A new pro-Palestinian flotilla was set to embark from Barcelona on Sunday to challenge the blockade of Gaza, according to the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), but stormy weather is expected to limit the activist armada from entering international waters.
GSF and Freedom Flotilla Coalition Steering Committee member Thiago Avila said at a Sunday morning press conference that the 39 vessels departing from Moll de la Fusta Port on Sunday would not be setting sail directly for Gaza because of the Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (DANA) weather conditions, and would travel instead to another port.
"Due to weather conditions, our mission will sail from this port today, but will not be sailing to international waters today because we cannot make this journey safely today," said the Brazilian activist.
Other vessels were set to join the Barcelona contingent, said Avila, with the flotilla ranks expected to swell to at least 70 ships and over a thousand participants. The committee member said that this was the largest Gaza flotilla yet, eclipsing the almost 40 ships and 429 activists involved in the October fleet.
Steering Committee members and a GSF press release said that the objective was to bring aid and medical supplies to Gaza, and to advocate for the ending of the IDF blockade of the Strip, which had been erected in 2007 in response to Hamas's rise to power.
GSF Steering Committee member Saif Abukeshek justified the launching of another flotilla during a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, arguing that the ceasefire did not exist in practice. Abukeshek charged Israel with violating the ceasefire multiple times and expanding the Yellow Line marking Israeli territorial control in Gaza.
"We sail because it is our duty. It is our moral and ethical responsibility to act. Not because we don't have a choice, not because there are no alternatives, but because every action counts, whether on land or on sea," said Abukeshek.
A land convoy is also reportedly planned to travel through North Africa to the Egyptian border with Gaza, and strikes and encampments were being organized as flotilla leaders explained that they were adapting to circumstances that set this "mission" apart from the other blockade run attempts.
The side events and campaigns were being advanced in cooperation with other organizations. Partnerships were highlighted at the Sunday press briefing, most notably the involvement of Greenpeace Spain, which is contributing its ship Arctic Sunrise. In a Monday press release, the Greenpeace branch said that the vessel was one of the movement's "iconic" ships.
Greenpeace Spain providing technical, operational support to flotilla
Greenpeace Spain will provide technical and operational support to the flotilla, from the Arctic Sunrise, said chapter director Eva Saldaña Buenache. Greenpeace said in a press release that it would be involved in the flotilla because of the organization's commitment to peace activism beyond its original mission of environmental activism.
Alongside Monday's official statement alleging that the Israeli military had engaged in genocide and "illegal occupation," Buenache on Sunday accused the IDF of "ecocide" by means of targeting farmland and contaminating the sea with waste.
"From the Arctic to the Mediterranean, Greenpeace ships have always been tools for justice, and today that justice provides support to those who are breaking the siege on Gaza," Buenache said at the press conference. "If you call yourself a climate activist, if you care about the future of the earth, you cannot ignore Palestine."
Other accusations leveled by Steering Committee members included Sümeyra Akdeniz Ordu and Saif Abukeshek's allegations that Palestinians were "evaporated" by Israeli weapons. Ordu said that "thousands" of Gazans had been "evaporated" by experimental Israeli weapons, leaving no bodies to bury.
Ordu and Proactiva Open Arms director Oscar Camps compared the Israel-Hamas War to the Holocaust, the comparisons coming ahead of Israel's commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday night.
Steering Committee member Susan Abdallah said that GSF and its partners would work together to end a supposed genocide in Gaza.
"We have been demonstrating for three years against everything that's been happening in Gaza," said Abdallah. "We show Gaza that we do care, that we are not going to stay silent."
The press conference was preceded by a launch event with DJs and musical performances. Other speeches and other presentations were held in Barcelona on Saturday, with participants tying the situation in Gaza to the US and Israeli campaign against the Islamic Regime in Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah.
While Greenpeace Spain was participating, fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg had not made a statement about involvement with the newest flotilla. Thunberg had been arrested with the hundreds of other activists who had participated in the October flotilla that had been intercepted by the Israeli military. Thunberg had been quietly removed from the Steering Committee in September.
The October flotilla, which had also embarked from Barcelona in August, had faced technical and organizational issues that stalled its journey. Participants had also claimed that they had been monitored and attacked by drones throughout their travels.
The IDF did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the new flotilla.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.