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Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and eleven other activists set sail on Sunday afternoon for Gaza on a ship aimed at “breaking Israel's siege” of the devastated territory
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- Title
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel's blockade
- Published
- Jun 1 2025
- Word count
- 183 words
Eeesh - I get that she wants to make an impact but isn't it a little too volatile down there, GT?
I don't think they'll hesitate to kill her. Gaza needs food regardless of everything else, there's no valid reason for prohibiting food aid IMO.
But I don't know enough to know if this flotilla is good or useful or a stunt but maybe a needed one or maybe one that distracted resources... I don't know the right thing to do
In a horrifying way, even if Israel sinks the ship and kills everyone on board, it may benefit Gaza by raising further awareness and international outcry against Israel. Greta Thunberg is a well-known individual with international recognition, she wouldn't be some nameless statistic like the regular aid workers on these ships. People know her, so there would be an actual face they could put to the murders. That changes people's perceptions, reminds them that the victims were indeed human and had lives.
The ship also has Lian Cunningham, a well-known actor from Game of Thrones, and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. One of Palestinian descent, which means Israel probably wants her dead more than the others, but still an elected official to the European Parliament. So killing her would HAVE to have some sort of consequences and backlash.
Ideally the ship reaches Gaza and no one dies, and they successfully distribute whatever aid the ship carried. But if Israel does attack the ship and they die, this could still trigger a chain reaction that could radically change the situation. Even arresting them upon landing with some made-up excuses about them being Hamas supporters will likely raise a lot of international outcry.
I wouldn't be surprised if Greta and the others factored those potential outcomes into their decisions to board that ship. No matter the outcome, theoretically it should result in some good. Which is horrifying to say when some of those outcomes involve them dying and sparking international outrage...
Imho the smartest thing that Israel can do from its POV is to just let the ship in, distribute what little aid it carries and then let them leave again. Whatever atrocities they document are going to get drowned out in the general level of atrocities being reported from Gaza. The other likely outcome is that they'll just be cut off at sea and diverted into an Israeli harbour so they don't even get to document the atrocities.
This is imho a bold statement. I'm convinced that there are elements within the Israeli government that want to genocide the people in Gaza for some sweet Lebensraum, and that Netahanyu tolerates, if not encourages, those elements because he strikes me as one of those despots that wants power for power's sake and will pact with anyone willing to give it to him.
But it's a bold statement that the Israeli government would kill anyone of Palestine heritage if they are not actually on Israeli controlled territory, be it Israeli proper or occupied lands. The genocide has always been about expansion into lands that Zionists view as rightfully theirs based on their religion. That most people living in those lands have a cultural identity strikes me mostly as incidental to the killing. It's about expansion.
Western governments in general have ranged from outright support to tacit tolerance of the Gaza genocide; to be involved in the killing, accidental or not, of a French politician of the EUP would be an incredibly stupid geopolitical move and actively against Israeli interests.
Disclaimer: I haven't kept up to date with the Gaza situation. There's a good chance that good ol' Bibi has said some things that make it clear that he's a true believer rather than a power-hungry tyrant.
I think keeping the blockade fresh in people's minds is a good idea. I'm following closely and even I read these headlines and remember - fuck their still at it!
I imagine it would be useful if it were full of doctors and nurses. Having a backup, “If this fails at least we’re still helping,” would be nice.
I hope they take security seriously. It would be bad if this just ends as delivering more hostages to Hamas.
Have Hamas been taking aid workers hostage? I have heard of them doing that - not a denial if they are, I literally hadn't heard of them doing that.
Madleen: Israel warns it will stop aid flotilla heading for Gaza
Another update:
Activists say Israeli troops have boarded aid ship
A link with video from Greta Thunberg, saying that they have been captured:
https://bsky.app/profile/premthakker.bsky.social/post/3lr55yisi2k2w
It was coming but godfucking damnit.
This is the point we've reached. Humanitarian, voluntary aid against genocide gets kidnapped. On another part of the world the military is going to get used against protestors for human rights. All the while there is still Russia trying to decimate Ukraine.
That we may live in precedented, boring times again...
Arrested or captured, more like?
Comparing Russia's war against Ukraine to Hamas's war against Israel doesn't seem quite right to me. I guess it's because in the other case the aggressor (Russia) seems to be only slightly stronger, but in the other Hamas seems to be a lot weaker -- so much that they needed to withdraw immediately after their initial attack and to use sacrificing civilians as a standard military tactic.
Maybe captured is a bit better, though - that last part was more a rant about the state of the world in general. I agree that the two conflicts are not comparable. In terms of history, military, and more.
Hopefully the Onion Knight can find a way to smuggle them in.
All praise the Onion Knight, but IIRC, his record on saving young women is pretty bad.