Aid flotillas like the one preparing to leave for Gaza would not be necessary if governments upheld international law, rights activist Greta Thunberg told AFP Saturday.
“It should not have to be up to us,” said the 22-year-old Swedish campaigner, who will join the flotilla when it sets off from Barcelona on Sunday.
“A mission like this should not have to exist,” she added.
“It is the responsibility of countries, of our governments and elected officials to act to try to uphold international law, to prevent war crimes, to prevent genocide,” she said.
“That is their legal duty to do. And they are failing to do so. And thereby betraying Palestinians but also all of humanity.”
The latest aid expedition towards Gaza is organised by a group called the Global Sumud Flotilla, which describes itself as an “independent” organisation. Sumud is the Arab word for perseverance.
“Our aim is to get to Gaza, to deliver the humanitarian aid, announce the opening of a humanitarian corridor and then bring more aid, and then thus also ending, breaking Israel’s illegal and inhumane siege on Gaza,” said Thunberg.
Two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July, were blocked by Israel.
Troops boarded their vessels and detained the activists, bringing them ashore in Israel before expelling them. Thunberg was among the 12 activists on board the June flotilla and was deported.
The organisers of this latest flotilla have not said exactly when they are setting off, nor how many boats will leave from Barcelona.
The UN on August 22 declared a famine in Gaza, blaming Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid, sparking furious denials from the Israeli authorities.
