Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist, is among the 12 activists aboard the Madleen, a ship launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is en route to Gaza from Italy.
Just before setting sail, Thunberg declared that she and the others are doing this “because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying”. She added “the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity".
The FFC describes the ship, named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, as “a symbol of resistance and resilience” that’s “carrying a cargo of hope and humanitarian aid”.
The ship departed from Catania in Sicily, on June 1st and is expected to reach Gaza in a week. Currently, the Madleen, monitored live by Forensic Architecture and using a Garmin live tracker, has covered more than half of its journey already.
But their journey so far has not been without peril.
Beyond the dangers of such a long nautical journey, the ship has to deal with repeated incidents of drones hovering above or near the ship. The sight of the drones is troubling, as just last month, another FFC ship, called Conscience, carrying much needed aid to Gaza was hit by drones in international waters off the Malta coast.
Though the FFC statement did not directly accuse Israel of carrying out the attack, it did demand that “Israeli ambassadors be summoned to answer to violations of international law”. Israel, however, did not comment on the drone strikes.
But Greta and the others have defiantly continued their journey saying, “no matter how dangerous this mission is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of a live-streamed genocide".
