Freedom Socialist newspaper, Vol. 46, No. 5, October-November 2025
socialism.com
By Lauren Shiel
International activists, trumpeting calls for Gaza solidarity, are journeying with
humanitarian aid for Palestinians in flotillas of small boats. Armed Israeli soldiers
have been waylaying them, but this has not stopped these courageous maritime
missions.
The need for aid is because Israel has illegally blockaded Gaza’s air and water
space since 2007. The largest-ever flotilla, the Global Sumud, headed out this
August carrying a ton of supplies. It consists of fifty ships with protesters from 44
nations, including Swedish climate justice campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Earlier this July, U.S. labor organizer Chris Smalls of the Amazon Workers Union
joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on the 37th attempt to break the blockade.
Smalls, the only Black Palestinian supporter aboard the Handala, suffered racist
violence by Israeli soldiers who raided the ship. He was calling for Amazon to
stop contracting with Israeli weapon manufacturers and for U.S. unions to halt
arms shipments to Israel.
Denying Gazans humanitarian aid, impeding ships in international waters and
arresting at gunpoint those onboard are illegal acts by the Netanyahu
regime. But brave protesters persist in defying a country carrying out genocide.
Their global intervention in defense of Palestinians is heard around the world.