Quando ci rifiutiamo di accettare l’inaccettabile, quando mettiamo i nostri corpi tra l’ingiustizia e le sue vittime, possiamo davvero cambiare il corso della storia, per quanto modestamente. 

A message from David Adler:

I fear this will be the last letter

Dear friends, I fear this will be the final letter that I write to you from the Global Sumud Flotilla — now just 120 NM from the shores of Gaza. Last night, several Israeli naval ships menaced our convoy.

They attacked our vessels, intimidated our crew, and disabled our communications. We recognize these tactics from previous flotilla missions. We know that they are the precursor to what we have long feared: illegal Israeli abduction in international waters. As I write this, we are preparing ourselves for such an imminent attack. We know the procedures.

We know the protocols. When they board our boats, we will not resist. We are ready. From our cell phones and our CCTVs, we will do our best to document everything. We will transmit it to the world. And we will rely on you to spread the word about this criminal attack. But before they intercept us, I want to say something — corny, I know; copium, possibly — but that I truly believe nonetheless: that even if we do not complete our mission this time, the Sumud flotilla has already achieved so much. The flotilla has rallied the world’s attention once again to the suffering of the people of Gaza.

The flotilla has joined land and sea in the mass mobilization of millions. And the flotilla has forced reluctant states into active confrontation with the illegal siege that has starved the people of Palestine and robbed them of their right to self-determination.

Above all, the flotilla has proven that ordinary people – doctors, fishermen, students, journalists, lawyers, clergymen, and retirees from 44 countries – can not only unite around a sense moral outrage, but also take matters into their own hands to do something about it.

We set sail from Barcelona not just as a symbolic gesture of solidarity — but as an act of construction: to build a permanent humanitarian corridor to reach the people of Gaza by sea. And while our boats may be intercepted, that idea cannot detained.

The demand for a corridor will outlive this flotilla; a new fleet of ships is already on its way from Corsica to break the siege. Our movement only grows. When Israeli authorities forcibly board our vessels in the coming hours, please know that they will be committing an act of piracy.

They will be violating the sovereignty of the seas. They will be obstructing a peaceful humanitarian mission witnessed by the entire world. Let them try to justify it. Let them explain to the international community why our humble effort to feed the starving people of Gaza represents some threat to their national security. No one will believe them. The Hasbara simply doesn’t hit anymore. From here on the Ohwayla, I can say that we are not afraid of interception, interrogation, or incarceration. What we fear is a world where such abductions become routine. Where humanitarians are treated as criminals.

Where bringing food to hungry children is called terrorism. So when you hear that we have been intercepted – and you will hear it, within the coming hours – please do not fear for us. We knew what we were sailing toward. We made this choice with open eyes and full hearts. Instead, let’s raise hell!

Make those Insta posts, yell at our pathetic representatives, and join our demand for a corridor now. Not as a dream, but as a concrete policy. The infrastructure we could not complete, states must build.

The siege we came to break, they must end once and for all. If there is one thing I have learned on this journey, surrounded by these extraordinary new friends from every corner of the earth, it is this: that collective action really is a beautiful thing.

When we refuse to accept the unacceptable, when we put our bodies between injustice and its victims, we really can alter the course of history, however modestly. I guess more than anything, I want to thank you all for your support, your love, and your company on this mission. I hope it is not too long before I see you on the other side. Yours with love, David