Image Source: ViU News
World – Despite two Israeli drone attacks on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s vessel, The Conscience, early last month, the 12-person crew, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan, has once again set sail.
This time, they are aboard The Madleen, bound for Gaza, where Israel is carrying out starvation and genocide against the Palestinian people.
According to Yasemin Acar, a steering committee member of the coalition, the group is currently in international waters and hopes to reach Gaza within seven days. The Madleen is stocked with essential aid and manned by committed human rights activists aiming to establish a civilian-led humanitarian sea corridor.
The journey comes in the wake of the assault on The Conscience, which was left heavily damaged and stranded after being targeted by Israeli drones in European waters. Despite initial promises from Maltese authorities to assist with repairs, no help was offered.
The crew remained stranded for nearly two weeks, exposed to further danger and without support from Malta or the European Union.
“It’s nearly impossible for repairs, so we are still in the process of figuring all of this out,” Acar said. “It’s been a lot because we were attacked, and there was no accountability. There was no help from the European Union, neither from Malta, even though Malta is complicit in this.”
Determined to continue, the coalition quickly prepared The Madleen and relaunched the mission. Now, a day into the voyage, Acar reported that morale on board was strong.
“I had a quick check with them this morning, how they’re feeling, if they got enough sleep and if they feel rested, and everyone is all smiles. We are very, very happy that this time we actually managed to set sail,” she said.
Prepared for Confrontation, Committed to Peace
Until they reach Gaza, training remains a central part of the mission. Acar explained that the crew takes part in daily non-violence and scenario-based exercises to prepare for possible confrontations with Israeli forces.
The dangers are real—most notably the 2010 flotilla attack, where 10 activists were killed, which reinforces the need for discipline and peaceful resistance.
“We have different scenarios [of] what could happen… and we do that by looking at the past—what happened with our experiences… what can happen during an interception, what can happen during an attack, and how to be safe during these scenarios,” Acar explained.
“We also have a nonviolent training as the name says… we are nonviolent direct action. All we want to do is bring the much-needed aid to the Palestinians in Gaza and open up a people’s humanitarian sea corridor… but during an interception, most likely there’s a lot of violence from the [Israeli] forces towards us, which was always the case.”
Throughout the voyage, the crew remains in contact with legal teams, partner organisations, and international observers monitoring the journey. Their real-time location is publicly available via a tracker on the coalition’s website, offering transparency and visibility that could help prevent further attacks.
Still, the risks are ever-present. “We try our best to be as safe as possible,” Acar said, “but since Israel has crossed every line and since Israel is enjoying all this impunity… because of its allies, we could assume and expect anything.”
The Most Dangerous Stretch
As The Madleen nears Gaza, the crew will begin preparing for the offloading process. With Gaza’s port infrastructure destroyed, aid will be transferred from the main ship to smaller dinghy boats capable of reaching the shore.
This final stretch is considered the most perilous, as the risk of interception by Israeli forces is the highest. If the aid reaches its destination safely, the team will coordinate local distribution and issue a global call for others to follow their lead.
“Once we are there, we will make a call out to the world, everyone who has a boat, everyone who has a vessel, anything… anything that they can reach Gaza with, we will ask them to come and bring humanitarian aid,” Acar said.
“Our plan is to, as we did in 2008… go back with the same vessel, fill it up, and come back. That’s what a corridor is there for, to go and come back, and basically go back and forth and provide the much-needed aid.”
This is not a symbolic mission. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition envisions a sustained effort, repeated sailings, global participation, and continued pressure to break the siege and deliver hope to Gaza’s civilians.
