The first time I met Greta Thunberg was in Plymouth in 2019. We were 15 and 16 years old, doing media appearances together around her sailing to New York for the UN Climate Action Summit, ahead of the Global Climate Strike.
For the first time, politicians were listening to young people's calls for climate justice, and millions of people were joining our strikes. Her voyage was surrounded by excitement and hope, followed in awe by people across the world – we never once needed to question her safety.
The last time I saw her, she was on live-streamed footage of the Madleen, which was intercepted by Israeli military forces. This time, the overriding feeling is terror, and the once-supportive politicians are nowhere to be seen.
The Madleen is a UK-flagged civilian ship, part of the Freedom Flotilla that was en route to Gaza carrying 5,500 tonnes of crucial humanitarian aid – including baby formula, food and medical supplies.
Greta and the 11 other civilians aboard the Madleen were sailing to deliver this life-saving aid to Gaza, and their right to do so is entrenched in international law.
For 11 weeks now, Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, and for the last 17 years, they have imposed an ongoing blockade that violates international law, leading to a starvation crisis, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) saying all 2.2 million civilians in Gaza are facing life-threatening food insecurity.
However, in the early hours of the morning, millions across the world watched another of Greta's voyages – this time in horror, as live-streamed footage showed them being intercepted by the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF).
The IOF jammed their radio signals and sent quadcopters that sprayed a white, paint-like substance at them, before boarding the boat and forcing the passengers to throw their phones overboard. Then, the broadcast went dead. We haven't heard from any of the civilians on board since.
Israel claims that the crew were taken to Ashdod Port, and local Israeli media has reported that Israel's far-right national security minister Ben-Gvir has instructed prison officials to put the 12 civilians in detention, in isolation.
We’ve also now heard that Greta has been deported from Tel Aviv to Sweden (via France), though the situation with the other 11 crew members remains unclear.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Katz also said yesterday that the Flotilla would be shown a video from 7 October, where around 1,200 people were killed by Hamas, in what can only be described as an attempt at psychological torture. These killings were abhorrent and have been roundly condemned.
Israel's subsequent attacks on Gaza since have killed more than 54,000 civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities – the majority of whom are women, children and elderly people – with an estimated 125,000 injured. The 2.2 million citizens of Gaza, half of whom are children, have since been displaced, while starvation, cholera and inadequate medical care continue to claim Palestinian lives, alongside the continued military attacks on innocent civilians by Israel.
This is not justified retaliation or war, with the Israeli defence minister saying, "the emphasis is on damage, not accuracy" – it is the systematic killing of an unarmed civilian population.
The Flotilla are not demonstrating "selective empathy", as the Israeli government accuses; they are trying to bring aid to a region where the average age is just 15 years old. Their accusation can only be seen as a personal confession, as the thousands of murdered Palestinian civilians and children have not once been afforded a hint of compassion by the Israeli government, who continue their onslaught.
The people of Gaza are not Hamas, and their right to food, water and medicine has been violated by Israel for years. The Flotilla are not in any way aligned with Hamas, and the mission is purely humanitarian, with no militant association of any kind. This narrative is solely being pushed to warrant violence against the Flotilla, despite their legal right to deliver aid.
This attack on the civilians aboard the Madleen triggers state and individual liability under the Rome Statute, Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention.
Not only this, but it is a direct attack on UK sovereignty and international law. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea states that any interference by another state without the consent of the flag state is considered a violation of international law and that nation’s sovereignty.
By abducting the passengers of the Freedom Flotilla, Israel is not only violating international law, but undermining our sovereignty as a nation. We must resist this at every level in the strongest terms. We have a legal responsibility to ensure the safe return of the Madleen crew members and respond to the unlawful interception and attack on our sovereignty.
Israel has committed countless violations of international law, and this is not the first time.
In 2010, Israeli commandos raided a small fleet of ships trying to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza, killing nine peaceful civilians. I was terrified the same would happen to my friend.
When will we stop letting these ruthless violations of international law happen? How many dead children is too many? What do these constant breaches of international law say about the strength of our governance?
Rather than being a "selfie boat", it is truly "selfless", as the crew have put their lives on the line in an effort to bring aid to the most vulnerable people on the planet. If I know anything about Greta, it is that she would want this moment to bring light to the ongoing repression and human rights violations of Palestinian civilians.
Since her detainment yesterday, more than 60 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to local health authorities. The fear that we have been feeling now for our friend has been the everyday reality for Palestinians for over 600 days.
Palestine is a climate justice issue for countless reasons, most notably because it concerns human lives. But there are also many ways that the ongoing crisis directly impacts the planet. The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza is greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of 100 countries combined.
Delivering aid is not a crime, but arresting and abducting peaceful humanitarians in international waters is.
The UK and the international community must step up now to ensure the safe and immediate release of all of the 12 civilians aboard the Madleen, alongside an immediate ceasefire, free passage of humanitarian aid, and an end to the illegal siege of Gaza.
It is our moral and legal collective duty to stop the continued murder of innocent children, women and men, and free the innocent humanitarians who have tried to help.
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