Sumud, the largest flotilla to sail for Gaza, prepares to set out

Barcelona, Spain – Volunteers from crossed the satellite person travel unneurotic successful the main hallway of 1 of Spain’s oldest labour unions, the UGT – erstwhile a registration centre for planetary volunteers who came to Spain to combat fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

Now it has trained the nonviolent planetary volunteers – Palestine supporters, activists, journalists and politicians – who volition sail connected the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza connected Sunday.

“We are not heroes. We are not the story. The communicative is the radical of Gaza,” organiser Thiago Avila, a lifelong activistic for Palestine and biology justice, told the crowds gathered for a quality league earlier the ships acceptable sail.

Their extremity is to present humanitarian aid, which is the flotilla’s lone cargo, and unfastened a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians facing being starved and killed by Israel.

In little than 2 years of war, Israel has killed much than 63,000 Palestinians with tens of thousands much injured and missing.

Sailing into the uncertain

About 26,000 applications from radical astir the satellite came successful and were whittled down to the hundreds who volition beryllium connected committee the astir 100 flotilla boats.

The flotilla volition commencement successful Barcelona and caput to Tunisia, wherever it volition beryllium joined by much vessels connected Thursday.

Once retired again connected the Mediterranean Sea, it volition converge with much boats leaving Italy and different undisclosed ports, and unneurotic they volition sail successful enactment to the Gaza Strip.

Organisers cognize clip is against them arsenic Israel kills Palestinians daily, not lone utilizing aerial strikes and crushed forces but besides a man-made famine that it has imposed.

Since 2010, each state flotillas to Gaza person been intercepted oregon attacked by Israeli forces.

In June, the vessel Madleen was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces successful planetary waters astir 185km (115 miles) westbound of Gaza, wherever Israel has nary authority. Its crew, which included clime activistic Greta Thunberg, were detained oregon expelled.

In 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, made up of six ships carrying humanitarian assistance and much than 600 passengers, was raided by Israeli commandos successful Mediterranean waters.

The commandos killed 10 activists and wounded dozens.

Other attempts were blocked by Israel successful 2011, 2015, 2018 and aggregate attempts successful 2025, including the Conscience, which was struck doubly by drones 25km (14 nautical miles) disconnected Malta.

An earlier effort implicit land, called the Global March to Gaza, acceptable retired successful June to present assistance to Gaza done the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Many of those volunteers person regrouped successful Tunisia to stitchery ships to articulation the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Volunteers from much than 42 countries attended grooming and sheet discussions focusing connected the nonviolent quality of the Global Sumud Flotilla [Mauricio Morales/Al Jazeera]

Determined volunteers

The Barcelona gathering reflected a wide planetary presence, including delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and the United States.

The volunteers, immoderate veterans of aggregate flotillas, are focused connected their corporate purpose: to interruption Israel’s siege of Gaza and present assistance to its people.

Training sessions successful Barcelona were intense, designed to hole participants for scenarios specified arsenic interception successful planetary waters, arrest, imprisonment, deportation, convulsive battle oregon bureaucratic strategies to halt the departure of boats.

But the instauration of their mentation is maintaining nonviolence successful immoderate of these scenarios, thing the organisers highlighted respective times and warned that breaking from that rule would not beryllium accepted.

Every unpaid has signed a strict codification of conduct, committing to peaceful absorption and rejecting systems of oppression and exploitation passim the mission.

Workshops besides revisited the past of nonviolent conflict – from Mahatma Gandhi’s enactment successful India’s independency question to Rosa Parks’s defiance against radical segregation successful the United States.

Among the participants was Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian volunteer. She is joined to a Palestinian exile and has lived successful exile herself aft being targeted successful Colombia for her activism during wide protests against right-wing erstwhile President Ivan Duque.

Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian activistic surviving successful exile successful Jordan, volition beryllium portion of the flotilla [Mauricio Morales/Al Jazeera]

The mates unrecorded successful Jordan aft facing racism successful Europe arsenic they tried to find determination to settle, she told Al Jazeera.

During the Global March to Gaza, Valentina joined different Colombians connected the mode to Rafah. She recalled the solidarity, spot and attraction she recovered among chap Colombian pistillate activists, immoderate of whom volition acceptable sail with her now, and others who volition enactment the ngo from land.

Getting acceptable to acceptable sail

On Friday, a three-day solemnisation of the volunteers and their ngo began connected Moll de la Fusta, a larboard walkway successful Barcelona, arsenic the countdown began for their departure.

It was a lukewarm outpouring of enactment arsenic sounds of drums filled the air, hundreds of Palestinian flags fluttered and crowds gathered for a festival of music, civilization and creation to amusement enactment for Palestinians successful Gaza and for the volunteers of the flotilla.

What everyone is hoping for is that the ships volition get connected the seashore of besieged Gaza and present humanitarian assistance that Israel has blocked from entering.

For Avila, the begetter of a newborn, this flotilla continues a legacy: “I emotion my girl truthful much, arsenic the mothers and fathers successful Gaza, and due to the fact that of this love, … we cannot permission a satellite similar this. We person to alteration the nine that enables a genocide to happen,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“I judge that anyone that is not dormant wrong dies a small spot with each kid successful Gaza that dies,” helium added.

That sentiment was shared by an Australian parent of 4 who has besides joined the flotilla. Her dependable broke arsenic she said: “No 1 should unrecorded and dice similar this. Everyone deserves the aforesaid dignity and freedom.”

Thiago Avila speaks during a grooming for unit members successful the Sumud Flotilla [Mauricio Morales/Al Jazeera]