Councilwoman Mariana Conti, from Campinas, of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), and the president of the party in Rio Grande do Sul, Gabrielle Tolotti, will be two of the 13 Brazilians who will embark on a flotilla next Sunday (31) in Barcelona towards the alleged mission of “drilling the Israeli block” to the enclave and bring humanitarian aid.
According to Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, one of the figures behind the action, the new humanitarian aid flotilla will have participants from 44 countries.
“In August 31, we will launch the biggest attempt so far to break Israeli illegal siege to Gaza, with dozens of ships from Spain. We will join dozens of other ships on September 4, starting from Tunisia and other ports,” said the activist when he announced the new Flotilha, on August 12, in post on social networks.
Another Brazilian present on the vessel will be the Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, who was already arrested by Israel when making a similar trip in June this year. In addition to Brasiliense and Greta, ten other activists were arrested by Israeli military by being intercepted on the high seas while sailing toward Gaza.
At the end of last month, another vessel with the same goal could not reach the enclave – among those detained by Israel’s defense forces (FDI), according to Israeli press, an elderly activist was caught hiding more than 20 units of Haxixe (marijuana) in his clothes.
Israel claims that interceptions are made due to the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza to be closed to naval traffic for safety reasons. According to the government, if anyone wants to donate groceries to the enclave, “can do through the Port of Ashdod,” Israeli coastal city.
The government led by Benjamin Netanyahu also criticizes the “media staging”, comparing the almost zero amount of supplies on the vessel to the more than “1.8 million tons of help” taken by Israel to the enclave.
“They will be intercepted and will return home, unlike the hostage hostages,” says expert
HAS Gazeta do PovoDaphne Klajman, an expert in anti -Semitism and academic coordinator of Hillel Rio, said that the flotillas, which Israel calls the “yacht of the selfie”, have propaganda end and the embarked activists know that “will be intercepted and will return home.”
“They announce this knowing that they will not be able to go to Israel, because not only is illegal according to international law, but they have also been very tranquilized last time and were very peaceful back to their countries,” said Klajman on June 12, when the new vessel was announced.
She pointed out that after Israeli interception in the first flotilla, the activists were taken back home with all their rights respected. “We saw Greta’s photos on the plane, like any other passenger, tidy, eating food like everyone, in a completely peaceful way.”
The reason for repeating the attempt is not naivete for the expert. “It’s completely calculated, because they need media attention, she knows she will be intercepted, she knows she won’t go into Gaza, but this whole show will bring her a lot of headlines,” he says.
Klajman stated that Greta was famous for her activism in the environmental cause and that today, although there are still many environmental problems around the world, Swedish preferred to embrace the pro-Palestinian cause.
“The teenage project that took her [Greta] For the tabloids around the world, as a fighter for climate justice, it is no longer relevant, not because the problems ceased to exist, but because they no longer put her face on the covers of the newspapers. She has chosen the most popular agenda now, more polarized, to be able to position herself again as the leadership of activism in the world, “he said.
The expert criticized the way activists, including Brazilian Thiago Ávila, tried to position themselves in the media as “hostages of the Israeli government” when being detained on the high seas.
“The process of entering illegally in a country and being deported was done like any other process in the world, such as in cases where the person is arrested at the airport because he has no document to enter that country. They were deported on a commercial flight of a commercial airline with all the comforts of any other passenger,” he explained.
“They have not been chained, they receive food, are in rooms with air conditioning, bed, all to have the convenience they need in the country they are.”
She stressed that the activists claim hostage to “a conflict that began because of the hostages that were stolen and kidnapped from their homes by Hamas on October 7”.
“Both Greta and Thiago will be intercepted and will come home, completely different from Israeli hostages in Gaza for almost two years, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and with no prospect of returning,” he added.
