The ‘Freedom Flotilla’, which was supposed to sail from Europe to Gaza, has failed to reach the blockaded Gaza coast.
The last group of the flotilla, organized by at least four coalitions, was also detained by Israeli forces on Wednesday.
According to a news report of this newspaper on Thursday, the group also included Bangladeshi renowned photographer and rights activist Shahidul Alam.
We demand safety and immediate release of Alam and all other fellow passengers.
We hope that the interim government of Bangladesh, especially its chief advisor, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, will use his global influence in this matter.
It must be remembered that the massacre and destruction that Israel has been waging in Gaza for the past two years is unprecedented in world history.
More than 67,000 Palestinians have already been killed and more than 150,000 injured. A significant proportion of the casualties are women and children.
Moreover, for the past few months, the all-out blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza has been in place, making it impossible to break through and deliver emergency aid such as food and medicine.
As a result, Palestinians are losing their lives every day due to airstrikes on one side, starvation and lack of medical care on the other.
Such dominance of the occupier while remaining in their own land has never been seen in the civilized world.
Despite international protests and advice, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is adamant that there will be no agreement until the entire Gaza Strip is occupied.
For this reason, Israel is even trying to ignore US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal; even though the proposal is not intended to protect the endangered Gazans at all.
We know that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea guarantees freedom of navigation in the high seas.
Security Council Resolutions 2720 and 2728 also guarantee unhindered humanitarian access and does not allow any obstacles in the delivery of aid, and all UN member states are obliged to comply with these resolutions.
True, the more than 150 countries in the world have recognized Palestine as a state, including Britain, France, and Australia.
Despite this, the flow of sophisticated weapons, warplane parts, and money from all those Western countries to Israel has not stopped.
As public opinion in those countries is growing stronger in favour of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, Israel may soon have to accept that solution.
Even if the Freedom Flotilla fails to reach Gaza, it will remain a symbol of global conscience against barbarity.
