Greta Thunberg Held on Gaza Aid Boat, Faces Deportation

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

Photo: AP

A group of activists, including well-known Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were detained by Israeli authorities after their aid boat heading to Gaza was stopped. The boat was taken to the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Monday, and the activists have now been moved to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for deportation, Israel said on Tuesday.

The small yacht named Madleen had 12 people on board. These people were trying to bring a small amount of humanitarian aid like rice and baby formula to the people in Gaza. The group behind this mission, called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), said the boat was stopped by Israeli forces in international waters.

Israel called the vessel a "selfie yacht", saying it was more of a publicity stunt than a real aid effort. The Israeli foreign ministry posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the boat carried less than a truckload of supplies. They also claimed that over 1,200 trucks of aid had already entered Gaza from Israel in the past two weeks, and nearly 11 million meals were given to civilians through a group supported by Israel and the US.

According to the FFC, the passengers are now in Israeli custody and may be allowed to fly back home as soon as Tuesday night. If anyone refuses to sign deportation papers, they will be taken to an Israeli court.

The people on the boat came from Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey. Among them were Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament, and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera.

The boat left Italy on June 1st. The mission was meant to bring attention to the hunger and suffering in Gaza and to challenge Israel’s naval blockade, which stops most aid from entering by sea.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to stop weapons from reaching Hamas, a group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Since then, Israel has continued a military campaign in Gaza. According to Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, over 54,880 people have died since the conflict began.

In 2010, a similar aid mission ended in tragedy when Israeli soldiers boarded a Turkish ship called the Mavi Marmara and killed 10 activists on board. That event caused international outrage.

This latest incident has again raised debate. The FFC said Israel’s blockade is illegal, and accused the Israeli government of threatening civilians. The Israeli government, however, believes there are proper ways to send aid, and Instagram posts are not one of them.