AMONG those preparing the Madleen to set sail for Gaza was Scottish campaigner Dylan Hamilton.
The 20-year-old was involved in the logistics of the mission – co-ordinated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) – which set sail from Sicily on June 1 to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza and attempt to break Israel's naval blockade.
Hamilton also had a personal reason for being in Sicily – some of those on board were his friends.
“I went to be with the people who I love who were about to get on the ship. We didn’t know what would happen to them,” he told The National.
Four of the 12 activists have since been deported – including Swedish climate and social justice campaigner Greta Thunberg – while the other eight remain in Israel after refusing to sign documents consenting to deportation. They are now set to appear before a tribunal.
For the eight activists who remain detained in Israel, one of whom is French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan, Hamilton said the coalition was limited in what it could do because there was no direct communication with the crew.
He told The National: “What we’ve been calling for is for activists to contact the countries and embassies of the nationalities of the activists, as well as the UK since it was a UK-registered boat.
“Hopefully there have been some interventions, it’s hard to know exactly what has happened but we think there has been some engagement with consulates in Israel.”
The Madleen was sailing under a UK flag, meaning it was under UK jurisdiction while in international waters. At the time of writing, there has been no official statement or intervention from the UK Government, despite repeated calls from the FFC to ensure “protection” for the Madleen and its crew.
“I’m obviously angry but not exactly surprised, it’s entirely expected”, Hamilton said of the UK Government’s lack of response.
“If they’re not going to condemn or even stop their own complicity in other war crimes, why would they intervene in this one?”
But he added: “We still have to show the outrage, because if there’s enough outrage then potentially they U-turn.”
Hamilton drew similarities with the FFC’s most recent mission before the Madleen, which he was also involved with – the Conscience.
In May, we told how the coalition said the ship came under direct attack from two drones not far from where it had set off, injuring four of the activists onboard.
There was a media blackout on the Conscience's journey, but this time the world has been able to follow the Madleen as it made its way towards Gaza – thanks to an online tracker and the crew's presence on social media.
Hamilton argued that because Israel knows it is being watched this time, its tactics have been to delegitimise the Madleen’s true goal – to deliver aid to the Palestinian people, at a time when many humanitarian organisations are warning that famine is imminent in Gaza.
Israel's foreign ministry has attempted to depict the mission as a publicity stunt, branding the Madleen a "selfie yacht" and a "gimmick".
In doing so, Hamilton said Israel was “trying to delegitimise the tactic that has explicitly worked.”
He continued: “They don’t want to acknowledge that it’s the media attention that forced them to act not with impunity this time. Last time when there wasn’t that attention, they bombed it and it didn’t get as much reach as this has gotten.
“It exposes them. It’s not humanity that stops them, it’s not the law that stops them. It’s attention and fame.
“I think the Palestine movement has a lot to learn from that and how we plan future actions.”
Since 2010, all flotillas attempting to break the blockade have been intercepted or attacked by Israel, and the Madleen was no different.
However, Hamilton stressed that while the media’s attention remains on the Madleen, particularly on the high-profile figures who were on board, the group’s focus has always been “on the Palestinians.”
He told The National: “[The crew] were protected because they’re famous and European, whereas Palestinians obviously don’t have that same protection.
“People in Palestine are kidnapped constantly, thousands are held illegally in detention where they’ve been tortured, beaten.
“We get to worry about that safe at home in our beds, whilst people in Gaza have to worry about that while fleeing more bombs.”
He added: “Obviously the boat was never going to feed the entire population, it was just doing what it could.
“The problem is that Israel has been allowed to blockade Gaza and allow the genocide to continue.
“Even if they’d let aid in, the mission won’t stop until Palestine is free.”
