{"id":14203,"date":"2025-09-02T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/?p=14203"},"modified":"2025-09-16T18:30:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:30:02","slug":"on-the-flotilla-to-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2025\/09\/on-the-flotilla-to-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Flotilla to Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid ongoing genocide and the deliberate use of starvation<\/a> as a weapon in Gaza, a flotilla of dozens of vessels is set to sail on August 31 from Spanish ports\u2014with a second wave departing Tunisia on September 4\u2014to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge Israel\u2019s naval blockade. The Global Sumud Flotilla<\/a> which represents the combined efforts of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition<\/a>, the Sumud Convoy<\/a>, and others, aims to physically challenge a siege now entering its 18th year and an intentional genocide entering its second year, to make clear that Gaza\u2019s humanitarian catastrophe is human-made, to expose the complicity of states and institutions (including decades of U.S. military funding and diplomatic cover), and to answer Palestinian calls for concrete international solidarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this interview, Cele Fierro<\/strong>\u2014a leading figure in Argentina\u2019s Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (MST) and the International Socialist League (ISL\/LIS) and an elected deputy with the Frente de Izquierda Unidad\u2014discusses why she is joining the newest flotilla and what\u2019s at stake. Conducted for Tempest by Anderson Bean<\/strong> and brian bean<\/strong>, the conversation was translated from Spanish and lightly edited for clarity and brevity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> Since 2010’s\u00a0Mavi Marmara\u2014when the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided the boat, murdering nine activists\u2014there have been multiple attempts to break the Zionist entity\u2019s blockade by sailing vital aid to Gaza. This year these heroic attempts have increased rapidly and the last two attempts, the\u00a0Madleen\u00a0and the\u00a0Handala,\u00a0were intercepted in international waters. Can you talk about the upcoming attempt and why you are participating?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> The next mission is the Freedom Flotilla, a global effort which\u2014like the previous ones\u2014has a single goal: to break the humanitarian-aid blockade imposed by the Zionist state, which condemns the Palestinian people not only with bombs but with hunger, health crises, and thirst. Because Zionism\u2019s brutality has escalated, this mission has gained massive support. It\u2019s the largest flotilla in history, setting sail on Sunday, August 31 from Barcelona, with additional boats joining from ports across the Mediterranean\u2014more than 50 in all. Over 28,000 people registered to take part in this global action. The flotilla also matters because it helps break the media blackout that continues to shield the genocidal state. As part of the internationalist work we do as Argentina\u2019s MST and with the International Socialist League, we felt it was essential to be here\u2014both to spread the word and to call more people to take up the Palestinian cause. And in this case, to do so through a humanitarian mission that once again shows who is violating every rule: the Zionist state, which is carrying out ethnic cleansing\u2013a genocide.<\/p>\n

\"Cele
Cele Fierro and Greta Thunberg. Photo by Thain\u00e1. Barcelona, Spain, August 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> Can you tell us about yourself and the other participants\u2014who do the crew and participants represent?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> I\u2019m an internationalist socialist activist with Argentina\u2019s MST within the Frente de Izquierda Unidad, the coalition we\u2019re part of, where I\u2019m currently an elected deputy. I\u2019m also a member of the International Socialist League. The Palestinian cause is one of our principles. Every action we\u2019ve taken\u2014especially since October 2023, when the Zionist offensive escalated sharply, (though we\u2019ve denounced it for decades) and this artificial state was imposed\u2014has been crucial. That\u2019s why we insist on returning to the pre-1948 borders and fighting for a single, free, anti-racist, democratic, and, of course, socialist Palestine.<\/p>\n

When you see what\u2019s happening\u2014people shot while lining up for food, children killed, hospitals bombed, journalists and rescuers targeted\u2014you do everything in your power. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here on the flotilla. Like me, hundreds of activists are boarding different boats: well-known figures like Greta Thunberg and Thiago \u00c1vila; actors, musicians, and photographers who can help spread the word; and hundreds of doctors, nurses, teachers, and young people who volunteered, like each of us, to be part of this action. Participants come from more than 44 countries. From Latin America, there are comrades from Mexico, Colombia, Belize, Puerto Rico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, El Salvador, and Chile\u2014hopefully I\u2019m not forgetting anyone. I think there\u2019s also a compa\u00f1era from California. Whether people have traveled to board a boat or are organizing on land, the aim is the same: to show that a strong solidarity movement exists with the Palestinian cause and to truly break this humanitarian-aid blockade that, I repeat, violates every international rule and condemns the Palestinian people to death.<\/p>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> What aid are you transporting, and why does Israel see it as so threatening that it has resorted to murder, sabotage, and kidnapping to stop past attempts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> We\u2019re carrying food and medical supplies. Israel\u2019s biggest fear is that this actually reaches Gaza. That\u2019s why they try to intercept and attack flotillas so far. If the aid got through, it would mean two things. First, it would clearly show that people in Gaza are being denied the essentials they need to live. Second, given what Zionism calls its \u201cfinal solution,\u201d we see that their aim<\/a> is a full-scale invasion and the razing of Gaza through ethnic cleansing. In addition, as they\u2019ve stated<\/a> in parliament, their goal is to move ahead with the annexation of the West Bank. We see it every day. They refuse to let aid pass. For us, it\u2019s important to emphasize that this is a humanitarian mission. The party violating every agreement and international treaty\u2014indeed, with an international arrest warrant for Netanyahu\u2014is the State of Israel. And we have to be prepared for the consequences of trying to break this blockade.<\/p>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> What does it signify that the civil disobedience by you and the current Freedom Flotilla participants involves such personal risk\u2014from drone strikes, IOF attacks, and imprisonment\u2014to defy Israel\u2019s genocidal starvation of Gaza and bring what is, in truth, only a symbolic amount of desperately needed aid, while virtually every capitalist state and government has done nothing substantial to relieve the suffering caused by Israel\u2019s genocide?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> The question contains the answer: It shows what could be done\u2014and what governments and states are not doing. It exposes their complicity as the genocide of the 21st century plays out on television. In the hands of activists, public figures, and parliamentarians, this humanitarian action points the way forward and denounces the real perpetrator: the State of Israel, which is using food as a weapon of war in a brutally violent campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people. And it also exposes the complicity of every state that keeps financing Israel or refuses to cut diplomatic and commercial ties with the Zionist state\u2014governments that take no concrete action to end this genocide.<\/p>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> What gives you hope and determination as you set sail?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> In recent months this cause has been taken up by many more people around the world. The Palestinian cause has grown internationally. We know it won\u2019t just be the hundreds of us leaving Barcelona on Sunday. We\u2019ll be a million people pushing from the streets, from social media, from everywhere, to help us get through, and above all to break the media and political shield protecting a genocidal state like Israel.<\/p>\n

Anderson and brian:<\/span> Thank you. Is there anything that you\u2019d like to add?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cele:<\/span> Only that this must be a cause of humanity as a whole. As socialists and anti-capitalists, we\u2019ll continue to raise it\u2014without calculating whether some sector likes it or not. It is a matter of principle to denounce that genocidal state and a matter of principle to support this struggle and this resistance. It\u2019s essential, and it should allow us to keep building alternatives and unity and to transform not only the places where we live but the world toward a fairer society without exploitation, oppression, or genocides.<\/p>\n

\n

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see \u201cAbout Tempest Collective<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anderson Bean<\/strong> and brian bean<\/strong> interview Argentina socialist Cele Fierro<\/strong> about aid flotillas to Gaza sailing from Tunisia and Spain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":407,"featured_media":14207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[517,181],"class_list":["post-14203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-interview","tag-gaza","tag-palestine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Copy-of-tempest_feature_card.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/407"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}