The Global Sumud Flotilla carries our limits and our good intentions.

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Just over a month ago, from Kritika, we launched an appeal, which was then translated into English and circulated around the world, calling for the creation of a “Dunkirk in reverse”an international expedition of ships, military personnel and civilians, which would set course for Gaza, to bring humanitarian aid and break the illegal siege imposed by the State of Israel, through which the self-proclaimed Jewish state is causing a famine that risks wiping out the entire population of the Gaza Strip within a few months: over two million inhabitants, before October 7, 2023.

Something very similar, but also very different, to what we hoped for, is now about to be realised.

Questo scrivevamo il 20 luglio 2025: “Ci rivolgiamo perciò a tutte le ONG, alle Marine nazionali, alle compagnie di crociera, agli armatori internazionali, alle linee di trasporto marittimo, ai proprietari privati di yacht, di navi da pesca e di semplici barche: fate rotta in massa verso Gaza. Spezzate il blocco navale illegale imposto da Israele sul mare di Gaza e portate cibo e aiuti. Salviamo la vita degli abitanti di Gaza!

Il blocco navale su Gaza imposto dall’esercito israeliano è illegale ai sensi del diritto internazionale. Israele non può legalmente impedire alle navi di avvicinarsi alle coste di Gaza e di attraccarvi per portare aiuti agli abitanti. Israele non soltanto commette war crimes e contro l’umanità affamando intenzionalmente una popolazione su cui sta praticando il genocidio, ma commette un crimine anche impedendo l’attracco su Gaza dei civili.

The crew of the Freedom Flotilla, A few weeks ago, it was illegally seized and detained. Now a new vessel from the same fleet, the Handala, is en route to Gaza. We cannot leave the Handala alone. We cannot leave the people of Gaza alone to face the risk of mass extinction. As long as only a few people are challenging the illegal naval blockade, it is easier for Israel to act, even while violating the law (to general indifference). But if tens of thousands of people, on hundreds of vessels, challenge the illegal naval blockade, things will change.

Serve una nuova Dunkirk, una Dunkirk al contrario. Ripetere quell’esperienza, passata alla Storia, di salvataggio di massa dei popoli attraverso il mare. Serve un approdo di migliaia e migliaia di cittadini e cittadine, a bordo di centinaia di imbarcazioni, per salvare la vita di bambini, women e uomini denutriti e allo stremo delle forze. Che salpino dall’Italia, dalla Grecia, dalla Turchia, dalla Spagna, dalla Tunisia, dal Marocco, dalla Francia, dall’Algeria, dall’Egitto, serve che salpino anche da oltreoceano, se necessario”.

In recent weeks, an international initiative calling itself Global Sumud Flotilla ha unito le forze per dare vita, a quella che, con un’enfasi sulla quale ci interrogheremo in questo stesso articolo, il giornalista-influencer politico Lorenzo Tosa ha definito “la più grande missione umanitaria di questo secolo”. Qualche decina di barche – tante quante il numero di coppie di capitani che saranno stati coinvolti – salperà in due tranche, il 31 agosto da Barcellona e Genova, il 4 settembre dalla Sicilia e dalla Tunisia, trasportando persone provenienti da 44 Paesi diversi, in equipaggi tutti composti da persone di varie nazionalità mescolate fra loro. I sindacati tunisini avevano dato un primo assenso convinto all’iniziativa, tanto che la conferenza stampa di lancio della Global Sumud Flotilla, a inizio agosto, si era tenuta proprio da Tunisi. In seguito, secondo quanto Kritica ha potuto ricostruire, sembrerebbero essersi tirati indietro, per ragioni dovute alla confusione e alla disorganizzazione riscontrata, così come sembrerebbe essersi tirata indietro, per le stesse ragioni, anche Al Jazeera, che aveva seguito con una sua troupe l’ultima missione, quella della nave Handala (a troop of Al Jazeera should finally set sail with the fleet from Barcelona, ed., 30 August).

A spin-off from the Global March to Gaza

Da dove nasce la Global Sumud Flotilla? Come ha spiegato a Kritica la portavoce italiana, Maria Elena Delia, si tratta di una iniziativa messa in piedi da una serie di persone che già a giugno scorso avevano dato vita alla Global March to Gaza, l’attraversamento dell’Egitto via terra partendo da più Paesi di tutto il mondo, per cercare di arrivare, simbolicamente, al valico di Rafah e rompere l’assedio di Gaza. Una impresa che si era incontrata con la numerosa coalizione del Sumud Convoy, una spedizione via terra partita dalla Tunisia per attraversare Libia ed Egitto e giungere a Gaza. La spedizione maghrebina coinvolgeva centinaia di persone ed era stata messa in piedi dal Coordinamento tunisino per la Palestina, una realtà che riunisce i sopracitati sindacati insieme con altri soggetti della Civil society, including the ultras.

Nessuna delle spedizioni del giugno scorso è riuscita a raggiungere la meta, né a portare solidarietà fisicamente agli abitanti di Gaza. Ma mentre la Sumud Convoy è rimasta compatta durante l’intero percorso, all’arrivo in Egitto la Global March to Gaza che vedeva protagoniste persone dei Paesi occidentali si è immediatamente frammentata e sfrangiata. Le diverse delegazioni hanno  infatti subito preso iniziative diverse e fra loro in conflitto, mostrandosi litigiose, competitive e ben poco consapevoli della delicatezza della missione, che si è conclusa miseramente in una serie di rimpatri in più punti del Paese. La Global March, which we at Kritica had greeted with curiosity and support, whilst always remaining attentive and critical, had shown all the limits and defects of the “white saviour”Typical of citizens of colonialist countries: an attitude of superficiality and unilateralism, heedless of the viewpoint of the indigenous population and the political dimension of an initiative that is delicate in every respect, including the diplomatic one. As the former spokesperson Antonietta Chiodo, who resigned from her post immediately after the conclusion of the Global March, declared to our newspaper upon her return from the march, “the most humiliating aspect of a failed expedition that disintegrated almost immediately was realising that the Egyptian citizens themselves felt trampled on, used, and even endangered by our presence.”.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is therefore born from a failed initiative, which showed many limitations both from the point of view of political discourse and human and organisational coordination. Limitations that have not, however, been the subject of open and transparent discussion among those who took part. A Canadian journalist, Jean Borbeau, wrote about it in a useful article, in French, which can be read. Who.

Who is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (and who isn't)

The Global Sumud Flotilla brings together multiple realities that are coordinated worldwide. One of these, which did not physically participate in the Global March to Gaza, is Sumud Nusantara, a coordination of Malaysian entities committed to supporting the Palestinian people in the name of the Ummah, which is the community of Muslims worldwide. Among these, MyAqsa Defenders, una realtà di giovani e ONG per la Palestina, e Cinta Gaza Malaysia, una associazione no-profit malese. Si tratta di una sorta di coordinamento del terzo settore malese, che ha ricevuto il sostegno del governo attuale della Malesia. Il primo ministro malese si è infatti pronunciato in favore della missione della Global Sumud Flotilla, e secondo quanto ha confermato Delia a Kritica, contribuirà alla flotta con alcune imbarcazioni (non con una missione ufficiale della sua marina).

La Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), la storica realtà che dal 2008 organizza spedizioni umanitarie via mare verso Gaza, pur comparendo fra le promotrici della Global Sumud Flotilla non è, in realtà, parte dell’iniziativa. In un comunicato emesso poco dopo il lancio della GSF, hanno spiegato: “La FFC è stata fondata nel 2010, in seguito alle riuscite missioni del Free Gaza Movement del 2008 e 2009, con l’obiettivo di sfidare e rompere l’illegale blocco imposto da Israele su Gaza dal 2006/2007. Nel corso degli anni abbiamo organizzato 37 imbarcazioni dirette a Gaza — ultima delle quali la Handala — continuando a sollecitare la comunità internazionale e i governi ad agire. Sosteniamo e siamo solidali con tutte le iniziative autentiche che mirano a porre fine al blocco, al genocidio e all’occupazione, e che chiedono conto a Israele e alla comunità internazionale dei crimini commessi. Peccato solo che non ci sia piena unità di Action: gli organizzatori della Sumud Flotilla hanno scelto di non partecipare alle azioni e alle missioni di Freedom Flotillla, preferendo creare un nuovo progetto autonomo.

Some members and campaigns belonging to our Coalition are participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, but the FFC as a whole is not an organiser of this initiative and is not involved in its planning and operational management.”

Among the participants of the latest Freedom Flotilla missions, who will also set sail on upcoming ships, are Greta Thunberg, Tony La Piccirella (interviewed for us at Kritika by Andrea Umbrello a few weeks ago), and Manuel Thiago Àvila. The experience of Crew The Freedom Flotilla will be important for the Global Sumud expedition – the legal team of Freedom Flotilla Ireland, for example, will follow the fleet – yet, as we see happening endemically in the world of movements and the left, unity of intent or action has not been developed.

A second wave at the end of September

Despite friction, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has decided to take part in the expeditions regardless, pursuing a spirit of autonomous participation, and is preparing what they have dubbed the “second wave” of this summer 2025 civilian maritime mission: an expedition of around a dozen boats which will set sail at the end of September from Italy – certainly from Puglia – and from Tunisia, prepared in cooperation with the network A thousand madleens to Gaza, which was formed before the Global Sumud Flotilla and immediately after the Madleen mission, “following the inspiration of a request by Francesca Albanese who hoped – as many had done at that time – for a thousand Madleens to head to Gaza,” explains the spokesperson for the Italian committee, Laura Cardile, a director and documentary filmmaker, who is an expert in migrant rescue missions at sea, to Kritika. “From our point of view, the siege of Gaza by sea, the arrogance with which Israel blocks civilian mission ships approaching Palestinian waters in a perfectly legal manner, seizing and kidnapping – not arresting as the media tend to say – crews outside of any water law and international law rules, constitute a single entity with what Frontex on the one hand, and the Libyan guard on the other, are doing to migrants, rescue ships and the entire Mediterranean: an occupation of the waters and a brutal cancellation of human rights”. Some NGOs are collaborating on the technical preparation of the late September mission, which, in the tradition of the Freedom Flotilla, also sees a leading role for Ground crew, the land fleets preparing the boats' journey.

Palestinians in the background

La Flotilla rivendica un ancoraggio politico forte, nelle sue missioni, alla realtà del popolo palestinese, raccontata, quanto più possibile, dai palestinesi stessi. Dalla presenza di personalità della politica come l’eurodeputata franco-palestinese Rima Hassan, al ruolo di coordinatore logistico, per Freedom Flotilla Italia, di Shukri Hroub, dell’Unione democratica arabo-palestinese (sigla affiliata al Fronte popolare di liberazione per la Palestina).

According to Delia, the lack of unity between Global Sumud and Freedom Flotilla arose purely for reasons of expediency: the Freedom Flotilla prepares its expeditions with more time, whereas the organisers of Sumud wished to act promptly. This is why they would have organised under an autonomous banner. From the Freedom Flotilla's perspective, however, disagreements over the size and timing of the expedition also have political implications: what is already clearly emerging is the risk of seeing the ship-based missions transform into an impromptu initiative, focused more on the distinctly European and Western need to act while keeping the spotlight on oneself, almost unconsciously and as a result of unacknowledged privilege – like all privileges stemming from a prominent social position – rather than on a surge of internationalist solidarity, in which the Palestinian position remains central, just as the’Agency Palestinian in choosing how to receive aid and support based on the needs of their people.

In the communication campaign for the Global Sumud Flotilla, entrusted to a host of famous Italian and international figures, VIPs of various descriptions, what is particularly perplexing, conversely, is the very absence of Palestinians. It has taken only a few days for a viral marketing logic to take hold around the Global Sumud Flotilla, heavily focused on the well-known faces who have expressed solidarity with the mission, and therefore on the role and humanity of those from this part of the world, with messages primarily conveying a humanitarian urgency, seasoned with elements of grandeur like those we alluded to at the beginning of the article, and with touches of civil disobedience that, rather than calling for a real struggle, surf on the waves of the struggle itself; as in surfing, one gets on a wave to ride it, taking risks, it is dangerous, it requires a certain courage; but it is not calm, indeed. Once back on shore, one remains on shore, in a position of privilege and safety that is not that experienced by Palestinians.

The outcomes of this viral operation reverberated into the speed with which unimaginable sums of money were raised in fundraising activities: considering the various self-funding operations carried out globally and in different countries, the total raised exceeded two million euros. A figure that can reasonably be considered higher than that raised by all Palestinians who, in the last two years, have opened Paypal, GoFundMe, or Chuffed accounts to help them survive. Help which, as explained Gazan architect Arkan al Sayed to Kritica in a recent interview, it's vital for them. They are funds that, despite their value having more than halved due to the black market, represent a vital income to continue feeding themselves.

Facing the figure Monster With approximately two million euros raised for the Global Sumud Flotilla, not to mention the hundreds of tonnes of aid gathered in a few hours during mobilisations of great humanitarian spirit, such as that in Genoa – where dockworkers announced they would be boarding the ship departing on 31 August – the question to ask is not so much whether this money could be better spent, even if only partly, by sending it directly to Gaza, rather than investing it all in the purchase of boats, as has been confirmed will happen; the question is: have Palestinian individuals within the Global Sumud Flotilla been consulted to understand what the primary needs to be met with the money raised for this mission were, and how to address them? This, of course, while also taking into account the obvious need for expense accountability, which is all the more urgent given the considerable sum that has been successfully amassed.

Qui starebbe la differenza fra una missione incentrata sul protagonismo di chi salpa, o una missione di solidarietà internazionalista in cui al centro continua a esserci, piuttosto, il protagonismo di chi resiste sul campo alla mattanza quotidiana che subisce, alla disumanizzazione che subisce, alle umiliazioni costanti che subisce, alla cancellazione della storia, dell’identità, della dignità, della verità che subisce.

If one looks at how the aforementioned Lorenzo Tosa, one of the biggest sponsors of the Global Sumud Flotilla, has been talking about this mission for weeks, it's inevitable to smile at considerations like “it takes courage” to make Instagrammable videos in support of the expedition – if it takes courage for that, here's why struggles and conflicts are so scarce in this country –; but, on the other hand, it's also inevitable to notice that the only Palestinians he speaks of in his hypertrophic output are the dead ones. That there are no active Palestinians in his endless array of portraits and stories; nor are there any Palestinians among the many faces that have produced videos sponsoring the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Voyeurism of the disobedient

This self-centred approach goes hand in hand with one of the main risks of future and recent missions; a risk well identified by Laura Cardile: “In the Western world, we end up producing voyeurism around these missions, entirely focused on the viewer's adrenaline, who excitedly watches a live hijacking,” getting excited as if watching a TV show. During the last mission, Handala's, the presence of a mini-crew from Al Jazeera among the crew meant that the hijacking video was watched by around 20 million people. Undoubtedly a journalistic success, but what does all this tell us about the possibility of turning a political mission into yet another spectacle, complete with protagonists and extras, and an oppressed people barely acting as a backdrop?

Cosa comporta tutto ciò per le nostre coscienze, e cosa per i palestinesi? Hanno davvero bisogno di una missione che, invece che instaurare un conflitto politico reale con un interlocutore reale, attraverso gli strumenti della politica, si limiti a metterlo in scena, a rappresentarlo quando non a scimmiottarlo, come da peggior copione dei movimenti disobbedienti degli anni Novanta e Duemila, persino a costo della sicurezza fisica dei partecipanti?

An encomium of powerlessness vs. the need to act

There is a widespread need to act to try and stop the ongoing genocide, a need that is matched and grows all the more as the complicit inaction of all international institutions worldwide – not just in the West – is recorded. It is a noble need, linked to the desire not to be dehumanised by the normalisation of the ongoing genocide with the active contribution of all major power systems globally. However, the temptation for many is to act haphazardly; to do something, even before thinking carefully about what. It is the temptation born, again, from those who, having the immense privilege of not living an existential oppression like that concerning all Palestinians in Palestine, feel the need for grand gestures, those that solve the problem in a few days and then we return to the way things were. That temptation which Basel Adra explains, so well, to Yuval Abraham in No Other Land. “You're excited as if in ten days you could change things and then leave, go back home.” Which is not possible for a Palestinian.

Here is the difference between those who embark on humanitarian fleets and those who find themselves confronting an occupying army every day, an army that has the support of all the richest and most heavily armed powers on the planet.

It is a difference which, with great humility, we should acknowledge, and always take into account. Even when deciding to establish a humanitarian mission. Even in the tone with which it is communicated and advertised. Even in how it is reasoned, promoted, and supported. But for this to happen, it would be necessary to reappropriate a culture of conflict that appears more difficult than ever to recover. One of the historical founders of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Manuel Tapial, recently sent a highly critical open letter, regarding both the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Global Sumud Flotilla. We report an excerpt: “I know how hard it is to keep this initiative alive. I admire the courage of those who continue to be involved. But I also know that solidarity that is not rooted in real communities, in concrete movements and struggles, eventually loses both its meaning and its impact. It becomes irrelevant, even if the “brand” survives.".

Gaza is not a symbol. It is the site of a genocide and intervening is a duty.

I am writing about the Flotilla, but this letter could easily be extended to the Global March Coalition to Gaza and its uncritical silence towards dissent. I have participated in both projects and have experienced similar dynamics in both: a lack of listening, self-satisfaction, and fragility disguised as strength.

Intere famiglie vengono sterminate. Ospedali, scuole, panetterie ridotti in macerie. Bambini che scavano tra le macerie alla ricerca dei loro fratelli. Questo momento richiede più che semplici dichiarazioni. Più che foto. Richiede strategia. Rischio. Profondità. Impegno collettivo e attenta costruzione del consenso. L’urgenza in Palestina non scomparirà – non è scomparsa in oltre 80 anni – e dobbiamo prenderci cura di coloro che sono coinvolti nelle nostre iniziative per convinzione e sensibilità.

While the flotilla attempts to gain attention at sea, thousands of people are acting on the ground, facing real, harsh, and often irreversible consequences. They are not detained for a few days by the Zionist entity and then released as heroes. They are serving long prison sentences in their own countries. And this trend is worsening as the genocide continues. These people are not Palestinians, but individuals from other nations who have made this cause their own and are putting their lives at risk.”.

Tapial refers to the activists of Palestine Action, a non-violent organisation that practices acts of civil disobedience in support of the Palestinian cause and against genocidal Israeli policies, in the same tradition as historical suffragism and environmentalism. The British government has placed it on the list of terrorist organisations, and supporting it, even verbally, now carries the risk of a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Palestine, understood as a laboratory of dehumanisation, authoritarianism, and racial and supremacist oppression, is where we already live, and where, until now, we have not been able to produce political conflict sufficient to seek to reclaim the share of power necessary to halt both the genocide of Palestinians and the devastating project of a new global authoritarianism which sees the construction of Greater Israel as its vanguard. Instead, we wallow in a sense of painful, but also comfortable, powerlessness. A sense that we do not challenge by trying to rebuild ourselves politically, through the exercise of critical thinking and constructive imagination. This is also for the reason that we continue, in this part of the world, to remain centred on our own point of view, universalising it almost as an automatic reflex, rather than listening to what we are told by those who observe our movements from the outside.

The singer Seun Kuti, the son of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti – cited by Michela Fantozzi in her article for Kritika –, “il 24 giugno scorso dal palco dell’INmusic Festival a Zagabria ha detto: “Ho un consiglio per i giovani europei. So che volete liberare la Palestina. Che volete liberare il Congo. Che volete liberare il Sudan. Che volete liberare l’Iran… Liberate l’Europa. Liberate l’Europa dall’estrema destra, dal fascismo, dal razzismo, dall’imperialismo. Quando avrete fatto questo lavoro, non appena lo avrete compiuto, Gaza sarà libera, il Congo sarà libero, il Sudan sarà libero, l’Iran sarà libero. Dimenticateci. Non preoccupatevi per noi, liberate l’Europa!”.”

To claim the freedom of an international humanitarian mission at sea, which is perfectly legal under international law, is a way to liberate Europe? Yes. Without hesitation, we answer yes. The content of this claim, however, does not convey itself. It will if, rather than the grandeur The mission, as such, will precisely be this claim that will take centre stage during the mission itself. It will do so if it allows itself to be guided by the Palestinians, if it does not apply the unilateral logic of the white saviour, if it tries to question the’internationalism and on internationalist solidarity that does not overlap’Agency whose help goes to those who resist, if it challenges the complicit inaction of all states through real conflict, not just symbolic, as soon as they return to shore, into their daily lives, hoping above all that everyone returns safe and sound.

Fair winds, critical, to the Global Sumud Flotilla and to all upcoming missions for justice and freedom in the Mediterranean Sea.