Thiago Ávila

‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza

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Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Israeli forces as they approach vessels traveling as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, organized by humanitarians to bring life-saving aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
 (Photo: Screengrab/Global Sumud Flotilla)

“Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel!” said UN expert Francesca Albanese. “When will Israel’s impunity end?”

Israel’s raid on a peaceful flotilla of international vessels attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip was described Monday as an act of brazen piracy and condemned by human rights activists and experts who say the world should no longer stand by in the face of such criminality.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, called the operations by Israel “yet another act of piracy by the Israeli army in international waters” that must be condemned by the global community.

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Noting that the flotilla is “carrying basic necessities to a desperate population in Gaza,” Albanese said: “Shame on European governments who are not acting to stop Israel! When will Israel’s impunity end?”

A dispatch was issued by the Global Sumud Flotilla—which has repeatedly tried to break the siege of Gaza—shortly after 10:30 am local time, which said that their vessels off the coast of Cyprus were “currently surrounded and under active interception by Israeli naval warships in international waters, approximately 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza.”

The Israeli forces reportedly boarded a number of the more than 50 vessels traveling in the flotilla and began detaining those aboard.

“By intercepting the flotilla at a perimeter of 250 nautical miles today and in Cyprus’ SAR zone,” said the Flotilla in its statement, “the Israeli regime continues to demonstrate a systematic disregard for international maritime law, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”

Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist who was detained and imprisoned by the Israelis for several days after being kidnapped off a boat on a previous attempt by humanitarians to reach Gaza with relief supplies, said in a video statement on Monday that now was the time for the international community to act.

“Do something,” pleaded Avila. “Take to the streets. The world cannot stand a genocide. The world cannot stand a country that violates international law, to continue killing children, assassinating children out of hunger, killing people with drones.”

“They want you not to talk about what’s happening in Gaza,” he continued. “There’s no real ceasefire. Seven months of people getting killed, aid still being hindered, more than half the land being taken away, and their plans are the worst for that area—it is complete ethnic cleansing and genocide. We need to stop that.”

Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel who has long been a leading anti-war activist and is currently serving as a member of the support team at the Flotilla’s Crisis Center stationed in Istanbul, Turkiye, called the operation to deliver aid the “largest civilian flotilla in the history of support for Palestinians in Gaza” to date.

“Stop the genocide, not the flotilla,” said Stephen Bowen, executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.

Independent journalist Alex Colston, embedded with the flotilla activists and on one of the vessels approached by Israeli forces, reported that he could confirm “people on intercepted boats are being moved to one, maybe two, military prison frigates,” though it was not clear where exactly those detained would be taken.

Article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue Reading‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza

‘We Cannot Forget the Palestinian Prisoners,’ Freed Gaza Flotilla Member Says While Returning Home

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Global Sumud Flotilla member Saif Abu Keshek flashes a peace sign after arriving at Athens International Airport on May 10, 2026. (Photo by Global Sumud Flotilla/X)

“I left behind me thousands of Palestinian prisoners—children, women, and men,” said Saif Abu Keshek after he and Thiago Ávila were released by Israel without charges.

As the final two Global Sumud Flotilla members violently abducted at sea by Israeli forces last month made their way home following their release without charge, one of the activists said Sunday that the world must remember the thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila—whom Israel accused of having links to Hamas, without providing evidence—were seized in international waters off the coast of Greece during the night of April 29-30. They were among the roughly 175 people aboard the flotilla, which was attempting to break the decadeslong Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to its people amid an ongoing genocide.

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Thiago Avila and his mother, Teresa Regina de Ávila e Silva, decked out in gear supporting the soccer team Flamengo

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After suffering abuse that allegedly included broken ribs, noses, and other injuries, all of the flotilla members except Abu Keshek and Ávila were released. The pair was taken to Israel for further interrogation. Israel twice extended their detention for further interrogation, which, according to their legal representatives, included physical and psychological abuse amounting to torture. The men reportedly went on a hunger strike to protest their detention.

United Nations officials, Brazil, and Spain all called for the pair’s release. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned their detention as “a serious affront to international law.”

As Abu Keshek—a Spanish-Swedish national of Palestinian origin—arrived in Greece on Sunday following his deportation from Israel, he implored the world to remember the suffering of Palestinians imprisoned for their physical and intellectual resistance to Israeli oppression.

“I left behind me thousands of Palestinian prisoners—children, women, and men,” he said in Athens. “I am sure that the treatment I faced does not compare to the suffering they are going through, the testimonies we hear of their torture, of their violation on a daily basis. We have to continue mobilizing. We cannot forget the Palestinian prisoners.”

Ávila, meanwhile, transited through Egypt en route to his native Brazil after his deportation. He is expected to arrive in São Paulo on Monday afternoon. Ávila’s mother, Teresa Regina de Ávila e Silva, died while he was held in Israel.

Global Sumud Flotilla issued a statement following the activists’ release, which it called “a victory over Israel’s attempts to criminalize the flotilla movement and smear international solidarity with Palestine as ‘terrorism.’”

“If Israel had any evidence to support its outrageous accusations that the flotilla was affiliated with Hamas or engaged in unlawful activity, Thiago and Saif would not be released without charges,” the statement says. “Their release further exposes these claims for what they are: politically motivated propaganda aimed at justifying violence against civilian flotilla participants and suppressing growing global resistance to Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial violence.”

“However, their release underscores a painful reality: Thiago and Saif had governments, diplomatic channels, and international visibility advocating for them,” Global Sumud Flotilla stressed. “Millions of Palestinians living under brutal Israeli occupation have no such political protection. More than 10,000 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israeli dungeons and torture camps, subjected to starvation, abuse, isolation, medical neglect, sexual assault, and other cruel and degrading treatment, without international intervention or accountability.”

Other Palestine defenders also used the activists’ release to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

“We insist that the global mobilization for the release of Saif and Thiago must not stop but must instead grow for the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners jailed by the Zionist regime,” said Samidoun, also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, “as well as Lebanese and Arab prisoners detained in its prisons, as well as the Palestinian prisoners and the prisoners for Palestine held in imperialist prisons around the world.”

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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Continue Reading‘We Cannot Forget the Palestinian Prisoners,’ Freed Gaza Flotilla Member Says While Returning Home

Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail for Turkey 8 days after Israeli raid on it

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/global-sumud-flotilla-sets-sail-turkey-8-days-after-israeli-raid-it

 Demonstrators wave a giant Palestinian flag outside Greece’s Foreign Ministry in Athens, April 30, 2026, during a rally to protest the interception of Gaza aid ships by Israeli forces near Greek waters

THE activist-led mission attempting to sail to Gaza with humanitarian aid set sail for Turkey today, eight days after the Israeli military kidnapped some of its members in a much-criticised raid in international waters off the coast of Greece.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a collection of about 57 mostly small sailing ships, had to stop and take stock on the Greek island of Crete after the Israeli raid on April 30.

During the raid 180 members were taken to an Israeli ship, where, the flotilla activists said, many of them were subjected to beatings and torture before they were handed over to the Greek authorities.

Two men, Saif Abukeshek — a Spanish and Palestinian citizen — and Thiago Avila from Brazil were taken to Israel, where they have been held in detention on trumped-up terrorism charges.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/global-sumud-flotilla-sets-sail-turkey-8-days-after-israeli-raid-it

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Continue ReadingGlobal Sumud Flotilla sets sail for Turkey 8 days after Israeli raid on it

Varoufakis Decries Western Complicity as Gaza Flotilla Leaders Abducted by Israel

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Demonstrators march with a banner reading, “We Block Everything,” during a May 1, 2026 Rome protest in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla. (Photo by Andrea Ronchini/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“This is a double violation of international law: First, Israel abducted them illegally at sea. Second, Israel is now transporting them, violently, illegally, to one of its notorious prisons.”

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Friday slammed European leaders—and the West at large—for what he said is their complicity in Israel’s abduction of two leaders of the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla seized off the coast of Greece.

In what numerous critics called an act of piracy, Israeli authorities intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla on Thursday in international waters 45 nautical miles west of the Greek island Kythira and 600 nautical miles from Gaza, according to Greenpeace, whose MY Arctic Sunrise was the aid convoy’s most prominent vessel.

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Around 175 activists aboard 22 vessels were seized by Israeli forces. The BBC reported Friday that most of them have been released in Greece.

Some of the flotilla members said they were beaten and dragged while handcuffed. The Washington Post reported 34 people—including citizens of Australia, Colombia, Italy, Ukraine, and the United States—required medical attention for broken ribs, noses, and other injuries. Detained activists also said they were denied food and water and were forced to sleep on deliberately flooded floors.

Flotilla organizers said 31 of the remaining vessels will continue heading toward Palestine in a bid to “break the illegal siege of Gaza.”

Two members of the flotilla steering committee—Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila—were taken to Israel for interrogation.

Abu Keshek is a Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin. Ávila is Brazilian. Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed that Abu Keshek is “suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization” and Ávila is “suspected of illegal activity.”

As is very often the case with Palestinians it has killed, Israel provided no evidence to support its claims against the accused.

Spain and Brazil have been outspoken critics of Israeli human rights crimes, and both countries have formally joined the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Varoufakis noted on X that Ávila “has distinguished himself with repeated attempts to break the illegal, genocidal, Israeli blockage of Gaza.”

“Unlike the remaining abducted members of the Sumud Flotilla crew, which the Israeli navy disembarked in Crete, Saif and Thiago are detained and bound for an Israeli prison,” the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 co-founder continued. “This is a double violation of international law: First, Israel abducted them illegally at sea. Second, Israel is now transporting them, violently, illegally, to one of its notorious prisons.”

It is not known where Israel will send the two men. Ávila was previously held at Ayalon Prison in Ramla, along with other activists seized from the Madleen last summer. Ávila reportedly refused deportation papers and launched a hunger strike, prompting prison authorities to place him in solitary confinement.

While it is not as notorious as the Sde Teiman military prison—where former inmates and Israeli staff have described torture, rape, murder, and other abuse of Palestinians—Ayalon Prison’s alleged human rights violations include torture, medical neglect, and deliberately degrading conditions.

“Meanwhile,” Varoufakis said Friday, “the Greek government is cooperating fully in Israel’s criminal behavior, effectively surrendering its search and rescue obligations and conniving with Israel to victimize the brave crews of the Sumud Flotilla who are steadfastly, through their activism, defending international law as well as the verdict of the International Court of Justice, which has clearly and unequivocally declared Israel’s continued naval blockade of Gaza and its occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal.”

“Through their complicity and their silence, the Greek government, the European Union, the mainstream media, the West more generally, are flouting, indeed they are trashing, their supposed, much publicized, ‘Western values,’” he added.

Varoufakis is calling on the world to demand:

  • The immediate release of Saif and Thiago;
  • An end to Israel’s criminal behavior in international waters;
  • The termination of Israel’s illegal Gaza blockade; and
  • That the Greek government and the European Union cease and desist from lending logistical and moral support to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its ethnic cleansing campaigns in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Varoufakis’ call was echoed by the Global Sumud Flotilla, which demanded that “all governments do all they can to pressure the Israeli regime to release all the illegal abductees.”

Spanish officials including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also decried Thursday’s raid and demanded the release of the flotilla activists while calling for an end to EU-Israel Association Agreement, a bilateral trade and economic policy framework.

“Israel is once again violating international law by assaulting a civilian flotilla in waters that do not belong to it,” Sánchez said on X. “Our government is doing everything necessary to protect and assist the detained Spaniards. But that is not enough. The EU must suspend the association agreement NOW and demand that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu comply with the law of our seas.”

On the other hand, US State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott condemned the flotilla as a “pro-Hamas initiative” and called on allied countries “to take decisive action against this meaningless political stunt.”

The United States provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid and diplomatic support including repeated vetoes of United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions for Gaza.

Israel maintains that its actions were legal. Its officials have repeatedly invoked the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea—often shortened to the San Remo Manual—to justify the interception and seizure of flotilla vessels attempting to reach Gaza on the high seas.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of cities including Athens, Barcelona, Gaza City, Istanbul, Madrid, Milan, Naples, Paris, and Rome on Thursday as protesters showed solidarity with the flotilla members and condemned Israel’s actions.

"We will block everything". Mass protest in Rome after the seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla

— stefano portelli (@stafe.bsky.social) 2026-04-30T22:07:51.663Z

Meanwhile, Gazans continue to suffer from Israel’s bombing and blockade, which have killed or wounded more than 250,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened around 2 million others.

Earlier this week, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said that despite “some improvements in access and aid delivery… food security remains a challenge, while essential services, particularly water, sanitation, and health, are again on the brink of collapse.”

Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, including murder and forced starvation.

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingVaroufakis Decries Western Complicity as Gaza Flotilla Leaders Abducted by Israel

Freedom Flotilla Sets Sail for Gaza Carrying Aid and Demands: ‘End the Blockade. End the Genocide’

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg speaks surrounded by other participants in the latest Freedom Flotilla Coalition effort to deliver shipborne aid to Gaza, during a June 1, 2025 press conference in Catania, Italy. (Photo: Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images)

“No matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide,” said climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is aboard the Madleen.

A dozen Palestine defenders including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and a French lawmaker set sail from Sicily on Sunday aboard a boat carrying humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, many of whom are starving amid Israel’s ongoing U.S.-backed genocidal assault and siege and decadeslong naval blockade of the coastal enclave.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said it launched the sailboat Madleen—named after Gaza’s first and only known fisherwoman—from Catania, Italy at 4:00 pm local time Sunday “in direct defiance of Israel’s illegal and genocidal blockade.”

“Madleen symbolizes the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resilience and the growing global resistance to Israel’s use of collective punishment and deliberate starvation policies,” FFC said in a statement Sunday. “The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.”

The international volunteers aboard Madleen include Thunberg, French Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan, German refugee advocate and FFC steering committee member Yasemin Acar, Brazilian FFC steering committee member Thiago Ávila, Al Jazeera reporter Omar Fayad, French doctor Baptiste Andre, French journalist Yanis M’Hamdi, Turkish engineer Şuayb Ordu, and crew members Mark Van Rennes, Reva Seifert Viard, Pascal Maurieras, and Sergio Toribio.

“I am aboard Madleen because silence is not neutrality—it is complicity,” said Hassan, who is banned from entering Israel due to her outspoken support for Palestinian rights. “The Palestinian people in Gaza are being starved and slaughtered, and the world watches. This ship is not just carrying aid, it is carrying a demand: End the blockade. End the genocide.”

https://www.instagram.com/gazafreedomflotilla/

Thunberg said that “we are seeing a systematic starvation of 2 million people. The world cannot be silent bystanders, Every single one of us has a moral obligation to do everything we can to fight for a free Palestine.”

The Madleen‘s launch came a month after the Conscience, another FCC aid vessel traveling in international waters off Malta, was attacked twice, presumably by Israeli forces. No one was harmed in what FFC said was a drone strike on the ship. However, the activists were forced to abort their humanitarian mission. Israel has not commented on the incident.

Madleen also set sail nearly 15 years to the day after Israeli forces raided a Gaza Freedom Flotilla convoy carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged people of Gaza. The attack—which also came in international waters—left nine people including Turkish-American teenager Furkan Doğan dead.

FFC said Sunday that the “unarmed and nonviolent” mission “poses no threat” and “sails in full accordance with international law. Any attack or interference will be a deliberate, unlawful assault on civilians.”

Those aboard the Madleen said they were aware of the dangers they faced. Israel has killed numerous Western activists and journalists who document its human rights violations over the years, and just last month Israeli troops opened fire on a group of international diplomats visiting the illegally occupied West Bank two days after three involved countries issued an ultimatum to stop annihilating Gaza.

“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” a tearful Thunberg said during a Sunday press conference. “Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”

“And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide,” she added.

Some Israelis and their supporters took to social media to wish harm upon the activists. In the United States, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) alluded to past Israeli attacks on Gaza aid flotillas in a social media post saying, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!”

Israel strongly refutes allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza. South Africa has filed, and dozens of nations support, a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court, also located in the Dutch city, has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination and starvation as a weapon of war, in Gaza.

Officials in Gaza say that more than 192,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured since Israel launched its assault and siege following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, a figure that includes at least 14,000 people who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble and hundreds of mostly children who have died from acute malnutrition and lack of medical care.

Around 2 million Gazans have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times, amid Israel’s campaign to starve, conquer, indefinitely occupy, ethnically cleanse, and possibly recolonize the coastal strip.

Each side accuses the other of thwarting cease-fire efforts. On Saturday, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff rejected what he called Hamas’ “totally unacceptable” proposal for a truce in which 10 living and 18 dead Israeli hostages would be exchanged for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy toldDemocracy Now! on Monday that a cease-fire proposal mediated by Witkoff is “a bad deal for the Palestinians that will allow Israel to continue its ethnic cleansing of Gaza” and “walks back the commitment for a permanent cease-fire, Israeli withdrawal, and allowing in of humanitarian aid.”

Critics accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the war in order to delay his own criminal corruption trial.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA

Continue ReadingFreedom Flotilla Sets Sail for Gaza Carrying Aid and Demands: ‘End the Blockade. End the Genocide’