Freedom Flotilla to sail again with new mission
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Weeks after Israeli forces abducted the Madleen’s crew in international waters, the Freedom Flotilla is ready to launch its next mission, the Handala.
Only weeks after the crew of the boat Madleen was intercepted and abducted in international waters by Israeli occupation forces, the Freedom Flotilla coalition is preparing to set sail again. The Handala, carrying essential supplies including food and medicines, will begin its voyage from Italy on July 13, with 18 crew members on board, including trade unionists and parliamentarians such as US labor organizer Christian Smalls, French MEP Emma Fourreau, and MP Gabrielle Cathala.
Breaking the siege for Gaza’s children
Michele Borgia, spokesperson for Freedom Flotilla Italy, told Peoples Dispatch that beyond the Flotilla’s consistent message of solidarity with the Palestinian people under siege, this mission has an additional focus: the children of Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian children, including babies, have been killed in Israel’s ongoing attacks, Borgia warned. The ship’s cargo includes baby formula. The name of the ship, Handala, is a reference to the cartoon character who turns his back on the world in protest until Palestine is free.
Since Israel broke the ceasefire in March and imposed a blockade on all humanitarian aid to Gaza, children have starved as formula and food remain out of reach, Borgia continues. “There are also many reports of children and parents being targeted while waiting in line for aid, specifically baby formula.”
Read more: The unbelievable stories about the children of Gaza
When announcing the mission, Freedom Flotilla wrote: “The children of Gaza – who make up over half the population – have been living under a brutal blockade and siege for their entire lives. Since October 2023, over 50,000 have been killed or injured, tens of thousands orphaned, and nearly a million forcibly displaced and homeless. All now face famine, disease, and trauma few of us can imagine. This mission is for them.”
The specific link to Gaza’s children has also prompted a call to action for southern Italy. Puglia was the first in the country to officially support severing ties with Israel, Borgia points out. Now, children from Puglia have been invited to send drawings to children in Gaza. These will be carried aboard the Handala as an additional message of solidarity.
Handala’s political message
Borgia says that the supplies on board the Flotilla’s ships are far from enough to meet the needs of the people in Gaza after months of blockade. “Critics, including Israel, never miss the chance to point out that we’re carrying so little, asking what good it can do,” he said. “But they fail to mention that, for example, last year, when we organized the delivery of thousands of tons of essential supplies, those shipments were blocked too.”
The mission of the Handala, like that of the Madleen and earlier voyages, goes beyond delivering material aid, he adds – it is, in many ways, a political statement. “For years, Israel has undermined Palestinians’ ability to fish or farm,” Borgia said. “This has forced Palestinians in Gaza into complete dependency on aid, with devastating consequences for their sense of dignity and self-sufficiency.”
In this context, as governments remain silent in the face of Israel’s genocide, ongoing occupation and other crimes, Freedom Flotilla aims to break the silence. “Where governments fail, we, the people, are there to act,” Borgia emphasized.
Read more: British parliament votes to ban Palestine Action despite public outcry
Freedom Flotilla Italy has taken an important role in organizing the Handala’s departure, coordinating aspects of technical and logistical preparations. The chapter draws links to Palestine solidarity mobilizations in the early 2000s, including the work of journalist and activist Vittorio Arrigoni, who joined a mission that successfully reached Gaza. “Ever since then, Israel has cracked down on similar missions,” Borgia noted, referencing the violent obstruction of recent sailings, including the Madleen.
Many of the Freedom Flotilla’s crew members are still from Europe and North America. “Israel tends to hesitate a bit more before attacking international activists,” Borgia said. But as the world witnessed with the Madleen, even that doesn’t stop them from kidnapping crews from international waters and subjecting them to abuse. Meanwhile, governments from which the activists originate largely remain silent, including Italy, Borgia says. “Our ministers shake hands with ICC suspect Benjamin Netanyahu, but they say nothing about Palestine.”
Trade unionists on board
He also pointed out that Italian companies like defense giant Leonardo continue arms exports to Israel, despite constitutional prohibitions to do so. Others taking part in the mission have echoed similar critiques. US union leader Christian Smalls announced his participation in the Handala mission together with an appeal for an end to US support for Israel. “It’s not just the government,” he wrote. “Our own US labor union organizations that are supposed to fight for justice are complicit.”
In his statement, Smalls denounced the silence of some major US unions on the genocide in Gaza and urged them to listen to their members. “The killing of innocent people does not go beyond the scope of labor,” Smalls said on social media. “I am calling on US labor to take a stand: shut down all arms shipments to Israel, pass ceasefire resolutions immediately, and get on the right side of history. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silent.”
Read more: Workers in Europe refuse cargo to Israel: “Our solidarity is with the oppressed, not with war criminals”
Across Europe, trade unions are increasingly endorsing pro-Palestinian resolutions under pressure from their rank and file. In many ways, this mirrors the experience of the Freedom Flotilla that Borgia describes: strong grassroots support and growing engagement from communities, met with indifference or hostility from the political class. “But that hasn’t stopped us,” he said. “Many of our core organizers are Palestinian, and when we talk to people in Palestine, they always urge us to keep speaking out.”
As the Handala prepares to set sail, its crew is determined to keep the focus on Gaza. And more ships are being prepared to do the same
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Palestine urges international action to deter illegal settler crimes in West Bank
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday called for international intervention to stop illegal Israeli settler crimes in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.
The call came after two young Palestinian men were killed during an attack by illegal settlers on the town of Sinjil in northern Ramallah on Friday evening.
One of the victims, 23-year-old Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Muslat, held US citizenship and was beaten to death by illegal settlers. The other, 23-year-old Mohammed al-Shalabi, died after being shot in the chest. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed both killings.
The ministry urged the international community to “end double standards” in addressing the suffering of Palestinians and to take “necessary measures to implement international legitimacy resolutions and halt terrorist settler militia crimes in the West Bank.”
It also highlighted illegal settlers’ burning of Palestinian homes and injuring dozens during the Friday attack describing illegal settler crimes as “organized state terrorism aligned with official Israeli policy aimed at expanding colonial plans by supporting and protecting settler militants.”
The ministry stressed the urgent need to “hold illegal settler organizations accountable, prosecute them, and impose immediate sanctions on those who support and protect them politically and militarily.”
According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, the number of illegal settlers in the West Bank reached around 770,000 by the end of 2024, spread across 180 illegal settlements and 256 illegal outposts, including 138 designated as agricultural or grazing outposts.
The commission also recorded 2,153 illegal settler attacks in the first half of the year alone, resulting in the killing of four Palestinians.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, at least 998 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
READ: Palestine warns of escalating raids by Israeli settlers on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
Thousands of Israelis protest in Tel Aviv to demand prisoner swap deal
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand a prisoner exchange agreement with Palestinians, Anadolu reports.
“No victory without return of hostages,” and “There are 50 kidnapped families in Gaza,” read banners waved by protesters, Israeli Channel 13 reported.
The protest came amid reports of a deadlock in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas delegations in Qatar.
“The negotiations have not collapsed, and the Israeli delegation continues talks in Doha despite Hamas intransigence,” the channel said, citing an unnamed political official.
A forum representing families of Israeli captives in Gaza called on the government to end the ongoing war on the Palestinian enclave.
“Missing the current momentum would be a serious failure; every day the war continues is an achievement for Hamas and a serious risk for our hostages and soldiers,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
READ: Israel plans to build nearly 2,400 more settlement units in occupied West Bank
“All the polls and data show that an absolute majority of the nation of Israel wants an end to the war in Gaza and the return of hostages, and agrees that it is in Israel’s interest, including a decisive majority among coalition voters,” added the statement.
The families addressed a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “History will remember what you chose: the hostages and fighters, or cheap political maneuvers.”
Hamas said Wednesday it has agreed to release 10 live Israeli captives as a sign of “flexibility” to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement, while Israel remains rigid on key points, including withdrawal from Gaza.
In contrast, Israel insists on a buffer zone 2 to 3 kilometers wide in the Rafah area, and 1 to 2 kilometers in other border areas.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing nearly 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
READ: Gaza war strategy to ‘crush’ Israeli soldiers as ultra-Orthodox Jews exempted: Reservist
‘Unforgivable’: FEMA Missed Thousands of Calls from Texas Flood Victims After Noem Fired Contractors
Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“They are intentionally breaking government—even the parts that help us when we are deep in crisis,” said Sen. Chris Murphy.
Outrage continues to grow against U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over her response to the deadly floods that ravaged Texas last week.
According to a Friday report from The New York Times, more than two-thirds of phone calls to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from flood victims went unanswered after Noem allowed hundreds of contractors to be laid off on July 5, just a day after the nightmare storm.
According to The Times, this dramatically hampered the ability of the agency to respond to calls from survivors in the following days:
On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls.
That evening, however, Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies, and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.
The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents show.
Calling is one of the primary ways that flood victims apply for aid from the disaster relief agency. But Noem would wait until July 10—five days later—to renew the contracts of the people who took those phone calls.
“Responding to less than half of the inquiries is pretty horrific,” Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told The Times.
“Put yourself in the shoes of a survivor: You’ve lost everything, you’re trying to find out what’s insured and what’s not, and you’re navigating multiple aid programs,” he added. “One of the most important services in disaster recovery is being able to call someone and walk through these processes and paperwork.”
The lapse is a direct result of a policy introduced by Noem last month, which required any payments made by FEMA above $100,000 to be directly approved by her before taking effect. Noem, who has said she wants to eliminate FEMA entirely, described it as a way of limiting “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Under this policy, Noem allowed other critical parts of the flood response to wait for days as well. Earlier this week, multiple officials within FEMA told CNN that she waited more than 72 hours to authorize the deployment of search and rescue teams and aerial imaging.
Following The Times’ piece, DHS put out a statement claiming that “NO ONE was left without assistance, and every call was responded to urgently.”
“When a natural disaster strikes, phone calls surge, and wait times can subsequently increase,” DHS said. “Despite this expected influx, FEMA’s disaster call center responded to every caller swiftly and efficiently, ensuring no one was left without assistance. No call center operators were laid off or fired.”
This is undercut, however, by internal emails also obtained by The Times, which showed FEMA officials becoming frustrated and blaming the DHS Secretary for the lack of contracts. One official wrote in a July 8 email to colleagues: “We still do not have a decision, waiver, or signature from the DHS Secretary.”
Democratic lawmakers were already calling for investigations into Noem’s response to the floods before Friday. They also sought to look into how the Trump administration’s mass firings of FEMA employees, as well as employees of the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may have hampered the response.
Following The Times’ revelations, outrage has reached a greater fever pitch.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called it “unforgivable and unforgettable” and an “inexcusable lapse in top leadership.”
“Sec. Noem shows that dismantling FEMA impacts real people in real time,” he said. “It hurts countless survivors & increases recovery costs.”
In response to the news, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) simply wrote that “Kristi Noem must resign now.”
Others pointed out that Noem has often sought to justify abolishing FEMA by characterizing it as slow and ineffectual. They suggested her dithering response was deliberate.
“She broke it on purpose,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) in an interview on MSNBC. “So that when it fails this summer, she can say, ‘Oh, see, we told you—FEMA doesn’t work.'”
“It’s not really incompetence because they know what they are doing,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “They are intentionally breaking government—even the parts that help us when we are deep in crisis.”
Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
