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Conflict in the Middle East

Freedom Flotilla

1000 replies

Badh · 06/06/2025 23:11

Thought this might be worth its own thread. The freedom flotilla The Madleen was getting close to Gaza but seems to have made a diversion, as it was the closest boat to answer a distress call. They seem to also have four Sudanese asylum seekers on board who were trying to escape the Libyan coast patrol.

The UK and France are asking Israel for its safe passage.

The tracker is here but is in and out of action.
https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/

More details here, although the latest detour is not covered in the article.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-navy-gears-up-to-block-high-profile-protest-ship-headed-for-gaza/amp/

OP posts:
Thread gallery
52
Badh · 08/06/2025 08:01

Very sad story of a man who stayed on long term and was murdered 7 years later. No I don’t think Greta will plan to live there long term with all of the immediate danger there.

OP posts:
Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 08:18

The activitist I was talking about was murdered 3 years after he got there. I think people are under the impression the only threat the people on the boat face is from Israel.

Jujujudo · 08/06/2025 08:36

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 08:18

The activitist I was talking about was murdered 3 years after he got there. I think people are under the impression the only threat the people on the boat face is from Israel.

I’m waiting this one out. I think what actually happens will surprise everyone.

Badh · 08/06/2025 08:36

my apologies- 3 years. Yes I see that. I suppose that’s because people think of the flotilla where nine Turkish activists were shot dead at close range.

Also it’s very unlikely they’ll be allowed to land because Isreal have said that they categorically won’t let them land.

So we’d all be a bit silly wondering what would happen to them if they decided to stay and live in Gaza.

OP posts:
sualipa · 08/06/2025 08:39

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 07:27

One of the activists who got to Gaza to help in 2008 and stayed there was abducted and murdered by an Islamist group which is why I asked whether Greta and her crew intend to stay if they make it through. Greta would be a prime target for an act like that. I wonder if they presume they won't get past the Israeli navy.

It looks like he was abducted by one of these head-chopping groups that are sadly only too prevalent in the Middle East - indeed the new President of Syria was one such type but has now come into the internationaly accepted fold. That if anything makes the flotiall even more brave to be putting their lives on the line to make their points.

The case often cited here is Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni, who was indeed abducted and killed in Gaza—but in April 2011, not 2008.

Arrigoni, working with a local solidarity group in Gaza, was kidnapped on 14 April 2011 by a Salafi-jihadist faction known as “Jahafil al‑Tawhid wa‑al‑Jihad fi Filastin” (Army of Islam). His body was found shortly after. The group claimed responsibility, though Hamas-led authorities later detained suspects

There was no widely documented case of an international aid or solidarity activist being abducted and murdered in Gaza in 2008.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Arrigoni

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 08:43

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 08:18

The activitist I was talking about was murdered 3 years after he got there. I think people are under the impression the only threat the people on the boat face is from Israel.

Very false impression if so.

Hamas are killing and maiming their own people for protesting against them so it's not the sort of place Greta & her friends would be safe in, even if it wasn't a war zone.

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 09:14

Badh · 08/06/2025 08:36

my apologies- 3 years. Yes I see that. I suppose that’s because people think of the flotilla where nine Turkish activists were shot dead at close range.

Also it’s very unlikely they’ll be allowed to land because Isreal have said that they categorically won’t let them land.

So we’d all be a bit silly wondering what would happen to them if they decided to stay and live in Gaza.

Not sure why you think anyone wondering what they plan to do if they get to Gaza is 'silly' when presumably they intend to do exactly that, get to Gaza. Especially when previous other activists have stayed.

Badh · 08/06/2025 09:18

Yes It is very silly. The Israeli authorities have already said they will not allow them to land in Gaza. Do you really think 12 unarmed activists are going to get through the Israeli Navy?

OP posts:
Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 09:22

Badh · 08/06/2025 09:18

Yes It is very silly. The Israeli authorities have already said they will not allow them to land in Gaza. Do you really think 12 unarmed activists are going to get through the Israeli Navy?

So what was the point in taking a boat full of aid that's either going to get confiscated or worse, wasted?

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:22

Jujujudo · 08/06/2025 08:36

I’m waiting this one out. I think what actually happens will surprise everyone.

I'm interested in what you think will happen.

Understand if you don't want to speculate on here though.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 08/06/2025 09:23

So, now people think that countries should just let anyone into their territorial waters whilst they’re at war. Jesus wept. Wouldn’t it be more sensible for this British flagged vessel to drop these Sudanese to be dropped off in say Cyprus where there is a British base. It’s almost like Greta et al is using a human sheild.

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:23

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 09:22

So what was the point in taking a boat full of aid that's either going to get confiscated or worse, wasted?

To publicise the cause is the only point I can see but it's not like the war isn't already very public knowledge and discussed in the media all the time.

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:26

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 08/06/2025 09:23

So, now people think that countries should just let anyone into their territorial waters whilst they’re at war. Jesus wept. Wouldn’t it be more sensible for this British flagged vessel to drop these Sudanese to be dropped off in say Cyprus where there is a British base. It’s almost like Greta et al is using a human sheild.

I think they have already been dropped off.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 08/06/2025 09:26

sualipa · 08/06/2025 08:39

It looks like he was abducted by one of these head-chopping groups that are sadly only too prevalent in the Middle East - indeed the new President of Syria was one such type but has now come into the internationaly accepted fold. That if anything makes the flotiall even more brave to be putting their lives on the line to make their points.

The case often cited here is Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni, who was indeed abducted and killed in Gaza—but in April 2011, not 2008.

Arrigoni, working with a local solidarity group in Gaza, was kidnapped on 14 April 2011 by a Salafi-jihadist faction known as “Jahafil al‑Tawhid wa‑al‑Jihad fi Filastin” (Army of Islam). His body was found shortly after. The group claimed responsibility, though Hamas-led authorities later detained suspects

There was no widely documented case of an international aid or solidarity activist being abducted and murdered in Gaza in 2008.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Arrigoni

I’m sure a highly opinionated vocal woman is going to go down a storm with Hamas.

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:27

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 08/06/2025 09:26

I’m sure a highly opinionated vocal woman is going to go down a storm with Hamas.

Hmmm…

Greta… meet Hamas…

Badh · 08/06/2025 09:29

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 09:22

So what was the point in taking a boat full of aid that's either going to get confiscated or worse, wasted?

Read the thread or one article, the purpose have been explained a few times.

OP posts:
Jujujudo · 08/06/2025 09:32

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:22

I'm interested in what you think will happen.

Understand if you don't want to speculate on here though.

i think you and I think the same thing

Bumble6 · 08/06/2025 09:40

Badh · 08/06/2025 09:29

Read the thread or one article, the purpose have been explained a few times.

I have and the whole point it is to raise awareness and try and get aid to Gaza. Though apparently everyone is aware that it is highly unlikely they will get to Gaza.

TheignT · 08/06/2025 09:48

Jujujudo · 07/06/2025 21:56

Yet everything Hamas (a terrorist organisation) says is taken as absolute truth. Every Israeli strike, every single civilian death, all the propaganda and SM posts coming out of Gaza… nobody ever analyses or takes apart or even questions any of that.
But the literal GoPro footage filmed by terrorists themselves as they raped, burned, slaughtered and kidnapped - that must be wrong! How can that be? How is it possible that resistance and freedom fighters raped and tortured women while screaming god is great? Let’s get on the news and pull all the evidence apart. Y’know like George Orwell said (I’m using artistic license): Hamas good, Jews bad.

Well let journalists in then. BBC, Sky News and others are wanting to go in and report independently. Israel won't let them. I wonder why?

sidebirds · 08/06/2025 09:52

Badh · 08/06/2025 08:01

Very sad story of a man who stayed on long term and was murdered 7 years later. No I don’t think Greta will plan to live there long term with all of the immediate danger there.

No. Thunberg is a masterpiece of sincerity and will stay. Owen Jones will follow.

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:54

Greta is the main focus but her shipmates give an insight into a hidden agenda. According to this source, reports from the German outlet Bild suggest that at least some among them hold deeply anti-Western, pro-terrorist ideologies and seek the destruction of Israel.

Consider Omar Faiad, a journalist with the Qatari propaganda network Al Jazeera. Just days after the October 7 massacre, Faiad equated IDF soldiers with Nazis, writing that “Israel is carrying out a new Holocaust in Gaza.”

European Parliament member Rima Hassan blamed Israel for the deaths of Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Kfir and Ariel, falsely claiming they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Yasemin Acar, a veteran Berlin activist, has repeatedly expressed her hatred for Israel, Jews, Zionism and even German authorities. During Iran’s missile attack on Israel, she posted a video showing her dancing joyfully in her kitchen. In one protest, she was filmed altering a sign from “Destroy Hamas” to “Destroy Zionism,” and in another, she was caught yelling at a woman confronting her, “You’re a white woman—you don’t get to tell us what to do.”

Thiago Avila may be the most extreme example of the flotilla’s underlying agenda. In February, he attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, describing it as “a great honor” to be present. He referred to Nasrallah as a “martyred saint and beloved leader who inspired people across the globe, and a historic figure in the anti-colonial struggle.”

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sk6tmyyqxx

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 10:03

TheignT · 08/06/2025 09:48

Well let journalists in then. BBC, Sky News and others are wanting to go in and report independently. Israel won't let them. I wonder why?

Israel don't let international journalists in. The reason given that it is very unsafe considering the that is war raging on. Whether you believe that is the main reason or not (probably not) it is a separate issue from whether people in the West should believe everything we read coming out of Gaza, when we know that most of it comes from Hamas.

Do you honestly think Hamas always tell the truth?

Nowayyousure · 08/06/2025 10:04

Twiglets1 · 08/06/2025 09:54

Greta is the main focus but her shipmates give an insight into a hidden agenda. According to this source, reports from the German outlet Bild suggest that at least some among them hold deeply anti-Western, pro-terrorist ideologies and seek the destruction of Israel.

Consider Omar Faiad, a journalist with the Qatari propaganda network Al Jazeera. Just days after the October 7 massacre, Faiad equated IDF soldiers with Nazis, writing that “Israel is carrying out a new Holocaust in Gaza.”

European Parliament member Rima Hassan blamed Israel for the deaths of Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Kfir and Ariel, falsely claiming they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Yasemin Acar, a veteran Berlin activist, has repeatedly expressed her hatred for Israel, Jews, Zionism and even German authorities. During Iran’s missile attack on Israel, she posted a video showing her dancing joyfully in her kitchen. In one protest, she was filmed altering a sign from “Destroy Hamas” to “Destroy Zionism,” and in another, she was caught yelling at a woman confronting her, “You’re a white woman—you don’t get to tell us what to do.”

Thiago Avila may be the most extreme example of the flotilla’s underlying agenda. In February, he attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, describing it as “a great honor” to be present. He referred to Nasrallah as a “martyred saint and beloved leader who inspired people across the globe, and a historic figure in the anti-colonial struggle.”

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sk6tmyyqxx

Awful isn't it, yet people praise these individuals who are apparently "doing something'. Doing what though. Given their history, as you describe it, will people actually realise this and are aware what they support? Will people supporting these individuals actually care about these previous acts? 🤔

Nowayyousure · 08/06/2025 10:06

"Thiago Avila may be the most extreme example of the flotilla’s underlying agenda. In February, he attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, describing it as “a great honor” to be present. He referred to Nasrallah as a “martyred saint and beloved leader who inspired people across the globe, and a historic figure in the anti-colonial struggle.”

Ummm it's interesting what people support. Very telling.

ssd · 08/06/2025 10:11

There's a reason Israel won't let journalists in and we all know it. They don't want any proof of what they have done/are doing. No proof leads to no evidence, which would be handy for Netanyahu.

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