Defying Israel More Ships Sail to Gaza

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Sparking global outrage in condemnation. Israel has illegally intercepted every single vessel and captured every volunteer sailing to Gaza with the Global Summed Flotilla. Every single Flotilla member that we have interviewed here on the Real News in recent weeks has been detained. Israel’s extremist, national Security Minister and genocide enthusiast Imar Ben Vere, is calling for Flotilla activists to be jailed rather than deported. I think they must be kept here for a few months in an Israeli prison so that they get used to the smell of the terrorist wing. Ben Vere posted on X, the fate of every humanitarian activist captured by Israel and the fate of the people’s international movement to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip depends on what people of conscience around the world do right now and people are taking action. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Italy yesterday in a one day general strike called by Italian unions in solidarity with the global Saud Flotilla. Other protests over the Flotillas captured have erupted around the world, and another smaller fleet is currently sailing to Gaza as we speak. And I’m honored to be joined on the Real News today by a member of the Freedom Flotilla fleet who is calling in from onboard the ship conscience right now.

Mskwaasin Agnew:

Thank you so much for having me. My name is Mskwaasin Agnew. I’m Cree & Dene from Salt River First Nation, born and raised in the city of Toronto, Canada. And I’m currently aboard the conscience with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to Break the Sea gaa. I’m a healthcare worker and we are about four days out. We just met up with the folks from thousand Melines. So there are eight other vessels and we are slowly approaching the red zone. So we’re in the Mediterranean Sea, just over Egypt.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Man, that’s intense, but especially given what we’ve seen transpire this week, and I kind of just wanted to ask on that human level, like how are you and everyone on board feeling right now just sailing into the red zone just days after everyone on board the Global Saud Flotilla was captured illegally by Israel.

Mskwaasin Agnew:

Yeah, you know what? We remain undeterred by Israel’s barbarism. We are going to continue to go forward. We know that we can’t depend on our governments to take action, to do the right thing. We are fully within our right with an international law to deliver humanitarian aid. It’s Israel who is breaking international law by their illegal block aid and refusing humanitarian aid. We are a crew of healthcare workers and journalists currently. There’s healthcare workers and journalists being assassinated by the settler occupation Israel. And that’s so the world can’t know the truth. And also what’s happening in Gaza is me aside not being allowed medical equipment, not being able to care for their patients, not even having their basic needs to do so. So we know that this is something that we have to do and this is what it takes.

Maximillian Alvarez:

I want to ask if you could just say a little more about that, because we’ve interviewed here on the Real news, many doctors returning from medical delegations in Gaza, and what they have described is beyond horrifying. And of course, as we speak, with Israel’s full scale invasion of Gaza City and destruction of Gaza City, healthcare workers continue to be slaughtered along with citizens, journalists, everybody.

Mskwaasin Agnew:

Absolutely. There’s doctors and medics and nurses aboard this vessel that have been on the ground in Gaza in the past two years. Some of them are Palestinian, some of them have family in Gaza. Listen, as a healthcare worker, this is something that we have a duty. We have a duty to care for our patients. It’s really disturbing to see even people with the most easily treatable illnesses that are dying from healthcare complications. And what’s really, really disturbing is every single hospital in Gaza has been targeted, decimated, burned to the ground, makeshift tents that were erected to treat patients are then targeted as well. We’re talking about young, old, everybody, Gaza. The children in Gaza make up for the world the highest amount of amputees in the world. And as a First Nations person, it’s no secret that my own people don’t get adequate healthcare living under settler occupation. Racism in healthcare is something that I’m very familiar with and at home. And you know what? To me this is no different. We have a duty to be here and we can’t leave these people behind. Even some of the medics that are on board when we do break the siege creator willing that they actually do intend on staying in Gaza to treat people and to care for people. And that’s how dedicated some of these medics are.

Maximillian Alvarez:

I want to ask about how you’re seeing all this as an indigenous person, as a First Nation citizen, as someone living in North America, the site of a successful settler colonial project that required a genocide of indigenous people across the continent to be complete. And now my country, the United States of America, is the number one supporter of the settler colonialist project and genocide of Israel in the Middle East. So I wanted to ask if you could just kind of talk to other citizens of North America about that in a perspective that you have that compels you to feel that sense of duty to sail to Gaza right now.

Mskwaasin Agnew:

Yeah. So in Turtle Island, we live under G settler occupation. The reservation system in Turtle Island actually was a blueprint for the Israeli apartheid system. Our people have lived through genocide before and that we know that none of us are free until we’re all free. You can look to a statement from the assembly of First Nations that recognizes Palestinians as indigenous peoples and our rights as indigenous peoples around the world according to the United Nations. And we see that Canada has recognized Palestine as a state, and just a few years ago they apologized for residential schools and they had the 94 recommendations and calls to action. And they have failed to act on any of them. And just as Canada has failed to implement an arms embargo or sanction Israel. So Canada is really good at making a lot of promises and using a lot of words.

And according to international politics, Canada is seen as this really great country. But really it’s no different than the United States. It’s actually really quite the same. So we look to the Indian Act and see how the effects of settler colonialism has had an impact on our people. And we know that the genocide that’s happening in Palestine right now, it’s going to have its aftermath for decades and decades to come. I’m here as an act of global indigenous solidarity, and there are many, many people, many indigenous nations across Turtle Island that support the Palestinian people and their liberation struggle.

Maximillian Alvarez:

Well, I know I’ve got to let you go. You’ve got an intense few days coming up and we don’t know what will happen. But I do know that so many people around the world see you all see the folks on the global Saud Flotilla see this effort as one of the few sources of hope in a very bleak, dark world. And I wanted to just sort of end on that message. What message do you hope this flotilla is sending to the rest of the world? And what is your message to folks out there watching about what they can do to help ensure the success of your mission and to help the people of Gaza who are being obliterated before our eyes?

Mskwaasin Agnew:

Absolutely. The Flotilla is not the story. The story is Gaza. The story is what they’re going through. And none us are here without knowing that we’re taking risk. And so people can write letters, sign petitions, and make phone calls to their elected representatives. But it’s really important to remember the reason why we’re putting our bodies on the line is because we want Israel to be sanctioned and we want a full two ways arms embargo. So it’s really important that when people are making those phone calls, that they’re mentioning that and they’re not just concerned for us as Canadian citizens. And I would say furthermore, it’s time to just do more than make phone calls and sign petitions and write letters. It’s time to take to the streets and it’s time to shut it down. We need to do more.