Israel has begun deporting Greta Thunberg and the 12 activists who were traveling on the Madleen ship that was part of the Freedom Flotilla to bring solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza. The Flotilla set sail from Italy on June 1 and was intercepted in the Mediterranean on June 9 by Israeli forces who transferred the activists to the port of Ashdod, and from there to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. The Netanyahu government ordered the activists to sign deportation orders, and if the activists refused, they proceeded to forcibly deport them, whereupon Greta Thunberg was deported and left Tel Aviv for Paris.

Five other French activists who were also on the ship had refused to sign their deportation orders, but were subjected to the process of forced deportation. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reported that among the deported activists are MEP Rima Hassan and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad. Also on board the Madleen were activists from Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey who demand: "We continue to demand the immediate release of all volunteers and the return of the stolen aid. Their abduction is illegal and a violation of international law," they added.

Israel failed to defeat the Intifada militarily, and had to withdraw troops from Gaza. As we explain in the article you can read here, Palestinian militias defeated the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) invasion forcing a withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza and allowing the Palestinian people to retake control of neighborhoods and territories to reposition their authorities in them. After its military operation failed, the government of the war criminal Netanyahu decided to implement a ground blockade to prevent the entry of UN food aid into Gaza with the aim of subjecting the people to horrible conditions to force their surrender.

The peoples of the world redouble their solidarity with Gaza

But the blockade has only strengthened the international solidarity of peoples with the Palestinian people. Activists around the world are redoubling their efforts to support the Palestinian people in all countries, and events such as Greta Thunberg's Freedom Flotilla as well as the GlobalMarch to Gaza are driving a mobilization that plans to leave Cairo, Egypt, on June 15 for Rafah, in an event in which organizers expect that on June 12 about 3 will arrive in Egypt a thousand people from more than 50 countries to undertake a march to the border with Palestine.

This international call seeks to denounce the complicity of the imperialist governments of NATO that support the war criminal of the Netanyahu government. Beyond the differences we may have with many of these initiatives that appear to have a strictly "humanitarian" or "pacifist" objective, we welcome the initiatives as part of a global effort that contributes to supporting the Palestinian people in view of the serious difficulties of health, food, and medicine that the civilian population needs. It has been 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, an offensive that was defeated, but the battles were put on hold after the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

Netanyahu has perpetrated a horrific genocide against the civilian population with more than 54,880 dead in Gaza since then, but he has not been able to break the Palestinian people's will for freedom. Initiatives like Greta's collaborate with the Palestinian resistance because by surrounding the Palestinian people with solidarity, they make the 3rd Intifada stronger, which is why they seek to persecute and criminalize activists who undertake these struggles, as explained by Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American lawyer and activist with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition: "These volunteers are not subject to Israel's jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for bringing aid or defying an illegal blockade – their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately."

From La Marx International we repudiate the repression against Greta Thunberg and the Freedom Flotilla. It is necessary to continue with the 3rd Intifada, the global mobilization that fights for a Free Palestine, from the river to the sea, a revolutionary process that involves millions around the world who support the Palestinian people. We also fight for the freedom of Mahmoud Khalil, imprisoned in the United States for supporting the Palestinian people, and all the activists in the U.S. who are in the United States. The US and the whole world are mobilizing for Palestine.