Palestine: when the international system fails

IT IS JUNE 2025 and the “Madleen”, a small boat crewed by 12 humanitarian activists, has been illegally boarded and seized by Israeli naval commandos while sailing in international waters. Her crew of international activists is detained in Israeli custody.

- YESHELEN GOVENDER

The Madleen was sailing to Gaza, the Palestinian enclave that Israel has besieged, bombed and blockaded into starvation (but not submission).

Among her crew is the prominent 22-year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg, and Rima Hassan, a French European Parliament member.

The boat was carrying a small amount of essential humanitarian aid, such as food and medicine, and was symbolically attempting to accomplish the dangerous task of breaking the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.

In Cairo, Egypt, there is a large group of international humanitarian activists and civil society organisations gathering for a march to the closed Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah. Among them is Chief Zwelivile Mandla Mandela, the grandson of our late President Nelson Mandela.

In Tunisia, the “Convoy of Resilience” or Sahmoud Caravan has set out on the long journey to Gaza. The convoy is carrying small supplies of food and medicine.

Like the Madleen, the convoy intends to symbolically break the blockade and deliver its vital supplies.

In the UK, a direct-action group called Palestine Action has formed branches. Its members have been successfully disrupting factories and businesses supplying military equipment to Israel.

Millions across the globe have been protesting the continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Massive marches and boycotts take place in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Why? What are these diverse and disparate groups of people attempting?

They have a singular purpose. To deliver a message from the international solidarity movement to the people of Palestine, that they have not been forgotten. It is also a message of warning to our failing states and international institutions, that they must act decisively to ensure the preservation of international humanitarian law and the cessation of the Israeli aggression.