Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound aid boat and detained Greta Thunbergand other activists who were on board early Monday, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.
The activists had set out to protest Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, both of which have put the territory of some 2 million Palestinians at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage, said the activists were “kidnapped by Israeli forces” while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to the territory.
“The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies — confiscated,” it said in a statement. It said the ship was seized in international waters some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying in a post on X that “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”
Israel’s blockade of Gaza may have been partially lifted – and a new US-backed plan to deliver aid has begun. But there are multiple indications that the plight of Gazans is rapidly worsening.
Restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on aid routes, ongoing airstrikes, a lack of security and the continuous displacement of tens of thousands of people are aggravating an already alarming situation, according to the UN and other aid agencies. The supplies that do get in risk getting looted.
“People in Gaza are starving. This demands the urgent opening of all crossings and allowing unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid at scale, through multiple routes,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest assessment.
One woman, Umm Zuhair, who was trying to get food for her family on Sunday at one of newly established aid distribution sites, told CNN: “We’re so hungry that we’re willing to risk getting shot just for a kilo of flour.”
The number of children in Gaza with acute malnutrition is rising, the UN reported Saturday, while a lack of fuel threatens to close hospitals that are still operating.
As always, go Greta, and go those active for things positive. Matter of fact, go Peter.
Go Greta ??
Here are some of her boatmates:
Omar Faiad, a journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic the pro-Hamas channel that even ventured into Hamas tunnels to glorify the terrorist organization.
Yasemin Acar, a Berlin-based activist who was seen dancing in celebration during Iran’s missile attack.
Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist, who called it a great honor to attend the Hezbollah leader’s funeral, and was moved to tears mourning “the saint” Nasrallah.
Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, who claimed Hamas had a legitimate cause, and falsely stated that Shiri Bibas and her two babies, Ariel and Kfir, were murdered by Israel.
All this while *motoring* a sailboat hundreds of miles with no sails raised (oops) so they could deliver a miniscule amount of food into a war zone while attempting to elude a legal maritime blockade.
Greta should stick to climate change.
So none of the boatmates were violent or have ever committed any and were transporting aid to people who are starving. You may disagree with with their politics but you can’t possibly be for civilians including children dying and people trying to prevent that.
Exactly how is supporting and celebrating anti-Semitic genocidal terrorists committing war crimes by deliberately putting children in the line of fire preventing children from dying? You just excused that by saying her boatmates did not *personally* commit violence. Your moral compass is broken.
You are a liar. I’ve wasted more time on you than you’re worth …
Calling someone a liar without demonstrating a lie or even calling out something unfactual is the signature song of a coward. Don’t be such a prick, TB. Prove me a liar or apologize.
You want to step outside? Fuck you
if you fight like you argue I won’t have to throw a single punch.
Yeah, right, you beat up little girls …
Not buying it, Baker. The deliberate cutting off of food supplies; the use of massive bombs in civilian areas including hospitals, always with the easy but unconvincing excuse that some member(s) of Hamas were somewhere nearby, making up the target while doctors, patients and children are ignored as forgetable collateral damage. There is also a history of violent oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank, as Jewish fanatics insist that all the land belongs to Jews and Jews only, and threaten people who have lived there for centuries, destroying homes and shooting unarmed civilians as they seek to occupy all the land…. Israel has become the oppressor, while it winks at the violence of Israeli extremists. Terrorism is a horrible thing, but there are reasons why it happens– when the weak are oppressed and hopeless, some (especially young men) adopt a nihilistic view of it all and seek revenge. somehow harming those who planted the boot on their backs.
Part 1
Eight years ago, I was completely agnostic about Israel and the Palestinians. Completely ignored it for 60 years. I had no idea where the truth lay, but the question finally intrigued me, so I decided to investigate. Rather quickly, it became apparent that there were two opposing narratives – the Arab/Muslim side and the Israeli side, and they were at complete loggerheads to each other.
The Arab/Muslim side has huge dominance online. Fifty Muslim countries vs one Jewish state. Huge resources based on the sale of fossil-fuels vs the modest resources of a technology-based state. Two billion Muslims (25% of world population) vs 15 million Jews (0.02% of world population). Try Googling the topic – there are 100 entries from the Arab/Muslim side for every one on the Israeli side.
The Arab/Muslim side has huge dominance in political influence at the UN – the Muslim bloc dominates. Even Kofi Annan has admitted the UN has an anti-Israel problem [https://www.perplexity.ai/search/kofi-annan-admits-the-un-is-bi-h2nAVQm0TNScZbmMBq2uhQ]. The Arab/Muslim side has huge dominance in political messaging. Qatar alone (the largest sponsor of world-wide terrorism) owns Al-Jazeera and basically owns BBC Arabic. You may have noticed that even the Republicans are troubled by the political purchasing power of Qatar with regard to the US politicians. Meanwhile, AIPAC is the premiere Jewish political lobby in the US, and they did not even make political campaign contributions until a few years ago. Their annual budget was significantly smaller than the largest lobbying group for Certified Public Accountants. AIPAC ranked 147th among US lobbying groups. Ask yourself if that aligns with your perceptions about “the Jewish Lobby” and where your perceptions come from.
Qatar alone has spent at least 5 billion dollars influencing American universities and Saudi Arabia is close on its heels. And that is only the money that is properly reported. We know that much is not. And that is only the money attributable to the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. There are many dozens of extra-governmental foundations and NGOs set up just for those two countries that have no reporting requirements. Ask yourself why almost no Middle East studies departments at US universities tolerate pro-Israel professors or messaging. Why these departments overwhelmingly align with the BDS movement, even approve of boycotts against Israeli universities and students. Why there is a near complete imbalance of academic coursework that tells the Israeli side. My point is that we are bombarded by one narrative compared to the other, and it takes real work to sort it out. Google and mainstream media are not your friend on this topic.
So, how did I proceed to investigate the issue? My main question was who owns the land? When I started investigating, I thought, naively it turns out, that the issue was about ownership, about legal sovereignty, about borders. So, I went to the source documents.
I read the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine and the Mandate for Mesopotamia, The San Remo Resolutions, the UN Partition Plan of 1947, The six wars Israel has been involved with other countries and the six war campaigns in Gaza. The Oslo Accords, the peace treaties between Egypt and Israel, and Jordan and Israel. I read several competing histories of the events from both sides. I got the minutes from the Palestine Mandate Committee of the League of Nations. I read competing documentations of notorious massacres. I read peer-reviewed articles in International law journals about the International law involved with the creation of new Nation States and their borders, the applicability of the International law precept of uti possidetis juris to Israel. I read about the Law of War, the Geneva and Hague conventions, about the legal definition of “occupation”.
Part 2
I read about all of the peace proposals offered to the Arabs and their reactions to them. I have read the Hamas Charters and that of the PLO. I have read about the historical accuracies and inaccuracies of Benny Morris, Norman Finkelstein, and Ilan Pappe. I have read about Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
I have spent at least 1000 hours researching this topic. I forced myself to read contemporary writings from both sides not found in mass media. And through it all, I found that one narrative survived inspection and the other one did not. And the narrative that survived was not the Arab/Muslim narrative. And your comment illustrates several tropes which are based on the Arab narrative which are inaccurate or unfair.
The deliberate cutting off of food supplies
I’ll say the most seemingly outrageous thing first: Israel is under no obligation whatsoever to provide food to the enemy under International law during war. That they DID allow provisions into Gaza for 18 months is a testament to the ethical character of Israel. And now, they are letting it in again. Has the US or any country in Europe ever done so in war ? No! In fact, the US ran “Operation Starvation” against Japan at the start of WWII.
Israel allowed gigantic amounts of food into Gaza just before they changed their policy. Enough to provide 3000 calories a day (at least twice what is needed) for eight months for every resident. While the NGOs and the UN went mad talking about the starvation of Gazans and the media went mad showing makeshift food distribution centers, people were posting surreptitious photos – under pain of execution, mind you – of bourgeoning food stalls and supermarkets. Here is one from January 2025 at the height of the clamor [https://www.flickr.com/photos/96198796@N05/54507594585/in/album-72157707143215584]
Part 3
At the exact same time the head of the UN was talking about mass starvation in Gaza, and the ICJ was announcing arrest warrants for Netanyahu for deliberate starvation of the Gazan people, the section of the UN tasked with monitoring starvation – the Famine Review Committee – was saying there was NO starvation taking place in Gaza:
[https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/famine-review-committee-review-famine-early-warning-systems-network-fews-net-ipc-compatible-analysis-northern-governorates-gaza-strip-conclusions-and-recommendations-may-2024]
Oddly, the Famine Review Committee can be found at https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/frc/en/); it seems clear that they are not a UN organization. Here’s what their own page has to say about them:
The FRC is an ad hoc specialized committee consisting of a panel of international technical experts in the areas of food security, livelihoods, nutrition and health. The committee is activated by the IPC Global Support Unit (GSU) when there is a need to independently review IPC analysis findings to support quality assurance and technical consensus building in situations when there is a potential or already identified IPC Famine classification or a breakdown in consensus regarding a potential IPC Famine classification. The FRC provides recommendations to the IPC country Technical Working Group (TWG) or analysis team, and the IPC GSU serves as the chair, secretariat and provides coordination support to the FRC.
The FRC was established in 2014 and was originally called the Emergency Review Committee (ERC). Since its inception, the FRC has conducted Famine Reviews in various contexts, including for Ethiopia, the Gaza Strip, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
Here’s what they say about their organization:
The FRC is an ad hoc specialized committee consisting of a panel of international technical experts in the areas of food security, livelihoods, nutrition and health. The committee is activated by the IPC Global Support Unit (GSU) when there is a need to independently review IPC analysis findings to support quality assurance and technical consensus building in situations when there is a potential or already identified IPC Famine classification or a breakdown in consensus regarding a potential IPC Famine classification. The FRC provides recommendations to the IPC country Technical Working Group (TWG) or analysis team, and the IPC GSU serves as the chair, secretariat and provides coordination support to the FRC.
The FRC was established in 2014 and was originally called the Emergency Review Committee (ERC). Since its inception, the FRC has conducted Famine Reviews in various contexts, including for Ethiopia, the Gaza Strip, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
And here’s what they say about Gaza:
“The Gaza Strip is still confronted with a critical risk of Famine amid ongoing conflict, aid blockade
For more, see https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159596/?iso3=PSE
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Seems very dubious — you’re cherry-picking this “oh, they’re just fine” nonsense, and it seems like a very big stretch, given the shootings while people are desperately looking for food (so desperate that shootings haven’t been enough to stop them).