Irish writer Naoise Dolan has joined a second flotilla aiming to bring aid to Gaza after the vessel she was due to sail on as part of the Global Sumud Flottila had to cancel.
As she writes in The Sunday Independent, Dolan is joining fellow volunteers on the Thousand Madleens to Gaza flotilla, which sets sail on September 24th with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition from Catania in Sicily.
Dolan writes that the flotilla plans to leave just behind the first wave of Sumud boats, and the journey should take seven to 10 days.
“The ultimate aim is to deliver our aid in Gaza, but we’re prepared for all eventualities. Since 2010, Israel has intercepted or attacked all previous flotillas in international waters, a clear violation of maritime law,” she writes.
“Officially Israel has killed over 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. These figures count only the people who reached healthcare workers and died of direct violence; they exclude those buried under rubble and those murdered by Israel’s engineered starvation. Sources like The Lancet medical journal suggest a true death toll significantly higher,” Dolan writes.
Earlier this month, two vessels with the Global Sumud Flotilla were struck by incendiary devices - believed to be drones - while they were anchored off Sidu Bou Said port in Tunisia.
Ms Dolan was in Tunisia, training for the aid mission, when the boats were targeted. The incidents were designed “to intimidate rather than cause harm,” she told The Irish Independent. She told the newspaper that “I’ve accepted it [death] is a necessary risk of resisting Israeli state power”.
As Afloat has reported, actor Liam Cunningham, poet Sarah Clancy, comedian Tadhg Hickey and TD Paul Murphy are among Irish participants on the Global Sumud Flotilla, along with environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
Genoese dockworkers have warned they will block all shipments to Israel from Europe if communication with the humanitarian aid flotilla currently bound for Gaza is lost.
Genoa is one of Europe’s largest ports, and the city’s mayor, Silvia Salis, recently joined a torchlit march through the streets in support of the mission, while a food drive collected more than 300 tons of humanitarian aid.
In an historic wave of protests in support of Gaza, over 60 cities across Europe staged demonstrations this week, with workers shutting down industries and calling for an end to the genocide by Israel, an end to arm sales to Israel and justice for Palestine.
Italy has sent a naval ship to come to the vessels’ assistance.
However, while condemning the Israeli government over the drone attacks, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan told the Dáil that Ireland is not a “strong military power” and he could not “direct ‘marines’ or the Army Rangers'” to rescue people.
Read The Sunday Independent here
