Middle East Monitor
7h ·
Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, is set to join the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, saying his participation is a continuation of his “family legacy.”
“Our mission is simple: we are bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza to end the 18-year blockade and the siege on Gaza,” Mandla told Al Jazeera.
ALL THE BEST TO THESE MOST COURAGEOUS PEOPLE! may they SUCCEED IN THEIR MISSION! all PUBLICITY is GOOD PUBLICITY!!
Petition For Peace - Send UN Peacekeepers To Palestine
8h ·
Italian NGO Emergency is preparing to send its giant search and rescue ship Life Support to join the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Emergency is the largest humanitarian organisation to publicly support the flotilla. Established in 1994, it is a consultant to the United Nations and a partner in providing humanitarian and disaster response on behalf of the European Union. It has provided medical support to more than 12 million people in 20 countries.
Life Support will observe the mission and provide medical and logistical support to the participating vessels, Emergency said on social media.
The ship is currently moored in the Sicilian port of Catania and is expected to set sail with other boats to join the flotilla in a few days time.
Life Support - which at 53 metres long is more than twice the size of the flotilla’s lead boat, the Family - is usually deployed to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean sea. It’s completed 36 missions since December 2022 and saved more than 3,000 people.
Novara Media’s @kieran.andrieu is currently on board the Family, with organisers Greta Thunberg and Thiago Ávila. He says that several boats are due to leave Menorca today, having waited there overnight to regroup and check for damage following a storm that forced some of the smallest civilian vessels to turn back to Barcelona.
The remaining boats are expected to arrive in Tunis later this week, where dozens more vessels are waiting to join them. From Tunis they will sail to meet boats from Italy and Greece, including Life Support.
Emergency said in a statement:
“What has been happening in the Gaza Strip for almost two years is unacceptable. Emergency’s staff, who work in two health clinics in Khan Younis, report an extremely grave situation, never seen before.
“The boats participating in Global Sumud Flotilla are not only carrying humanitarian aid, but an unmistakable message: when a government blocks humanitarian aid, committing a war crime, people have the right and duty to take non-violent direct action.
“For this reason, Emergency’s ship Life Support will set sail alongside the Global Sumud Flotilla, a non-violent maritime mission.