“Compared to the horror in Gaza, it’s nothing”

Paul Murphy (Ireland): There’s a genocide, you know about it, you can see it, you know that 60,000 people were killed. As was the case in Ireland, there is an organized famine. So, we have a duty to do something and put pressure on our own governments to act accordingly.

All those who participate in the flotilla run the risk of being arrested by the Israeli army and detained. We can’t know what will happen. It is possible that the boats will be sabotaged in the port and that they will not be able to leave, there is the possibility of an attack at sea – we saw drone attacks a few months ago.

And there is the possibility of being kidnapped in international waters, being taken to Israel and being detained there. This is what happened most of the time. There is therefore a personal risk in this action. But compared to the horror that people in Gaza are experiencing, this is nothing, absolutely nothing.

 “Our conscience is now in Gaza”

Mariana Mortágua (Portugal): We are on our way, and I would like to ask you something. This is your third attempt to go to Gaza. I’d like to know why you keep trying?

Greta Thunberg: We promised the Palestinians that we would continue to do everything in our power to liberate Palestine. Giving up is simply not an option. When we are confronted with oppression, genocide, war crimes that happen every day, it is our duty to stand up and act.

And we will come back until we have reached our goal. What we are doing now is responding to the call of the Palestinians to end the complicity of our states, acting in solidarity with them and using all the means at our disposal, such as these boats, or even our own bodies to try to get there.

You are known for your activism on the environment. Why does a person from Sweden or Europe, who has spent their life doing something else, think it’s important to be here?

I have not changed my orientation in my activism. I always act in accordance with the same values. I always act according to the principles of justice, sustainability and well-being for humans, the planet and our ecosystems. For me, these principles are extremely interconnected. We cannot have climate or environmental justice if people are being bombed and starving. We cannot care about ecosystems if entire countries are destroyed and entire peoples die of hunger.

In short, what is happening in Gaza is at the heart of our morality. Our conscience is now in Gaza. What is happening to the Palestinians is an extension and an attack on humanity as a whole.

I think you have explained very well why we are here. To tell the government of Israel that other people will come after us, until a humanitarian corridor is opened.