Three Palestine solidarity activists who are joining the Global Sumud Flotilla — Zack Schofield, Ethan Floyd and Jayden Kitchener-Waters — told a media conference in Gadigal Country/Sydney on April 8 that they were proud to join an international mission to break the illegal blockade to bring aid to Gaza.
They were joined by author Clementine Ford, NSW Greens Senator David Shoebridge, NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson, Sheikh Wesam Charkawi and Michelle Berkon, from Jews Against the Occupation ’48 (JAO48).
They highlighted the importance of this urgent mission to deliver critical humanitarian aid to Gaza and break Israel’s blockade.
Schofield, an organiser with climate activist group Rising Tide, said: “The aid we will be carrying is a combination of food, medicine, skilled medical practitioners, legal observers and construction workers … We believe that we have the best chance yet of any flotilla that has attempted to reach Gazan shores.”
The flotilla will be the biggest so far, with about 1000 vessels and thousands of international participants. Schofield said it would depart from Italy around April 20 and take two weeks to reach Gaza.
Asked about his own concerns for his safety, Schofield said: “I’m more scared of a world in which people think humanity is a lost cause. As the hours come closer to leaving I become more scared, but that’s never been a reason not to do the right thing.”
Kitchener-Waters, a Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa singer-songwriter, said he is joining the flotilla because the babies in Gaza are “dying of hypothermia, dying of hunger and who don’t have their basic needs met because of Israel”. He said First Nations culture believes “all babies are sacred; we believe we have a responsibility to look after them.
“That is the simple but strong reason why I am joining the flotilla and going to Gaza.”
Floyd, a Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa and Wailwan man and University of Sydney activist, said he was joining because “students have always stood on the frontlines of social movements”.
“This is a visible, public action to break Israel’s illegal naval blockade on Gaza which continues to deny Palestinian’s much-needed aid.”
Floyd said that while participants were taking some risks, they will likely receive the “five-star version” compared with the treatment metered out to Palestinians in Israeli jails and living under occupation.
Charkawi said the flotilla was important because it refuses to normalise genocide. “We are seeing our own federal government not only supporting, but also endorsing this genocide. When Australia invited [Israeli President] Isaac Herzog to this country we saw civilians rise up and say ‘We are not going to accept this’.”
He said the flotilla is necessary because governments around the world had failed to act.
Berkon said she is proud that Anny Mokotow, a member of JAO48, is participating. “Jews have a rightful place in breaking the siege on Gaza,” she said. “Zionism is not Judaism, anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, and the state of Israel is a colonial project which has always been vile and vicious from its very inception.”
Ford had planned to join the flotilla, but decided against because of uncertainty about being able to return given the war in Iran and family responsibilities. She is organising a solidarity walk from Naarm/Melbourne to Canberra instead to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Shoebridge said 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are “shivering in tents, grieving the deaths of their loved ones, the destruction of their community, many starving and in desperate need of medical aid”.
He said the flotilla would deliver hope to people in Palestine. “There is an obscene ongoing genocide happening in Gaza … it happened because of the conscious decision of the Israeli state, supported by the United States and countries like Australia.
“These three are putting themselves on the line and face potential severe recriminations, violence, abuse and imprisonment from the Israeli authorities to bring that message of hope.”
He contrasted participants’ courage with the Australian Labor government’s cowardice, saying surely the government can see that the world has changed.
“It’s time we stopped pretending the world is as Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong want it to be … and to realise that the United States and its partners in Israel are forces of chaos and violence in this world.
“We need to chart a different path, end our cooperation with the US military, close Pine Gap and other US bases and end AUKUS.”
Higginson said Labor must ensure the safe passage of the flotilla and do whatever it can do to ensure the participants are safe.