Heading for Gaza VII: answering a desperate call: stop the genocide now!

27/9/2025

The Zionist offensive goes for the “final solution” of the occupation. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) responds as best it can to the call of a people who need the genocide to stop now! The flotilla will set sail from Crete reinforcing its security protocols. In the meantime, the EU offers more symbolic than effective gestures. The solidarity and peaceful mission carries food to break the blockade.

By Ruben Tzanoff

Automatic translation by AI

In Gaza there is a sample of Zionist barbarism that puts the Palestinians in a dramatic situation.

The flotilla responds to the desperate call of a people under siege, which is why we must support it. It is only by pointing out this horrifying reality that the vicissitudes it is going through can be recounted.

Anchoring in Crete

On the evening of September 25, a mechanical failure on the “Family”, one of the mission’s lead ships, prevented it from continuing to sail. The activists on board were reassigned to other vessels without disrupting the operation of the flotilla’s operations center.

Beyond this incident, the Crete anchorage took advantage of the extra time to make repairs on other ships and make further preparations and shoeing.

High-profile announcements, more symbolic than effective protection

The stop in Greek and therefore EU waters limited the intensity of intimidating drone aggression, but did not totally eliminate their presence.

In this regard, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis stated that the navy will ensure the safe passage of the GSF in Greek territorial waters.

At the same time, the Spanish government announced that today the maritime action ship (BAM) “Furor” will leave the port of Cartagena with “52 soldiers and eight doctors to provide assistance to Spanish and Belgian citizens”. Both this movement and that of the Italian ship also announced as support are more symbolic than effective protection. It should be clarified that the EU as a whole has not taken concrete steps to guarantee the free movement of the GSF in the Mediterranean, nor to investigate and stop the action of the drones that harass it.

Peaceful solidarity mission attacked by a powerful force

The flotilla is composed of mostly small ships with some technical deficiencies due to their use for many years. They have no weapons other than their engines and sails, making them defenseless.

Its crews and participants are workers, students, trade unionists, political and social activists in solidarity. Neither soldiers nor military personnel travel with them; it is a civilian, peaceful and humanitarian mission.

The GSFl sails small, fragile and with no weapons other than international solidarity and the hope of breaking a criminal siege. In front of them, the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad, deploy an enormous power in military technology, espionage and naval blockade. Although the disproportion does not allow any comparison, the solidarity and peaceful strength of the flotilla defies the violence of the war machine.

Security protocols

It is in this context that the activation of security protocols on ships, surveillance tasks and preparations for possible attacks must be placed.

Our colleague Cele Fierro told us how they do it:

“After the drone attack two nights ago, we have reinforced the security protocols we had been working on with daily training. At the moment we are on the island of Crete, in Greece, whose coasts we have entered for security reasons. The pressures of what may happen are also part of the reality. We will set sail again and we will have at least five days until we reach Gaza and touch land in Palestine.

After what happened to us arriving in Greece, we became even more alert for what is coming, knowing that the protection we can achieve is that of a non-violent mission, which carries food, not weapons, and that we are being harassed by one of the armies most armed by imperialism. The protocols that we are carrying out are of security, of the greatest possible protection of our lives in the existing conditions.

The aggressions, in addition to the consequences of the chemicals that are thrown at us, can damage the masts, sails, hulls and water can start to enter. Many things can happen. So, the measures we take are just to protect us all. Every night, when the sun goes down, we put on our life jackets as a preventive measure. If there are alerts, drones or something emergency happens, we are ready to divide into two pre-established groups and we have the life rafts located in case it is necessary to leave the ship. We are well organized, we are in charge of using the fire extinguishers in case of a fire, we are also responsible for organizing ourselves in case of an emergency and we have instructions on how to help each other, following the instructions of our activist in the role of captain. This preparation is as rigorous as we can and gives us the confidence to respond calmly in the event of an emergency. They are violent and powerful. We are peaceful and we have the strength that gives us the support on the ground and the solidarity with the Palestinian people who are being massacred by the Zionist barbarism”.

In “Heading for Gaza IV” we stated that: “In Tunisia it became more evident that climatic issues, incidents with the ships and the political reality will continue to condition every nautical mile of the journey”. It is important to remember this not only because it will continue to happen, but also because in the final stage, political factors will have a greater impact, both in the face of the aggressive actions of Zionism and the decisions taken by the GSF coordination.

Against genocides, with the Palestinian people and GSF

From the International Socialist League (ISL) we call to promote mobilizations, strikes and actions to stop the genocide, ethnic cleansing and total occupation of Palestine. For demanding the rupture of the governments with the State of Israel.

No recognition of the State of Israel, an enclave of imperialism against Palestine and the peoples of the Middle East. Recognition can only be towards a free and socialist Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, with the borders prior to 1948.

There are more and more international pronouncements critical of Israel, for example at the UN Assembly, where most of the attendees walked out when Netanyahu began his speech. These are gestures that express rejection but remain limited in relation to the measures involved in stopping an ongoing genocide. Zionism is synonymous with barbarism, their hand must be stopped!

There are also more and more statements of support for the Global Flotilla, demanding Israel not to attack it or attack the activists who compose it. It is necessary to multiply the pressure so that the governments and the EU, in addition to formally pronouncing themselves, make themselves available to defend the ships in person and effectively, not only in European waters, nor their nationals, but all the activists, throughout the journey to Gaza and back to the ports of origin.