Madleen sails to Gaza as government’s fatal failure to take action

(MENAFN) A German volunteer aboard the Madleen, a vessel seeking to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, stated on Sunday that their presence is driven by frustration with their governments’ ongoing support for what she described as Israel’s genocidal policies against the enclave.

“Bombing hospitals, bombing children, these war crimes we have been watching for 20 months, and this is why we are here. We are here because our governments are not doing this. We are here because our governments are continuing to uphold this genocide, the illegal blockade on Gaza,” declared Yasemin Acar in a video shared on her Instagram.

She explained that the ship is very close to Gaza and that although previous alarm videos had been taken down for safety reasons, the crew had to sound the alarm again after encountering four Israeli vessels, two of which approached within 200 meters.

“This has never happened before in the past eight days, so this was why we sounded the alarm again,” Acar said, describing the presence of multiple vessels with lights around them. She pointed out that two ships had halted their engines and stayed motionless, which she suggested was a tactic of “psychological warfare.”

Acar emphasized that the mission’s purpose is solidarity rather than direct rescue efforts, stating, “Palestinians will free themselves.” She added, “We are just here in solidarity—to tell them they are not alone, that we will use our bodies, our solidarity and everything we have to challenge this illegal blockade and end the starvation.”

Calling the Madleen “a small fraction of the global uprising,” she urged people worldwide to “pressure your governments” to halt arms transfers to Israel.

“This cannot go on,” she insisted. “This is not a world we should want to live in, and it’s not the world we should leave behind to our children. We are doing this because of Gaza.”

She underscored the equal rights of children in Gaza, saying, “Children there have the same rights as yours—to live, to be free, to grow up with dignity. We can’t stay silent.”

According to Acar, “The real work” involves stopping governments from sending weapons to Israel “to commit these war crimes.”

The Madleen carries a total of twelve people, including eleven activists and one journalist. Among them are notable figures such as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, alongside other international participants from countries including Germany, France, Brazil, Türkiye, Spain, the Netherlands, and France again for the journalist.

This mission is part of a larger initiative by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a civil society group dedicated to breaking the Israeli blockade and delivering aid to Gaza. The 18-meter-long ship departed from an Italian port in early June.

Previously, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Freedom Flotilla, stating he had ordered the military to “do whatever is necessary” to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza’s shores. An Israeli military spokesperson confirmed preparations were underway to take action against the vessel amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by bombardment.

In a related incident, the Conscience ship—another aid vessel under the Freedom Flotilla Foundation, a coalition formed by global campaigns against attacks on Gaza—was reportedly targeted by unmanned drones off Malta’s coast earlier in May.

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