Greta Thunberg, ‘Game of Thrones’ Actor, and Other High-Profile Anti-Israel Activists Will Set Sail for Gaza in ‘Freedom Flotilla’

A climate advocate turned anti-Israel campaigner, Greta Thunberg, will set sail on Sunday for Gaza on a cargo ship with several other high-profile activists. The Maldeen cargo ship is set to depart from a port at Catania, Sicily. The 22-year-old Swede will be joined by several other anti-Israel activists, including a “Game of Thrones” actor, Liam Cunningham, and a French-Palestinian member of the European parliament, Rima Hassan. The voyage is organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a group that has been protesting the blockades that Israel implemented in the region following Hamas’s October 7 attack. In a video posted online by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Ms. Hassan, draped in a black and white keffiyeh, shares the various objectives of the “symbolic, but also political” trip, which include: “To reject the blockade of humanitarian aid, the ongoing genocide, the impunity enjoyed by the state of Israel, and to raise global, international awareness.”Although Ms. Thunberg rose to fame for her environmental activism — which landed her the title of Time’s Person of the Year in 2019 — the young Swede has taken an interest in the conflict in the Middle East and has positioned herself at the vanguard of the anti-Israel movement. Sunday’s trip will mark Ms. Thunberg’s second attempt to travel to the region. She was due to travel to Gaza earlier this month on another Freedom Flotilla Coalition voyage, but the ship was damaged off the coast of Malta before it could pick her up. The ship’s passengers were safely evacuated from the vessel and there were no casualties. The organization said that the ship was hit by an Israeli drone, though it provided no evidence to support the claim. The Saudi Al Arabiya news channel reported that Hamas was behind the flotilla trip and that those aboard the ship had planned to attack Israeli forces upon arrival in Gaza. Israel did not address the allegations. Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip on March 2 in an effort to weaken Hamas — which has been known to steal humanitarian aid and sell it to Gazans at exorbitant prices — and put pressure on the terror group to release the 58 hostages still kept in Gaza. Israel began to lift the blockade this week as it opened aid distribution centers designed to prevent the goods from ending up in the hands of Hamas.

Greta Thunberg, ‘Game of Thrones’ Actor, and Other High-Profile Anti-Israel Activists Will Set Sail for Gaza in ‘Freedom Flotilla’

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