As Gaza faces over three months of Israeli blockade, a group of 12 activists is sailing to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. The Madleen ship was launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and initially planned to sail from Malta last month, but the group’s ship was damaged in a drone attack. The new mission includes the renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who speaks with Democracy Now! live from the Madleen. “We deem the risk of silence and the risk of inaction to be so much more deadly than this mission,” says Thunberg.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
As Gaza faces more than three months of a near-total Israeli blockade, activists are heading there now on a ship to deliver humanitarian aid. The boat is called the Madleen, named after Gaza’s first fisherwoman, who ran her father’s fishing business after he was injured in a 2009 Israeli attack. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition initially planned to sail from Malta last month, but their ship was damaged after it was bombed by drones in international waters. At Sunday’s launch of the Madleen from the Italian port of Catania, actor Liam Cunningham, known for his role in the series Game of Thrones, spoke out in support of the effort.
LIAM CUNNINGHAM: My name is Liam. I’m from Ireland. The reason I’m here, as far as I’m concerned, the heart and soul of humanity is in Gaza. For me, this attack, this genocide, is not just on Palestinians. It is on the whole human race. These wonderful, brave people who are setting off on this boat, they are heroes. And also, the people of Gaza for the last 600 days are heroes. They are — in my mind, they will always be heroes.
AMY GOODMAN: A group of 12 activists are carrying the aid for Gaza, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who will join us from the Madleen ship in a minute. She spoke Sunday at the launch.
GRETA THUNBERG: A month after our latest attempt to go on with this mission, the boat was bombed twice. All evidence suggests Israel. And we are doing this because we have to keep our promise to the Palestinians to do everything in our power to protest against the genocide and to try to open up a humanitarian corridor.
AMY GOODMAN: Since setting sail, passengers on the flotilla have faced many threats, including from U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who wrote on X, quote, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” unquote. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla has also been shadowed by at least one military helicopter and have reported drones circulating the ship. This is Thiago Ávila.
THIAGO ÁVILA: Hello, everyone. This is a new alert. We can clearly see a drone right now to our left. It’s gaining on us a little bit. We share this alert, second alert of the night, the third day of our journey to Gaza to break the siege and create a people’s humanitarian corridor aboard the Madleen. Please share our location. We’ll be sending the exact coordinates.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2010, Israel conducted a deadly raid on another Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara. Israeli commandos stormed the boat in international waters, killing nine people. A 10th died after four years in a coma.
For more, we’re joined from the international waters by Greta Thunberg, the internationally renowned Swedish climate activist known for inspiring the global youth climate strike. In 2019, she received the Right Livelihood Award. She’s also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Greta is speaking to us aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s vessel Madleen, which is on this voyage from Sicily to Gaza, again, carrying lifesaving aid in an attempt to break Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip.
Greta, it’s really something to see you on that ship right now. Can you tell us why you’re taking this journey, extremely dangerous, and how you’re planning to challenge the Israeli blockade?
GRETA THUNBERG: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, as you said, we are doing this mission following one month after our last attempt. Boat Conscience was bombed and disabled. So, that’s why we are trying again, because we cannot afford to give up. There is simply too much at stake. And in times of injustice, as we are seeing now the genocide and blockade happening, we have to do everything we can to demand an end to these atrocities and war crimes committed by Israel.
And for me personally, I happen to have a platform for some reason, and then it is my moral obligation to use that platform. And if my presence on this boat can make a difference, if that can show in any way that the world has not forgotten about Palestine, and to try once again to attempt to break the siege and open up a humanitarian corridor and deliver the extremely needed humanitarian aid, then that is a risk I am willing to take.
And it’s something that we just simply have to do. We cannot just sit, sit around and do nothing and watch this like live-streamed genocide unfold in front of our very eyes. So we are doing this because we are human beings who care about justice. And when our complicit governments fail to step up, it falls on us, unfortunately, to do so.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Greta, could you talk about how you see the issue of Palestinian freedom connecting to or intersecting with the issue that you’re best known for, which is climate change activism?
GRETA THUNBERG: Yeah. For me, there is no way of distinguishing the two. We cannot have climate justice without social justice. The reason why I am a climate activist is not because I want to protect trees. I’m a climate activist because I care about human and planetary well-being, and those are extremely interlinked. For example, when we see the genocide in Gaza, of course, there are some very obvious links, that ecocide, environmental destruction is a very common method used in war and to oppress people.
But also, it should be much simpler than that. No matter what the cause of the suffering is, whether that is CO2, whether that is bombs, whether that is state repression or other forms of violence, we have to stand up against that source of suffering. And if we pretend to care about the environment, if we pretend to care about the climate and our children’s future, without seeing and acknowledging and fighting against the suffering of all marginalized people today, then that is an extremely racist approach to justice that excludes the majority of the world’s population.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what is the mood aboard the ship? You have participants from Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, and you yourself are Swedish. What’s the mood there?
GRETA THUNBERG: The mood on board the ship is — I would say that our spirits are very high, and we are very determined to continue. So far, we have won over one of the major predicted obstacles, which is to be stuck in port due to the bureaucratic warfare that has been very strong, especially in the past. And the fact that we have gotten over that and that we are out sailing now and that we have gotten quite a far bit is already a victory in itself.
And, of course, this mission is — includes many risks, and we have done many risk assessments. But, of course, we deem the risk of silence and the risk of inaction to be so much more deadly than this mission, of course. And we are 12 peaceful volunteers who are not carrying weapons. We are carrying food, medical supplies and sanitary products and other very needed humanitarian aid into Gaza following the blockade. And we will meet whatever is thrown at us with nonviolence in any scenario. So, we are trying to prepare and to maximize our safety and the success of this mission as much as we can.
AMY GOODMAN: Greta, as you attempt to bring in baby formula, medical kits, flour, prosthetics for kids with amputations, the Israeli military has threatened to block the Freedom Flotilla. The Israeli army says it’s prepared to raid your ship. We know what happened to the Mavi Marmara with the Israeli raid and the killing of nine activists on board. Ultimately, a 10th died. So, are you seeing drones? How are you prepared to deal?
GRETA THUNBERG: Yeah, yeah, we are seeing drones. Last night, there were two different moments where there were drones circulating above us. And we are — we have safety procedures that we will use, and we have different scenarios that we are prepared for to try to maximize our safety in a nonviolent way. So, we are trying to do our very best. And it shows quite a bit that peaceful volunteers who are carrying humanitarian aid necessary for survival is being threatened to be raided, intercepted or attacked. I think that says quite a lot about the priorities and approaches of Israel right now.
But we must also remember that this mission is not about us. It is not about the voyage or the people on board. This mission is about Palestine. It is about the genocide, the occupation, ethnic cleansing and the other methods of war and oppression that are being used by Israel against the Palestinians. And we do not only need humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza. We do not only need a ceasefire. We need an end to the occupation.
AMY GOODMAN: How do you plan to break the military blockade around Gaza?
GRETA THUNBERG: Sorry. What did you say?
AMY GOODMAN: How do you plan to break the military blockade around Gaza?
GRETA THUNBERG: We are planning to continue sailing until we cannot sail anymore. It is very difficult to predict what scenario it will be, but as far as we know, we are planning to continue, to continue as we are now.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what is your message to folks around the world, especially to young people who, throughout —
GRETA THUNBERG: Yeah.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: — the advanced countries, seem to have much more interest and dedication to ending the war in Gaza?
GRETA THUNBERG: My message is that right now international law is failing us. International institutions, our governments are failing us. Media, our companies are all failing us. Or “failing us” is a diplomatic way of saying that our system seems to be designed in a way that is built upon exploitation and oppression of people. And so, there’s no one to turn to. There’s no one we can turn to to rescue the situation, but it falls on us to step up, to continue flooding the streets, to continue organizing, boycotting, to speak up on all platforms to try to send a clear message that we will not stand for what is happening right now.
AMY GOODMAN: According to Al Jazeera, Greta, they’re saying, according to flight radar, which tracks aircraft movements, an Israel-made Hellenic Coast Guard drone, IAI Heron UAV, hovered over the Madleen ship. The drone’s deployment was confirmed by the Greek Ministry of Defense. We’re speaking to you from the United States, where the —
GRETA THUNBERG: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: — South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” Your response?
GRETA THUNBERG: We can swim very well. It says a lot about their priorities, that in the face of genocide and systematic starvation of 2 million people, lawmakers, elected officials, whose responsibility should be to serve the people and to protect the people, that they, rather than ending their complicity in genocide and the massive slaughtering of civilians, are focusing on mocking people who are at least trying to do their bit. I think that says everything we need to know about their priorities.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, your message to Palestinians who perhaps have read about or heard about your voyage, are awaiting your arrival? What is your message to them?
GRETA THUNBERG: My message to them would be that we stand behind you in every step of the way. We are standing in solidarity with you. We see you. And I am also — my deepest apologies on behalf of the outside world, especially the Western world, that we continue to betray you and that more people are not stepping up. But I promise that at least we here will try our very best to stand up for you —
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Greta —
GRETA THUNBERG: — as well, and to support you in your struggle.
AMY GOODMAN: Greta, we wish you all safety. Greta Thunberg, internationally —
GRETA THUNBERG: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: — renowned Swedish climate activist who inspired the global youth climate strike. She’s won the Right Livelihood Award, has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was speaking to us aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s vessel Madleen, which is on a voyage from Sicily to Gaza carrying lifesaving aid in an attempt to break Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip. It’s day three of what they expect to be a seven-day trip. We’ll continue to follow it.
Many people, armed only with moral and political convictions, would be too intimidated to confront an army or navy directly. But not all.
Twelve nonviolent human-rights activists with the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) are currently sailing a small boat, the Madleen, to Gaza. They hope to create a humanitarian sea corridor through Israel’s illegal blockade. If all goes well, they should arrive this weekend, with “baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.”
They know the danger. Ten volunteers were killed by Israeli commandos when they boarded the Mavi Marmara in 2010. But, as Greta Thunberg said before she embarked last Sunday, “We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”
How Palestinians See It
The history is important, and one does not have to approve of Hamas’ attack against Israeli civilians in October 2023 to understand that.
During the Nakba in 1948, at least 750,000 Palestinians were violently displaced from their homelands by Zionist paramilitaries and nascent Israeli forces. As Palestinian-Canadian Samah Al-Sabbagh recently told a crowd, those who survived that colonial onslaught left their “homes, land, olive groves, even the freshly baked bread.”
The occupation has never stopped, and now the violence is more high-tech and all-inclusive in its reach. In Gaza, bombs (largely supplied by the United States) have destroyed homes, apartment buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, churches, and more—leaving thousands buried under rubble. Adding to that nightmare, doctors report the intentional killing of children with high-velocity bullets that can destroy surrounding tissues and organs.
The death toll is staggering. As of May 27, 2025, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that at least 54,056 people, including at least 17,400 children, have been confirmed as killed in Gaza since October 2023.
For those still living, Israel’s stranglehold on international humanitarian aid has created widespread malnutrition and starvation, with babies and children the most vulnerable. “One in five people in Gaza, about 500,000 people, faces starvation, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification platform said on May 12,” according to the UN. Indeed, the UN calls Gaza the “hungriest place on Earth.”
Israel and its fellow perpetrators, including the United States, refuse to take seriously the rulings by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, much less the many human-rights groups decrying genocide, and less still the students and people in the streets making a ruckus for justice.
Perhaps the perpetrators think that ignoring the voice of the people will make it stop, that heartbroken people will give up their moral and legal agency. They should think again.
A Global Civil Society Initiative of Unarmed Civilians
Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American lawyer and activist. She has worked with the International Solidarity Movement, the Free Gaza Movement, and more recently the FFC. Her rationale for sending small, unarmed boats in nonviolent direct actions against Israeli policy? “Our governments have failed. And so the people are taking action.”
Lawyers Arraf and Luigi Daniele assert that there is a strong legal basis for citizens taking action, as world governments ignore their “clear and urgent humanitarian obligations.”
In August 2008, the Free Gaza Movement successfully delivered aid to Gaza, using two small fishing boats named Liberty and Free Gaza. Participants included 44 activists from 17 countries, and they promised that they’d keep returning “until the siege on Gaza was broken.”
Included in the aid they brought were 200 pairs of hearing aids—far short of the 9,000 requested—because so many children were experiencing hearing loss as a result of Israel’s sonic booms.
Two years later, on May 31, 2010, the Israeli navy swarmed the Mavi Marmara. This ship was part of a larger flotilla, carrying nearly 700 people, which was attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Israelis killed 10 activists—one died after being comatose for four years—and wounded fifty more.
Although the UN Human Rights Council declared the attack illegal—and despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey, whose citizens were killed—Israel continued its oppressive blockade.
Between 2010 and 2024, the FFC continued to challenge the siege. But “all ships were pirated by the IOF, and participants were assaulted, kidnapped, interrogated, imprisoned, and/or deported.” (“IOF” identifies the IDF as an occupation force.)
By May 2, 2025, the FFC had prepared their next attempt. The ship was named Conscience as an appeal to the world’s conscience. It was sitting in international waters near Malta, waiting for the volunteers to board and set out for Gaza. But the crew heard drones, and Conscience was struck by two explosives.
“The bombing was a deliberate act of aggression and intimidation,” the FFC wrote on their website. “Four crew members were injured, the ship was set ablaze, communications were severed, and the vessel was left adrift and taking on water. The attack occurred in European waters, in violation of international law.”
Madleen: Never Give Up
The activists say of the Madleen, “She may be small, but her mission is powerful: To break the silence. To challenge Israel’s illegal blockade through nonviolent direct action. To stand firmly and unapologetically, with Gaza.”
The Madleen set sail on June 1, one day after the fifteenth anniversary of the murderous assault on the Mavi Marmara. Activists gathered in Catania, Sicily, in preparation for their launch. The boat is named for Gaza’s first gender-role-defying fisherwoman; she personifies FFC’s steadfastness.
The ship’s namesake, Madleen, fell in love with the sea as a young child. When she was only 13 years old, she took over her injured father’s fishing boat and became the main breadwinner for her family. Although Madleen’s focus was on her family’s survival—not politics—she shared the fishermen’s encounters with Israeli patrols. She recounted, “They often directly attacked my boat. They stole my fishing nets more than once. The thing was that each time they attacked me, I would get a little stronger. I never gave up.”
Years later, she hopes her two daughters will become “two strong fisherwomen.”
May Madleen and the activists happily meet in Gaza this month. And may this stubbornly committed “civil society initiative of unarmed civilians” help the world see that legal and moral obligations are not overridden by governments’ corrupt colonial agendas.
To that end, the FFC asks that people raise their voices and contact the media and government officials to express support for breaking the siege against Gaza.
Readers can track the progress of the Madleen in real time and explore ways to support the FFC’s work. They promise: “We sail until Palestine is free.”
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