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The flotilla: The west is failing a test on hypocrisy

TetleysTLDR
09 Sep
The flotilla: The west is failing a test on hypocrisy

TetleysTLDR: The Summary

On 8–9 September 2025, the Portuguese-flagged Family Boat, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was set ablaze while anchored in Tunisian waters.  Thankfully everyone on board is safe. Organisers say it was struck by an Israeli drone and there's footage (News.com.au, 2025); Tunisian authorities denied this, blaming 'life jackets' or a cigarette (Reuters, 2025).  To a certain extent is is academic.  Israeli drones have been buzzing the flotilla in the Western Mediterranean for over a week.  But ... under UNCLOS Article 92, a flagged vessel is the sovereign territory of its state: an attack on the Family Boat would therefore be an attack on Portugal, a NATO member. 

If Russia had attacked a Portuguese ship, NATO would have invoked Article 4 within hours.  Instead, the press is suspiciously quick in disclaiming this and Western leaders will no doubt offer silence, excuses, and denial if their record is anything to go by.  Such acts constitute piracy (UNCLOS Article 101) and may qualify as a war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(iii), which forbids attacks on humanitarian missions.  By refusing to confront Israel, NATO and the EU signal impunity and complicity: rules for enemies, indulgence for allies.

TetleysTLDR: The article

For more than a decade, international activists have launched flotillas to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, first imposed in 2007. The UN has repeatedly condemned the siege as a form of collective punishment, which is explicitly prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) (ICRC commentary).The Global Sumud Flotilla is the latest mission, with participants from over 40 countries, determined to defy a blockade that the UN Human Rights Council has described as a violation of international humanitarian and human rights law (UN HRC Report A/HRC/37/75, 2018).

Piracy and Kidnapping on the High Seas

Israel has repeatedly resorted to piracy against these missions:Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy instructed diplomats to maintain radio silence. A British vessel was hijacked in international waters and the UK government chose complicity.  Contrast that with 2019, when Iran seized the Stena Impero, a UK-flagged tanker in the Gulf. Then the British government roared about 'an illegal act of state piracy' (BBC, 19 July 2019), sent warships, and thundered about protecting sovereignty (Guardian, 20 July 2019). When it’s Iran, Britain brandishes gunboats. When it’s Israel, Britain swallows its tongue.

The Drone War

In early September 2025, flotilla activists reported daily drone harassment, buzzing overhead like carrion birds (HuffPost España, 3 Sept 2025).  On 8–9 September, the Portuguese-flagged Family Boat was set ablaze in Tunisian waters.  The flotilla says it was hit by a drone (News.com.au, 9 Sept 2025). Tunisian officials denied it, blaming life jackets or a cigarette (Reuters, 8 Sept 2025).This is the diplomatic game: absurd excuses to avoid admitting that a NATO member’s flagged vessel was attacked.  The media was exceptionally quick at discrediting the attack, which the UN has taken the view was real.  To a certain extent it doesn't matter - the drones have been used to intimidate the flotilla for a week now.  The message is crystal clear. 

Gaza as Israel’s Private Colony

Israel acts as though Gaza were its private sovereign territory.  It controls its borders, its airspace, its sea, its food imports, its electricity. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented how Israel determines what calories Palestinians are 'permitted' to consume (OCHA, 2012 report on Gaza blockade). This is not security; it is the administration of a concentration camp.  International law recognises Gaza as occupied territory. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), Israel is obliged to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access.  Instead, it starves, bombs, and punishes.  By attacking the flotilla, Israel extends its claim: Gaza is ours, its seas are ours, and no aid shall pass without our permission.

By targeting aid flotillas, Israel commits:
  • War Crimes (Rome Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(iii)): “Intentionally directing attacks against… personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian mission.”
  • Crimes Against Humanity (Rome Statute, Article 7(1)): “A widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”
  • Piracy (UNCLOS, Article 101): Illegal acts of violence on the high seas against civilian ships.
Western governments are not bystanders. They are accomplices. Under Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute, aiding and abetting includes providing political cover.  When Lammy orders silence, when Brussels echoes Tunisian denials, when Washington downplays the incident, they are not neutral, they are accessories.

October 7th and the Erasure of History

The Western press and Israel would have you believe that all violence in this conflict began on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas launched its bloody attack. This is the narrative spoon-fed to Western audiences: that history started that morning. Everything before: decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing, blockades, assassinations, piracy, and massacres is erased.But the reality is documented:
  • Israel has been accused by UN Special Rapporteurs of practicing apartheid and systematic violations of Palestinian rights long before October 2023 (UN OHCHR, 2022 report A/HRC/49/87).
  • The 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, where Israel killed 10 activists in international waters, was already branded a violation of international law by the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC, 2010 report A/HRC/15/21).
  • The blockade of Gaza itself has been condemned as illegal for over 15 years (UN SC Res. 1860, 2009).
October 7th did not mark the beginning of violence.  It marked a continuation of a cycleIsrael has enforced for decades, one where Palestinian life is treated as expendable and humanitarian solidarity is criminalised.  

And before the Zionist pearl clutchers claim this is support for HAMAS it is nothing of the sort.  A lesson the UK learned in Ireland, Kenya and a dozen other countries including Palestine:  You can't have a resistance unless there is something to resist.   Add to this that Israel was instrumental in forming HAMAS as a counter-balance to Fatah. The Times of Israel (Oct 2023) noted that Netanyahu (and others like Smotrich) treated Hamas as an asset while it was weakening the Palestinian Authority.  The New York Times (Dec 2023) reported that Israel’s approval facilitated Qatari cash infusions that strengthened Hamas well before the October 7 attacks and Reuters (Jan 2024) reported that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated Israel financed the creation of Hamas to weaken Fatah/the PA.  Wikipedia The Times of Israel Analyst News

The Family Boat was Portuguese. Under UNCLOS Article 92, a vessel at sea is the territory of its flag state. If Russia had torched a Portuguese-flagged civilian ship, NATO would have invoked Article 4 within hours.  The EU would cry sovereignty.  Sanctions and warships would follow.  But because it is Israel, NATO mutters about 'conflicting accounts'.  Brussels hides behind Tunisian denials.  Lammy gags British diplomats.  The rules don’t apply when the rogue state is a Western ally.  This is Governmental cowardice most cynical.

Out of Control

Israel claims that all criticism of it is anti-semitic.  It is not.  There are many Jews around the world who are activists against this madness. This is not about Jewishness or hatred of Jews, it is about the unacceptable actions of the sovereign state of Israel, which quite frankly is out of control.  No matter how much mental gymnastics the usual suspects try to use to justify it, it kidnaps, blockades, burns boats, and murders civilians with impunity.  Western governments enable it with silence, excuses, and cover. Together, they shred the very laws they pretend to uphold.  Whatever your views on the flotilla there are some truths that lie behind it here:  Israel is an occupying body.  It is starving the population for the crimes of HAMAS, it is by every standard committing a genocide, it has no legal right to stop the flotilla in international waters.  It does not have any rights in Gaza other than as an occupying force, which it continuously flouts and commits war crimes.  Our Governments are cowards who are not stopping this: and by arming Israel, spying for them and trying to crush dissent - our Government are complicit in these war crimes. 

The flotilla sails on because someone must. Every drone buzzing overhead, every activist dragged into detention, every charred hull is proof that Israel is not just flouting the law, it is daring the world to admit it.  And so far, the West has failed that test.





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