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Franciszek Sterczewski speaks at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, on September 8, 2025, following the arrival of Polish activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla deported from Israel. [Photo by Marek Antoni Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
Four Polish activists detained by Israel after a Gaza-bound aid flotilla was raided last week returned to Warsaw on Wednesday, accusing Israeli forces of brutality and rebuking Poland’s foreign minister for downplaying the assault, Anadolu reports.
The delegation, arriving on a flight from Athens, included ruling Civic Platform (PO) lawmaker Franciszek Sterczewski, activists Omar Faris and Nina Ptak, and journalist Ewa Jasiewicz. Faris, Ptak, and Sterczewski were deported to Greece on Monday, while Jasiewicz had left Israel earlier.
Sterczewski sharply criticized both Israel and Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.
“Why, at a time when we were doing everything we could to end this genocide and draw the world’s attention to what was happening there, did Minister Sikorski downplay the situation?” Sterczewski said, adding that he had learned firsthand that “Israel is a barbaric and terrorist state, just like, for example, Russia.”
“We expect that if Sikorski can accuse Putin of his war crimes, we expect him to be consistent and accuse Benjamin Netanyahu of the same crimes, or even worse,” he added.
Sterczewski said the five days he spent in Israeli detention were marked by mistreatment. “It wasn’t pleasant. We weren’t allowed to sleep. Guards shone flashlights in our eyes for hours and played music from Israeli propaganda films. We were set on by dogs. We were spat on. We were threatened with weapons,” he said.
The MP added that around 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 400 children, remain in Israeli detention. “We point out that they are treated even worse there. They are often murdered, and all human rights are violated,” he said.
The four Poles were among 470 activists from 47 countries participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a humanitarian convoy attacked in international waters by the Israeli navy last week. Forty-two ships were seized during the overnight raid from Wednesday to Thursday.
At Warsaw Airport, Faris told reporters: “We must all stand together against the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.”
“They treated us absolutely brutally. For several hours, I’m 73 years old, they tied my hands behind my back and put me on rocks,” Faris said.
He added that during interrogation in an Israeli prison, the activists were questioned about possible links to Hamas. “Our problem is the occupation, which began 42 years before the founding of Hamas,” he said. “You won’t be able to kill us. And we don’t want to kill you either. We want a solution like in South Africa — a democratic state for all, regardless of religion.”
The Madleen before departure. Source: Tan Safi/Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Global Sumud Flotilla aims to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians.
In July 2025, a new international maritime initiative was launched: the Global Sumud Flotilla. It was formed by four major coalitions: the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Maghreb Sumud Convoy, and the Southeast Asian Nusantara Sumud Initiative. The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to depart on August 31, 2025. Its goal is clear: to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians.
The flotilla is composed of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, parliamentarians, doctors, and trade unionists, alongside humanitarian cargo. More than 39 national delegations have pledged participation, making this the largest people-led maritime effort in solidarity with Gaza since the 2010 “Mavi Marmara”.
Behind every flotilla passenger lies a story of conviction. Greek trade unionists brought banners pledging workers’ solidarity with Palestine. Doctors from Spain and Italy carried vital medicines banned from entering Gaza. Parliamentarians from South Africa and Norway insisted that breaking the siege is a moral and political duty.
This is not the first flotilla of its kind this year. The “Handala” and “Madleen”, two of the Freedom Flotilla’s flagship vessels, also set sail in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. However, they were attacked by drones and stormed by Israeli forces. Passengers were beaten, kidnapped, and deported. Phones were confiscated, activists were interrogated, and many went on hunger strike to protest their detention. The attack was not just on the Freedom Flotilla; it was an attack on the principle of global solidarity itself.
The Global Sumud Flotilla insists that its mission is entirely lawful under international maritime law. Civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid in international waters are protected under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Israel’s interception of the “Handala” and “Madleen” constitutes nothing less than piracy and a war crime.
The flotilla’s organizers remind the world that Israel has maintained a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007. As they prepared for upcoming missions, flotilla spokespeople declared:
“Our boats carry more than aid. They carry a message: the siege must end. The greater danger lies not in confronting Israel at sea, but in allowing genocide to continue with impunity.”
Criminalizing solidarity, violating international law
In recent months, Israel has escalated its campaign to silence international solidarity with Palestine by targeting civilian flotillas attempting to break the Gaza blockade. These ships, carrying activists, aid, and a message of defiance against siege, have become symbols of global resistance. Instead of engaging through diplomacy or respecting humanitarian principles, Israel has resorted to force on the high seas, treating peaceful civilian missions as military threats.
The assaults on the “Handala” and “Madleen” are more than acts of piracy, they are grave breaches of international law. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters. By seizing vessels outside its territorial jurisdiction, Israel has acted as a rogue state.
International legal experts have consistently affirmed that the blockade of Gaza since 2007 constitutes collective punishment, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention. The International Criminal Court has received multiple submissions documenting Israel’s starvation siege, now exacerbated by open genocide. Yet governments that loudly invoke “rules-based order” remain silent when Palestinians, and their supporters, are the victims.
Instead of protecting citizens, western governments have facilitated Israel’s repression. Passengers aboard the flotillas were stripped of their phones, interrogated, and some were denied re-entry into the Schengen zone. Western states’ silence amounts to complicity.
Some detainees launched hunger strikes in Israeli prisons to protest their abduction. Others returned home to smear campaigns. Western right-wing media accused activists of “provocation” or of “endangering security”. Once-beloved Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who joined the “Madleen” flotilla, received attacks from mainstream media, on social media, and from influential political figures. Such tactics aim to delegitimize solidarity and sow fear among those who dare to act.
But these campaigns have failed to extinguish the moral clarity of the movement. From dockworkers in Barcelona refusing to load arms to Israel, to students occupying universities in the US and Britain, the flotilla has become a symbol: solidarity cannot be blockaded.
The human face of global resistance
The Global Sumud Flotilla represents a convergence of struggles across continents:
The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine mobilized thousands of activists worldwide.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, with roots going back to 2010, brings long experience of organizing maritime resistance.
The Maghreb Sumud Convoy, launched in June 2025, gathered over 1,000 participants from across North Africa under the banner of “coordinated action for Palestine”.
The Nusantara Sumud Initiative, launched from Malaysia and eight other Southeast Asian countries, embodies South–South solidarity inspired by Palestinian steadfastness.
Together, these four networks transformed the flotilla from a handful of ships into a people-powered humanitarian corridor. The first official mission is scheduled for August 31, 2025, from Spain, followed by a second launch from Tunisia on September 4, with more than 50 ships expected to participate.
At a press conference in Tunis, organizers emphasized that the flotilla is not merely logistical, it is symbolic:
“This will not only be a fleet. It will be a reminder that the world is watching, that Gaza is not alone, and that peoples will not remain silent.”
The Freedom Flotilla is part of a long lineage of resistance at sea. The 2010 assault on the “Mavi Marmara”, in which Israeli forces killed ten activists, shocked the world. But instead of stopping solidarity, it multiplied it.
The Global Sumud Flotilla marks a new stage. By linking Mediterranean ports, North African caravans, and Southeast Asian convoys, it builds a transnational infrastructure of resistance. Its Arabic name Sumud, steadfastness, reflects both Palestinian resilience and the determination of people across the world to act where governments have failed.
Breaking the siege, building the future
The choice is now clear. Israel will continue to attack peaceful ships in international waters, abduct activists, and suppress humanitarian efforts, because the siege is a cornerstone of its genocidal project. Western governments will continue to look away.
But ordinary people, from Greek dockworkers refusing to load weapons for Israel, to Tunisian unions welcoming flotilla missions, to students and parliamentarians raising their voices, are building a counter-power.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is both a lifeline and a warning: Gaza will not be starved into silence, and solidarity will not be blockaded.
As the flotilla prepares to set sail with more than 50 ships, its message resounds across seas and continents: The siege must fall. Gaza must live. Palestine must be free.
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A sign is seen at the Microsoft headquarters on July 3, 2024 in Redmond, Washington [David Ryder/Getty Images]
A group of demonstrators, including current and former Microsoft employees, staged a protest at the company’s Redmond headquarters in the US state of Washington against the tech giant over its ties to the Israeli army amid the ongoing Gaza war, according to media reports.
The protest was organized by a group called No Azure for Apartheid, named after Microsoft’s flagship cloud computing service Azure.
Protesters gathered inside the office of Microsoft President Brad Smith in Building 34, where they chanted slogans and held banners.
One sign renamed the office the “Mai Ubeid Building,” honoring a Palestinian software engineer from Gaza killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. Another banner called on Microsoft to “cut ties with Israel,” among other demands.
Police arrested seven people who entered Smith’s office, reports said.
Bloomberg previously reported that Microsoft has faced a “small but persistent revolt” over the past year from employees urging the company to end its business ties with Israel amid the Gaza war.
The company reportedly sought help from the FBI and worked with local law enforcement to monitor and suppress protests.
The latest demonstration follows reports that Israel’s Unit 8200 used Microsoft Azure to store Palestinian phone call recordings. Earlier this year, the Associated Press revealed Microsoft’s partnership with Israel’s Defense Ministry to process intelligence for target selection.
After the AP report, Microsoft said an internal review found no evidence that Azure or its AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. While it did not publish the review, the company said it would share factual findings from a follow-up review prompted by The Guardian once completed.
Israel has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine, rendering it uninhabitable.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Shut the System activists cut the electricity to Barclays’ Barclaycard’s Northampton headquarters, August 18, 2025
ACTIVISTS sabotaged utilities infrastructure at the offices of major fossil fuel investors today, declaring the start of “disruption like never before” against fossil fuel finance.
Shut The System cut cables and superglued electrical service cabinets at JPMorganChase and Allianz in London, demanding they stop financing the climate emergency and genocide in Gaza.
At Barclaycard’s Northampton headquarters, activists cut the 5G communications mast serving the building.
The underground climate campaign said the action marked the launch of a period of sustained sabotage against financial institutions deemed “key culprits” in the climate crisis, running until the end of September.
It urged civilians to join a “Summer of Sabotage” by destroying the property and operating systems of institutions providing “critical support to deadly industries globally.”
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that Reform UK has received millions and millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Ammunition used against protestors, which led to the death of a young girl, Michelle Becker, from the large amount of tear gas that filled her home. Photo: Claridad Panamá
The demonstrations, which have lasted more than 70 days, have been firmly repressed by the Mulino government, which has affirmed that it will not repeal the social security law that has caused so much controversy.
On July 5, nearly 800 people from 17 countries signed a letter addressed to the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, calling for international observation due to the increasing repression of protests in Panama. The document, signed by academics, artists, activists, workers, and trade unionists, also points out that the Central American country is witnessing growing criminalization of political dissent, which, according to the document, is reminiscent of the darkest years in its national history. Furthermore, the letter adds that the government is demonstrating an “authoritarian drift”.
The letter states: “President Mulino leads a legally legitimate government, but with minimal support. And he has responded to a wave of legitimate and democratic protests most violently and systematically ever recorded in the country’s history since 1903.”
For more than 70 days, thousands of Panamanians have taken to the streets, closed roads, and staged strikes against the neoliberal policies of the Mulino government. The demonstrators are demanding the repeal of:
A law reforming Social Security – reducing pensions and opening the door for the privatization of the system.
Growing US interference – according to the demonstrators, the US intends to install several military bases in Panama.
The reopening of a copper mine – the largest and most controversial in the country, already closed by the Panamanian justice system.
In this regard, the letter states: “The step taken by the Executive to suspend constitutional guarantees in the province of Bocas del Toro makes it, de facto, an authoritarian government willing to suspend the Constitution when it is unable to negotiate, dialogue or listen to its people… The abuse of power of the State through the security forces and the arguments used to justify the violation of human rights, repression, and the prosecution of leaders are not acceptable in any way.”
Therefore, the letter denounces that the country is “going backwards in terms of human rights” and requests the immediate intervention of international human rights agencies to address the Panamanian situation and thus guarantee the fundamental freedoms of demonstrators and citizens alike.
For this and other cases, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Indigenous Peasant Movement of the Ngäbe Buglé region requested that the legislature establish a commission specialized in studying cases of human rights violations to monitor the protests. The CNDH presented more than 100 alleged cases of human rights violations, including alleged arbitrary detentions, humiliating treatment, deaths, etc. The legislature has not yet offered a response to the request.
Thus, the Panamanian political dispute has led to a massive confrontation between protesters and the forces of law and order, which is still not over.
However, as the days go by, more and more denunciations are surfacing in the media, increasing the discomfort for moderate Panamanians (former allies of Mulino), and raising concerns among international actors about partnering with a government that is widely seen as repressive.
Shut the System activists cut the electricity to Barclays’ Barclaycard’s Northampton headquarters, August 18, 2025
