Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention Backs Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security said Monday that it "stands in firm solidarity with all of the brave people aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, the international fleet of more than 50 boats that is headed toward Gaza to break the Israeli siege and deliver urgent humanitarian aid."

The US-based institute, named for the scholar who coined the term genocide after the Holocaust, has repeatedly spoken out against the Israeli assault on Gaza since October 2023, making clear that "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" and "the US is complicit in genocide."

Over the past 23 months, Israeli forces have slaughtered more than 64,000 Palestinians in the strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has also severely restricted the flow of humanitarian aid, causing a famine that has killed nearly 400 people, including 140 children.

After a storm delay, the new flotilla—which uses the Arabic word for "perseverance" or "resilience"—departed Barcelona last week, with prominent passengers including the Spanish city's former mayor, Ada Colau, along with Irish actor Liam Cunningham, Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua, American actress Susan Sarandon, and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela, joined the flotilla in Tunisia.

"Their courage is an act of conscience and civil resistance against injustice, carried out in the face of global institutional indifference and inaction. To the volunteers of the flotilla: You carry the conscience of the world. Your determination exposes the cowardice of governments," the Lemkin Institute said.

"Yet, let us be very clear: This mission should never have been necessary," the institute argued. "Members of civil society should never have to risk their lives to deliver what states and the international community have the legal and moral duty to guarantee: safety, humanitarian assistance, and protection from genocide."

"The very existence of this flotilla, with its delegations from more than 44 countries, including coalitions such as the Global Movement to Gaza (GMG) and the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, is a testament to the international failure," the group continued. "It is the consequence of state inaction, complicity, and silence in the face of the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians."

The institute highlighted that "this is not the first flotilla," pointing to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in June, and how Israel treated its members—particularly American Amazon labor organizer Chris Smalls, who was the only Black person on the Handala and was beaten by Israeli forces.

"Israel must not attack, arrest, or obstruct the Global Sumud Flotilla in any way. The participants must be allowed safe passage to Gaza and free delivery of urgently needed aid. Gaza needs food now. Gaza needs medicine now," the institute stressed. "If Israel attacks or obstructs the flotilla, which we expect it will, it will only strengthen the case that it is committing genocide."

Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over their country's conduct in Gaza. Netanyahu has been accused of dragging out the war to avoid a corruption trial in Israel.

"If Israel detains flotilla members as terrorists, as it has threatened to do, it will only further expose to the outside world the illegal detention and torture of Palestinians that it has been engaging in for decades," the Lemkin Institute said. "The 'international community' of elites may be easy to bully into silence, as we have seen. The global anti-genocide movement, on the other hand, will never be silenced."

"We call on all governments to ensure the safe passage of the flotilla and to protect their citizens aboard this humanitarian mission from arbitrary detention," the group concluded. "Above all, we urge all governments to protect Palestinian lives in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem, in accordance with their obligations under the Genocide Convention."