Over 1,000 Gather in Tunisia to Welcome Gaza-Bound Aid Flotilla

More than 1,000 people gathered Sunday at the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said to welcome an aid vessel from Barcelona carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian campaigners seeking to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

“We all know why we are here,” Thunberg told the crowd. “Just across the water there’s a genocide going on, a mass starvation by Israel’s war machine.”

European Parliament member Rima Hassan also attended the port welcome, hailing the Global Sumud Flotilla as a people-driven initiative.

“The Palestinian cause is not in the hands of governments today. It is in the hearts of peoples everywhere,” Hassan said, adding that states had shown “cowardice” in failing to support Palestinian rights. She did not confirm whether she would board the flotilla when it resumes its voyage to Gaza on Wednesday.

Organizers said more than 130 people from several countries have registered to join boats departing from Tunis. They described the Global Sumud Flotilla as an independent movement unaffiliated with any government or political party.

The departure had already been delayed for “technical and logistical reasons,” the organizers noted.