17 AUSTRALIANS DEPARTING TO JOIN LARGEST HUMANITARIAN MARITIME MISSION IN HISTORY
Global Sumud Flotilla Australian Delegation
Location of event at Mrs Macquarie's Point in Sydney.
Key Facts:
Media conference with participants today.
At Mrs Macquarie's Point, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Adjacent to Royal Botanic Gardens.
Key members of the departing Australian delegation of the next Global Sumud Flotilla have called a press conference for 11am, Wednesday 8 April at Mrs Macquarie’s Point in Sydney.
(The previously announced venue of Sydney international airport has been changed due to late notice venue refusal).
Speakers will still include:
- Jayden Kitchener-Waters (flotilla participant) – Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa singer/songwriter
- Ethan Floyd (flotilla participant) – Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa and Wailwan activist and USYD student
- Sheikh Wesam Charkawi - Muslim community, Western Sydney
- Clementine Ford – author and social commentator
Some of the diverse 17 Australian participants (including former defence mechanics, a doctor, a Jewish supporter of Palestinians, academics, lawyers and more) have already flown out to Spain and Italy to help prepare the 100 boats that will sail with 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid in a mission to break the naval blockade that has isolated Gaza since 2007.
Children in Gaza are being bombed and starved, while food, medicine and aid is being deliberately blocked by Israel. While a ceasefire was announced five months ago, the bombardment never stopped and more than 680 people have been killed since. This week, Israel’s parliament passed death penalty legislation targeting exclusively Palestinians, which Amnesty International described as “another discriminatory tool in Israel’s system of apartheid”.
Allowing Israel’s campaign of terror on Palestine sets a dangerous precedent for how governments around the world will respond to worsening humanitarian crises everywhere – by supplying their perpetrators with planes, bombs and unwavering support. Civilians from around the world are left with no choice but to sail for peace and demand an end to the horror: even though the dangers of their mission are real and daunting.
Contact us on 0417919354 to be connected with departing participants and spokespeople for the flotilla’s Australian delegation.
