents of Gaza must leave the territory as soon as possible. Thousands of Gazans remain there; those who stay will be labelled terrorists and will continue to be attacked, he has said. Reports say a further 74 Gazans were killed in Wednesday morning’s assault. Every day at least 100 people are dying in Gaza — either from Israeli missile strikes or from starvation.

The United Nations has described this episode as shameful and no more. If the UN cannot stop the indiscriminate killing of Gazans or deliver aid to famine-stricken Gaza, then what is the purpose of the organisation? The shameless assaults by Israel’s occupying forces in Gaza and Palestine expose the UN’s failure. More regrettably, apart from Turkey and Iran, most Muslim countries have remained silent on the matter. Yet a majority of the human rights activists in the flotilla were not from Muslim countries — and that too will be an embarrassing chapter for Muslim states. The Global Sumud Flotilla proved that standing with humanity requires no nationality or religion: being human is enough.

The flotilla may have failed this time, but its resonance cannot be called a failure. It has awakened consciences in many countries. Palestine will one day be free. In the course of that struggle Gaza’s people may tragically be decimated and vanish; even so, history will record in golden letters that, amid profound darkness and across hostile seas, a group of people tried to reach Gaza’s devastated land. In the words of the poet: travellers bearing light into the dark.