We Promised Them We Would Return

On August 23, 2008, 44 ordinary people from 17 different countries sailed from Cyprus to Gaza on two small wooden boats, the FREE GAZA and the LIBERTY. We did what our governments would not do - we broke the illegal Siege of Gaza.

When we arrived safely in Gaza on 23rd August after over 30 hours at sea, we were welcomed by tens of thousands of Palestinians lining the shore.

Four of us Americans, Mary Hughes Thompson, Paul Larudee, Riad Hamad and me had begun this movement in the fall of 2006. We’d succeeded beyond our wildest expectations that day we landed in the port. When we left Gaza 6 days later, we made the Palestinians three promises; 1. We would go back to our countries and talk about what we had seen, 2. We would take out Palestinians who needed medical treatment or had fellowships (in our 5 successful trips, 17 Palestinians accompanied us back to Cyprus) and...

3. We would return.

Since Operation Cast Lead in December 2008-January 2009, no boats have sailed into the shores of this tiny enclave, the only territory on the Mediterranean that has no right to its own waters and no right to fish beyond a tightly patrolled 6 miles off its coast. Israel had begun stealing our boats and kidnapping our passengers in June 2009. Yet we sailed.

In 2010, Israel murdered 10 of the Free Gaza movement’s passengers on board the Turkish Mavi Marmara as well as injuring dozens of others on all six boats. Yet still we sailed. Since 2010, the Freedom Flotilla has sailed 15 times to Gaza in flotillas as large as 8 boats and as small as one. Israel has brutally stopped everyone; passengers have been roughed up, kidnapped, thrown into prison, and the boats have been stolen. Still we sailed.

And now, the Palestinians in Gaza have been slaughtered by Israel in a two-year genocidal fury. Governments have become impotent; their words are empty. It’s up to civilians once again to sail to Gaza, this time on dozens of boats.

Forty-four countries and hundreds of people are sailing to Gaza to break Israel’s illegal siege, open a corridor and deliver humanitarian aid. The Free Gaza movement had morphed into the Freedom Flotilla which had grown into the Global Sumud Flotilla. What had begun as a movement of Internationals from the West had become an initiative of the Global South.

Two weeks ago, I stood at the shores of Tunis and watched as boats began to leave for Gaza. At 84, I was now the oldest activist and knew it was impossible for me to get on a boat and sail. But I had hopes that at least some of the boats would make it through to Gaza, delivering food and medical aid. We weren’t so naïve as to believe what we carried would make much of a dent to the people Israel was starving. But this flotilla, just like all the rest, was determined to open a humanitarian corridor in the sea, since Israel was locking up the extermination camp of Gaza and using its people for target practice.

Today, October 3, 2025, the last of the boats have been intercepted, the passengers kidnapped, and our boats stolen. Early this morning, I was inundated with questions, “What was the point?” “Why spend so much money and effort on a mission you knew would fail?” “What did you accomplish?”

Three reasons still stand, the same reasons we went in 2008 and broke Israel’s illegal siege five times.

1. If governments won’t stand up and stop Israeli war crimes, it’s up to civilian society to stop the slaughter of civilians. None of us wants to board rickety boats and sail, only to be kidnapped and arrested by the IOF, but after watching two years of Israeli genocide, civilians from 44 nations said, “Enough. We’re sailing to Gaza,” and three months later, the flotilla sailed.

2. This time, the world was watching, cheering on the boats, marching and demonstrating, and spreading the word. Social media has made a huge difference, and everyone under 40 no longer reads/watches mainstream media. The money spent on buying and outfitting the boats has been minuscule against the money and weapons the West has sent to Israel to murder and maim Palestinians. And it’s not just our boats sailing that is making a difference. Dockworkers around Europe are refusing to load Israeli arms shipments.

3. We may not have been able to deliver food (which Israel stole), but the Palestinian fishers were able to fish these past two days, feeding their families and their friends, because Israel couldn’t handle rounding up 44 boats. It took 14 hours to capture all of them, and at least one sailed into the waters of Gaza.

The next time, we will double that number. Millions around the world watched as well-armed Israeli terrorists boarded our boats and aimed their guns at civilians who had their hands up. The optics were horrific. More than half of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, and that number is even higher among the young.

As of this writing, another Flotilla has left, The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said that 11 more ships are sailing toward the Gaza Strip to break a years-long Israeli blockade. This new convoy, named “ThousandMadleens to Gaza,” is now off the coast of Crete.

In 2008, we promised the Palestinians in Gaza we would return. We intend to keep that promise until Gaza is free.