Solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla

rs21 statement in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla.

On Wednesday, 1 October, naval forces representing the colonial entity known as Israel illegally and violently intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters.

This flotilla is the most recent in a series of attempts to break the illegal blockade on Gaza. This attempt saw over 40 vessels, helmed by people from 44 countries and diverse backgrounds, seek to deliver aid to the people of Gaza. In doing so they have demonstrated the highest form of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Putting their safety on the line in an attempt to deliver much needed resources after two years of genocide and decades of violence and dispossession. 

Those who have taken part in the flotilla will now be interrogated before a period of incarceration. It is unclear how long this will take. All of the people involved are now at risk, most of all those who have come from nations in the global South. All members of rs21 stand in solidarity with those who have taken part in the flotilla. 

To honour their act of solidarity, to reaffirm our commitment to the Palestinian liberation struggle, as well as the global struggle against Zionism and imperialism, we must continue to escalate. We must continue to build the infrastructure capable of enforcing legal and diplomatic measures against Israel. We must continue to engage in direct action, despite attempts to criminalise our movement, in whatever forum available to us. 

We denounce Trump’s colonial peace plan to install Tony Blair as the viceroy of Gaza, and Keir Starmer’s support for it. We must throw our bodies on the gears of the capitalist and imperialist system so we might finally end the genocide and begin the process of building a new world. A world in which the Palestinian right to self-determination, and the rights of all oppressed people, are held aloft above all else. 

Most importantly, we must continue to follow the leadership of the Palestinians who demand that we use all means available to us to fight for an end to the genocide and free Palestine. We must take seriously our responsibility as part of the internationalist left and continue to work towards the defeat of fascism wherever it may be found. 

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.