Statement in Solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention & Human Security stands in firm solidarity with all of the brave people aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, the international fleet of more than 50 boats that is headed toward Gaza to break the Israeli siege and deliver urgent humanitarian aid.

Their courage is an act of conscience and civil resistance against injustice, carried out in the face of global institutional indifference and inaction. To the volunteers of the Flotilla: You carry the conscience of the world. Your determination exposes the cowardice of governments.

Yet, let us be very clear: this mission should never have been necessary. Members of civil society should never have to risk their lives to deliver what states and the international community have the legal and moral duty to guarantee: safety, humanitarian assistance, and protection from genocide. The very existence of this flotilla, with its delegations from more than 44 countries, including coalitions such as the Global Movement to Gaza (GMG) and the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, is a testament to the international failure. It is the consequence of state inaction, complicity, and silence in the face of the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

We remind readers that this is not the first flotilla. In a previous attempt in June 2025, a ship carrying humanitarian aid was illegally intercepted by Israel in international waters. The courageous volunteers were detained, interrogated, and forcibly deported, simply for trying to deliver humanitarian supplies to a starving people. Amazon labor union leader Chris Smalls, the only black person on board, was singled out and badly beaten by Israeli forces.

Israel must not attack, arrest, or obstruct the Global Sumud Flotilla in any way. The participants must be allowed safe passage to Gaza and free delivery of urgently needed aid. Gaza needs food now. Gaza needs medicine now.

If Israel attacks or obstructs the flotilla, which we expect it will, it will only strengthen the case that it is committing genocide. If Israel detains flotilla members as terrorists, as it has threatened to do, it will only further expose to the outside world the illegal detention and torture of Palestinians that it has been engaging in for decades.

The “international community” of elites may be easy to bully into silence, as we have seen. The global anti-genocide movement, on the other hand, will never be silenced.

We call on all governments to ensure the safe passage of the Flotilla and to protect their citizens aboard this humanitarian mission from arbitrary detention. Above all, we urge all governments to protect Palestinian lives in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem, in accordance with their obligations under the Genocide Convention.