Break the siege on humanitarian aid to Gaza!

In its ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people, Israel used drones May 2 to attack the unarmed Conscience (aka Al-Dameer), a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship. The ship’s crew and passengers were attempting to transport tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza when the ship was attacked in international waters near Malta, an island country located just south of Sicily. 

The aid included food, water, fuel, medical supplies and other vital necessities denied to the people of Gaza for the past two months by the U.S.- backed Zionist regime’s sudden end of the ceasefire agreement in early March and its continuous horrific blockade of aid to Gaza. 

Israel has used starvation as a weapon to force the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people from their stolen homeland. Incarcerated Palestinians have also been subjected to starvation as a form of torture and death. 

In 2010, the Israelis bombed the Mavi Marmara Flotilla Coalition ship that left Türkiye with similar aid for occupied Palestine and murdered nine Turkish activists and wounded over two dozen. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the activists representing 21 countries on the Conscience even though the ship was disabled. Greta Thunberg, the well-known climate change activist, was one of 40 people waiting to board the ship in Malta before the attack.

Coalition activists issued the following statement: “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.” (The Guardian, May 2)

A number of Palestinian resistance and faction groups condemned the attack as an act of terrorism and a blatant violation of international law. The Hamas-Islamic Resistance Movement stated that a full-blown famine has emerged in Gaza. 

The fascistic Zionist regime has periodically blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza since the Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, 2023, claiming Hamas will divert the aid to its fighters. This is a bald-faced lie. The aim of the Benjamin Netanyahu regime is to rid Gaza and the West Bank of as many Palestinian civilians as possible, including children, annex the land and expand its illegal settlements into Lebanon and Syria. Israel continues to mercilessly bomb the Syrian capital of Damascus.

More anti-imperialist actions required

No matter how many countless war crimes this murderous Zionist regime and its main imperialist supporter, the United States, commit against the Palestinian people, Israel’s days are numbered. Israel has become the number one global pariah. Even within occupied Tel Aviv, Jewish, Palestinian and Christian peoples, numbering 10,000, held a rally recently carrying the photos of murdered Palestinian children and calling for the end of the genocide. Unlike in earlier demonstrations, not one Israeli flag was visible.

Young Israeli reservists are choosing to serve time in prison in ever-growing numbers rather than commit genocide in Gaza. The Israeli economy continues to tank, with the closing of businesses, international boycotts of its products and the sabotage of its shipping lanes in the Red and Mediterranean seas by Yemen’s naval forces.

The global anti-imperialist movement, especially inside the U.S., must continue to heed the Palestinian Resistance’s call for more direct actions to deepen its political solidarity with the liberation of Palestine. 

Workers World wholeheartedly supports the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s call for large freedom convoys from various continents to break the siege of Gaza in response to the attack on the Al-Dameer humanitarian ship.

Stop all attacks on humanitarian aid to Gaza! 

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!