The Madleen is named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman in 2014. The ship is a symbol of the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resilience and the growing global resistance to Israel’s use of collective punishment and deliberate starvation policies.
Her launch comes just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla aid ship, underscoring both the urgency and the danger of this mission to break the siege on Gaza. The Conscience had been in international waters off the European country of Malta as the flotilla coalition was ready to board around 35 participants onto the ship. The bombing occurred hours following the flight of an Israeli military C-130 Hercules aircraft around Malta.
In the afternoon of May 1, only hours before the Israeli military bombed the Conscience, the small Pacific island of Palau, which is dependent on U.S. funding through the Compact of Free Association, cancelled the flag and certification of the Conscience, no doubt following pressure from the U.S. government.
Madleen is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition emphasizes that this is a peaceful act of civil resistance. All volunteers and crew aboard Madleen are trained in nonviolence. They are sailing unarmed, united by the shared belief that Palestinians deserve the same rights, freedom, and dignity as all people.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on:
- Governments to guarantee safe passage for Madleen and all humanitarian vessels;
- Media outlets to report on this mission with accuracy and integrity;
- People of conscience everywhere to reject silence and take action for Gaza.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg and Thiago Avila from the Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee meet with journalists in Catania, Italy.
Those onboard the Madleen are:
1. Mark Van Rennes (crew) The Netherlands
2. Reva Seifert Viard (crew) France
3. Pascal Maurieras (crew) France
4. Sergio Toribio (crew) Spain
5. Thiago Ávila (Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee) (Brazil)
6. Yasemin Acar (Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee) (Germany)
7. Rima Hassan (European Parliamentarian) France
8. Greta Thunberg (climate activist) Sweden
9. Yanis M’Hamdi (journalist) France
10. Suayb Ordu (engineer) Turkey
11. Omar Fayad (Al Jazeera reporter) France
12. Baptiste Andre (Doctor) France
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Ann Wright is a 29-year U.S. Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired U.S. Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She is a member of the Veterans For Peace Advisory Board. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the 2010 Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book Dissent: Voices of Conscience. She has written frequently on rape in the military.