TEHRAN – Veteran activist Greta Berlin remains determined as Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe deepens and the international community continues to tackle the fallout of Israel’s months of siege. The ship continues sailing.
Berlin, co-founder of the Frigaza movement and a leading voice in global civil resistance to Israel’s Gaza blockade, spoke with the Tehran Times on the eve of the first successful fleet to Gaza, held on August 23, 2008.
Her remarks come amidst new tensions following the recent interception of Handara, a humanitarian aid ship bound by Gaza by Israeli forces in international waters. The passengers were reportedly detained and the ship was seized. This is an incident that reflects the pattern of obstruction that was fulfilled by previous fleet missions.
In this exclusive interview, Berlin discusses the evolving role of civil society, the symbolic power of fleet activity, and her unwavering belief that international grassroots pressure must break what is called Israel’s “illegal siege” in Gaza.
Below is the interview text.
Can you explain the latest events surrounding Israeli military intercepting Handara ships?
The free Gaza movement sailed to Gaza five times in 2008. This is the only initiative to date that will be done. Since 2009, when Israel began attacking our boats, we and the Freedom Flotira Union have been sending over 40 boats to break Israel’s illegal siege against Gaza. It is not surprising that Israeli pirates illegally boarded handlers in international waters, lured passengers and towed the boats to Israel. The Israeli government then arrests passengers, throws them into prison and accusss them of illegally entering Israel. The piloting of Israeli passengers has not been changed for 16 years, but the boat continues to sail into the imprisoned territory of Gaza, putting Israel responsible for imprisoning more than 2 million Palestinians.
Reports show that millions of people at risk of starvation are facing a serious food crisis. How important is the role of fleet missions like handlers in dealing with this humanitarian emergency?
Our mission has always been done on global civil society, working with Palestinian civil society to break the illegal siege of Israel. It’s not about delivering supplies, but about paying attention to the world where Israel has had Palestinians in concentration camps since 2005. Yes, we can incorporate token supplies, but our goal is to continue to tell the world that Gaza is the only territory of the Mediterranean. Gaza has been occupied since 1967 and I watch Israel close the Palestinian movement every year.
How has the recent resumption of limited humanitarian delivery affect the state of Gaza and where are the important gaps still remaining?
This question is difficult for us to answer as we are not politicians who are part of the US/Israel who are trying to starve the people of Gaza. But those who watch Palestinian children die of starvation should be applauded by Israeli actions and the acquiescence of the United States. It is clear that Netanyahu and his Setler thug gang are allowing the US government to “finish work,” as Trump just said. As Americans, we are delighted that food has become a weapon of war.
Western governments and mainstream media have been criticized for their calm or inconsistent coverage of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. From your perspective, how did this have an impact on international response and public awareness?
I have been working full time in Palestine for 58 years, in full 25 years. Since October 7, 2003, there has been a change in the ocean thanks to social media and the West (and elsewhere) that have relied on getting news from YouTube, Tiktok, Reddit, and not mainstream media, and thousands of podcasts.
I highly recommend that you see this change in public consciousness. Watch the massive demonstrations around the world for the Palestinians and watch the genocide of Israel. Mainstream media are reluctantly beginning to report the truth about Israeli genocide. When mobile phones tell the truth, seeing Palestinians slaughtered daily and now dying of starvation, it becomes increasingly difficult to hide Israel’s war crimes. Even the New York Times and the BBC began to tell the truth, or some of the truth. And the Global South went west. Countries such as Malaysia, South Africa, Iran, Yemen, Colombia and Venezuela have long defended justice in Palestine.
Could you comment on the general story that challenges and the role of independent activists and fleet missions in putting pressure on the government for humanitarian relief in Gaza?
When it sailed five times to Gaza in 2008, the Free Gaza movement began to develop a lot of activism. For our bold sailing, activists began a free march in Gaza from Egypt in 2009.
We were pioneers of destroying sea sieges, but there were others who were destroying sieges on land. For two years, Israel attacked our Fleet I of Freedom, Mabimarmara, killing ten passengers, and a convoy of sea and land was ongoing for Gaza.
August 23rd marks the 17th anniversary of the Frigaza movement’s first successful journey. Looking back, what do you think is the most important achievements and challenges since your first voyage?
This is how it all started. Mary Hughes Thompson and I were sitting at the Knights Palace in 2005 when Sharon pulled illegal Israeli settlers out of Gaza. We watched with joy as if they were forced into the bus, pushed and screamed, forcing them to leave Gaza. Israel has loudly declared to the world that Gaza is free.
Within a few days, dozens of us who volunteered for the international solidarity movement began to come up with ideas on how to get to Gaza. Three of us, all graduates of the direct action of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), decided that we would call their bluffs and organize the first fleet of boats…
After all, Gaza is now free, and we didn’t need to ask Israel for permission…and we didn’t.
Even the New York Times and the BBC began to speak truth or part of the truth about Israel’s genocide. We succeeded because we had the close core we already trusted when we were working with ISM. In fact, the majority of passengers were ISM graduates.
We never lost sight of our purpose being looming, but sailing to Gaza, so we succeeded.
We were successful because three of our organizers were over 65 years old, ran our own business and did not have to pay. And we were Americans. No matter how lightly the government’s actions against Palestine, there is one thing we must say about Americans in the United States.
We are eternal optimists. Citizens are so realistic that this direct action would never have left the ground in many other countries. We weren’t.
Our first trip was a huge success. No one thought we would do it, but we did. The Israelites didn’t know what to do with us because they called Gaza free as their bluff. They called us “aged hippies” and sneered at our boat.
We took us everything they said and sent it out in a press release. The activists’ world became engrossed, and the closer they got to sail, the more the media finally paid attention.
We were doing something different. That was the appeal of the action. There were no international boats sailing to Gaza 41 years later.
And we went four more times before Israel attacked the boat during Operation Cast Lead in December 2009. Since then, we have not been able to land in Gaza. And then, knowing that was our big challenge, we continued sailing to the coast of Gaza, knowing that we were being intercepted, our boats were confiscated, passengers were arrested, deported, and equipment was stolen. Continuing these voyages is expensive and that is another challenge. Sending one or two boats at a time is no longer a viable option. You need dozens to hundreds of boats.
And that’s what we want. All of us who took part in these voyages. There are new initiatives that begin in Malaysia and other countries. It is called the Global Smood Fleet and brings together activists and organizers from over 40 countries with dozens of ships.
This mission is to respond to the recent seizure of Handala ships by Israeli authorities. So we see that the more Israel stops its fleet, the more global attention they have and the more widespread it has.
Our activists are eagerly waiting for the organizers to let us know what we can do and when our fleet will sail to Gaza.
The 1000 Flotilla campaign launched a global call to break Israel’s siege against Gaza following the seizure of Madleen, a humanitarian ship led by Greta Thunberg.
Named after a Palestinian girl whose bloody image of a flag raised has become a viral symbol of resistance, Madleen was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, despite carrying only humanitarian aid. The fate of passengers, including Tanberg, remains unknown.
This offensive act of aggression has strengthened international anger and promoted support for the campaign. The 1000 Fleet initiative aims to mobilize 1,000 civilian ships from around the world to peacefully challenge blockades under international maritime law.
Organizers call the siege a crime against humanity and vow to sail in solidarity, calling for an end to Gaza’s collective punishment, not weapons.
1,000 Fleet Initiative to Break the Siege – Islamic Organization of the Malaysian Council (Mapim)
Our initiative has brought people together from all over the world in countries that may be in trouble, but we don’t. Our only problem was always to sail to Gaza and break the illegal siege of Israel.