At 21:00, the international initiative The Freedom Fleet Coalition and the Spanish state organization Rumbo a Gaza (Gazara Bidean), which is part of it, have disseminated the note. First, they indicate their intention to proceed with the “planned plan” and embark on 24 April. They then denounce the “political pressures” to prevent the exit to the sea.

“Several countries have visited Turkey in recent days to press in this direction,” they say. The note does not specify these countries, but Basque activists in Istanbul have sent the following message to ARGIA: “Germany, Great Britain, the USA and Israel press the Turkish government not to leave the fleet. We intend to leave as soon as possible, but the organization has asked us to pass information and if they can protest better.”

No prohibition

The Freedom Navy announces in its note that it will “not accept” any ban on going to sea. He argues that the initiative is “committed” to the Palestinian people, “to defending international law”, and to the resolution of the International Court of Justice that has recently demanded that Israel allow it to introduce humanitarian aid to prevent genocide.

Faced with the situation, the solidarity initiative with Palestine has made three demands. On the one hand, it demanded “freedom of access to Gaza”, denouncing that Israel “has no right to control the aid with the certificate of the original customs office, in this case Turkey”. In this regard, the initiative has announced from the outset that it has no intention of “coordinating or collaborating” with Israel. On the other hand, they call on the European Union to be “consistent” and to cease to be “complicit” in the violations of the “genocide” and the international legislation being carried out by Israel.

The danger of Israel’s “violent approach”

Finally, they have demanded “freedom to navigate international waters”, “in the face of the violent approach announced by Israel”. In order to avoid this, Rumbo a Gaza asks the Government of Spain for “shelter”. In fact, the Basque fleet activists in Istanbul have announced in the chronicle sent to ARGIA that “the Israeli television channel 12, citing the sources of the Israeli Army, at the moment the unit called Shayetet 13 is being specifically trained to approach the Freedom Fleet. This same unit killed 400 people in the massacre at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, journalist Hibai Arbide said on social media.”