Sailing Against the Tide
In September 2024 I was criticised for writing the following sentence: “We have a black mirror in history with Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto and a dreadful symmetry between Arendt’s Banality of Evil and the depravity of the Two Nice Jewish Boys podcast.” [The Most Documented Genocide in History]. The idea of comparing the situation in Gaza with the Warsaw Ghetto was too horrible for some to contemplate. Eight months on and Gabor Mate, himself a survivor of the Holocaust sends a message of solidarity to the Madleen Freedom Flotilla in which he too makes that grim comparison:
.@DrGaborMate sends a message of solidarity to the Madleen Freedom Flotilla: pic.twitter.com/U1wrdPHIkY
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) June 8, 2025
In such dark times, and in such times of such catastrophic failure of leadership, it’s amazing that a small group of relatively young people should stand up and be counted.
In normal circumstances, such actions would be discounted as ‘performative’ by people who themselves would do nothing, but such accusations are absent this time, as we know, given the murderous nature of the IDF that this is an act of real bravery.
The ‘Madleen’ is a peaceful civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters with humanitarian aid. On May 15 the Freedom Flotilla Coalition put out a message saying: “Meet ‘Madleen’, named after a Palestinian fisher: a symbol of resistance and resilience. This month, she will sail to Gaza, carrying a cargo of hope and humanitarian aid.”
We know – and they know – that they’ll likely be attacked. They know this because this has already happened. In a press release last month (‘Freedom Flotilla Refuses Silence After Attack: ‘Madleen’ Will Sail for Gaza’) they said:
“Last week, Israeli drones attacked our civilian aid ship, the Conscience, in international waters. The bombing was a deliberate act of aggression and intimidation amid Israel’s 75-day total siege of Gaza: four crew members were injured, the ship was set ablaze, communications were severed, and the vessel was left adrift and taking on water. The attack occurred in European waters, in violation of international law, where it remains stranded. So far, this has been minimised by media and governments world wide.
“We live in a time where ships carrying the most advanced weaponry in the world pass freely, and ships carrying urgent humanitarian aid to a starving population burn. Israel is willing to bomb humanitarian ships to maintain its policy of starving the Palestinian people as a method of warfare.” – Dr Shahd Hammouri, University of Kent (May 2)
This attack is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader campaign targeting those who challenge Israel’s illegal blockade and systematic denial of food, medical supplies, clean water, and their fundamental right to freedom of movement.”
The failures the Madleen crew talk about are political but also a failure of the western media. Here Al Jazeera talk to Chris Guinness, the former chief spokesman for UNWRA, who said:
“The Israeli American aid operation has turned Gaza into a human abattoir, where starving civilians are herded like animals into fenced off pens and in the process are slaughtered like cattle. This is akin to some of the darkest periods of human history, where industrial death factories have been used against innocent women and children who were led like lambs to the slaughter”.
“Gaza has been transformed into an industrial scale slaughterhouse” pic.twitter.com/xbkQkjXNhc
— Melanie Schweizer 🇩🇪 (@Melaniebelizi) April 18, 2025
The Madleen crew are sailing towards such barbarism. We can do something to help to protect them. She is a UK flagged ship so we must put pressure on the British government to protect her.
Email: [email protected] – edit the following text for better impact:
I’m writing in regard to the UK-flagged vessel, the Madleen, which is currently off the coast of Egypt and heading towards the Gaza to deliver vital emergency aid. The Israeli state has threatened to stop the vessel, using force if necessary.
As a UK-flagged ship, the British state must act now to protect those on board.
Sincerely, [name]
