Contributed by Joe Montero

The 49-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla heading for Gaza has been intercepted by the Israeli navy, between 70 and 80 nautical miles from their destination. The boats have been boarded. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a video showing Flotilla participants being ordered to change course away from Gaza, and head toward Israel’s Ashdod Port, where they would be under arrest. This came after a previous Israeli drone attack, which thankfully failed to kill, injure or create serious damage.

Flotilla participants reacted by calling the blockade and boarding an illegal act and insisted that they will not go quietly.

One of the ships that joined the Flotilla

Several nations provided a battleship escort for part of the way, and by doing so, may have prevented a more violent offensive by Israel. This protection has now gone.

Israel insists that the Flotilla is the work of organisations with links to Hamas.  No proof to back ridiculous this allegation has ever been produced. Flotilla participants vehemently deny the accusation.

The ships are carrying a little of much needed food and medical supplies. Although Israel has offered to deliver them, no one really expects that they will ever reach the intended destination.

Two and a half Gazan’s and Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in Israel are watching. Their spirits are lifted by this show of support, and their resolve strengthened. This cannot be taken away with guns and threats. Arresting the flotilla participants will not reverse what they have already achieved. There will be more flotillas inspired by this one.

Intimidation has turned the world’s eyes to Gaza once more, when it was supposed to do the opposite.

Photo by Stefanos Rapanis/Reuters: Greta Thunberg and friends on the flotilla headed for Gaza

Israel’s sensitivity to scrutiny and eyewitness accounts to what is being done in Gaza has nothing to do with Hamas, and a lot to do with hiding its holocaust and the reality of Israel’s global isolation. The slaughter has isolated the Zionist state, build a moment in support of Palestinian rights on a scale that could not have been imagined. This, along with the courage of resistance in Gaza and other occupied territories, have left Israel weakened. This produces more extreme reactions.

A state founded on the theft of the land of another people is bound to eventually get into trouble and the hands of ongoing resistance and efforts to win the land back. Israel’s decades of brutality is how the contradiction between building a race-based vision at the expense of another people and the will of this people to win their freedom is being played out.

Another side of this reality is that Israel maintains its existence as proxy for United States interests. It provides a gateway into a geopolitically strategic region and oil for the expansionist ambitions of the American ruling class. This is the foundation of the synergy between Israel and Washington.

The Flotilla to Gaza is serving an important purpose. It helps to expose Israel’s crimes. It plays an important part in building support or the Palestinian cause for sovereignty and a land where Palestinians, Jews, and others can live in harmony. This is what the Resistance wants.

Global support for the Flotilla in this hour of need is essential. The brave individuals participating in it are at risk and need the world to protect them.