The Flotilla: period and continued

The Israeli military assault on the peaceful and humanitarian flotilla that set sail from Barcelona to denounce the plight of Gaza is not a final point. It is a continuation. As long as the genocide in the Strip continues unabated, citizen pressure cannot cease, no matter how far the distance between the indignation and shame in the streets and the harsh global geopolitical reality remains. If it were still possible, the flotilla has made even more evident the collapse of multilateral diplomacy and, more specifically, the impotence of the UN and the lukewarmness of Europe. Instead of a civilian flotilla, a military force—Blue Helmets—should have been sent to Gaza long ago to make a ceasefire possible, to guarantee minimum survival conditions for the Palestinian population, and to facilitate negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages and the disarmament of Hamas.

But none of this, in practice, has even been on the table. With the explicit and uninhibited support of US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to act with absolute impunity in the execution of a planned genocide. Just as the Jewish ultranationalist leader's isolation seemed to be growing in recent weeks, Trump once again came to his rescue, first by belittling the UN during the General Assembly and then by receiving the Israeli leader himself at the White House and presenting a peace plan for Gaza for which he has garnered broad support in Gaza.

Netanyahu has thus been able to take the Flotilla-led campaign in his stride, welcoming it as expected. It hasn't even tickled him. The Tel Aviv government has ruthlessly dismissed it, even mockingly referring to it as the "Greta Thunberg and Friends" gang. Of course, the symbolic aid carried by the forty boats and the 400 members who sailed on them has also been denied entry. No concessions.

In this context of political impotence in the face of the Netanyahu-Trump tandem's steamroller, civil society's gesture makes perfect sense. The flotilla's real objective, perfectly legitimate and confessable, has indeed been propaganda: to raise awareness and highlight, once again, the brutality with which Israel is acting, not only militarily, but also in violation of all humanitarian red lines of international law. Thousands of people, including children, are being starved to death, and we are watching it broadcast live. It is difficult to understand those who look the other way.

It is not necessary to agree ideologically with the crew members to applaud the dignity of their commitment and to express their support on the streets. Its members, among them many Catalans and Spaniards, have demonstrated courage and determination. Those in Barcelona and Madrid who have mocked the initiative, on the other hand, demonstrate political sectarianism and humanitarian blindness, as well as playing into the hands of Netanyahu's genocidal government. History will judge us all by what we have done—or not done—and by what we have said—or kept silent—about the tragedy in Gaza.