End the siege, occupation and capitalism!
International Socialist Alternative condemns with the greatest indignation Israel’s war crimes against the people of Gaza and now also against Madleen — the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship.
On the ship at the time of writing is Greta Thunberg who, together with eleven other human rights activists, including EU parliamentarian Rima Hassan and actor Liam Cunningham, wants to break the 80-day-long blockade of aid. Unarmed and loaded with supplies, the Freedom Flotilla has now been stopped and illegally seized by the Israeli state in international waters. As the campaign explained on their website: “the ship was illegally boarded, its unarmed civilian crew was taken away and its life-saving cargo — including infant formula, food and medical supplies — was confiscated.”
“This seizure is in clear violation of international law and defies the ICJ’s binding ruling demanding unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade—their detention is arbitrary, illegal and must end immediately,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights lawyer and organizer of the Freedom Flotilla.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz calls Greta Thunberg & Co. “propagandists for Hamas,” while every day there are unbearable reports of how over a hundred people who were waiting in line to receive food from aid shipments were shot dead by IDF soldiers. Madleen is derogatorily called the “selfie boat” by the Israeli Foreign Ministry — but this murderous institution has long since distorted all that is called humanity.
The fact that the Freedom Flotilla managed to break the media blockade in Israel shows the huge international support riding behind it. Despite cautious verbal criticism, arms deliveries and support for the genocidal war from the US and the Western powers continue. Lindsey Graham, a US senator who is close to Trump, wrote that he hopes that Greta and her friends can swim.
International Socialist Alternative also backs the action of port workers in Sweden, France and elsewhere, who have done what all trade unions should do, and blocked the transport of military cargo to Israel.
It is precisely actions of worker solidarity that can stop the war, and we call on the trade unions across the world to make statements against the war, join the movement, and call for the release of those detained. We also stand in solidarity with socialists who have participated in anti-war movements in Israel and Palestine, such as the anti-war demonstration in Haifa on May 31 where the demand for a general strike was made.
Thousands have called on governments, from Sweden to Britain, to Brazil to the US, to demand the release of those detained by the Israeli state. We support the call to release all the 12 volunteers aboard the Madleen. But it is clear that governments are not prepared to do anything that fundamentally threatens their allies’ imperialist interests, or the profits of big business. We can’t count on these governments to stop Israel’s war of extermination, the occupation or national oppression, which are rooted in capitalism and imperialism.
In all countries, we need to draw together the movements against racism, militarism, environmental destruction, against class exploitation, and for Palestinian national liberation against this system, as part of a struggle for international socialist change!
