Photograph Source: Global Sumud Flotilla
On April 30th Israeli commandos committed an act of state terrosim in international waters off the coast of Crete — more than a thousand kilometers from occupied Palestine. They seized vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, detained activists, and singled out two men for special cruelty: Brazilian Thiago Ávila and Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abu Keshek. These two remain imprisoned in Israel without charge. Reports from released activists describe brutal treatment: activists were beaten, kicked, subjected to painful stress positions, and threatened with execution. Many suffered broken bones, head injuries, and deliberate denial of medical care. Thiago and Saif, in particular, have reportedly faced prolonged isolation, harsh interrogation, and physical abuse — a clear attempt to break their spirit and send a message to anyone daring to challenge the siege.
Thiago Ávila’s mother, Teresa Regina de Ávila e Silva, passed away on May 5 while her son remained locked in an Israeli prison cell, unable to say goodbye. In a letter dictated from inside Shikma Prison to his young daughter Teresa and her grandmother’s namesake, Thiago wrote with heartbreaking clarity: “Dear Teresa, I’m sorry for not being home with you right now. Unfortunately your father, your mother, and so many people around the world understood the historical task that we have the responsibility to fulfil. Today over a million children are suffering a genocide, being starved to death, being amputated without anesthesia…” That letter, included in its entirety below and now circulating widely, has become a global symbol of moral courage in the face of Zionist sadism.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have both demanded their immediate and unconditional release, denouncing the detention as illegal and a flagrant violation of international law. Lula, who has unwaveringly called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, and Sánchez, one of the few European leaders willing to speak truth to power, understand the stakes. Their calls are not mere diplomacy — they are a direct challenge to the impunity Israel has long enjoyed.
Photograph Source: Global Sumud Flotilla
This abduction is the latest chapter in the resilient but brutal history of the Gaza flotillas. Since 2008, international activists have repeatedly tried to break Israel’s illegal naval blockade — imposed in 2007 as collective punishment and calibrated through the infamous “Red Lines” policy that allowed just enough food to keep Palestinians alive but perpetually on the brink of starvation. In 2010, Israeli commandos murdered ten unarmed activists aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters. Last fall, millions marched across the Mediterranean in support of the current effort — the largest coordinated flotilla campaign ever: the Global Sumud Flotilla, the Thousand Madleens to Gaza, and the Freedom Flotilla.
In Italy, the Palestinian-led Freedom Flotilla Italia is playing a vital and multifaceted role. Its campaign “100 Cities, 100 Ports” departed from the port city of Taranto on May 2nd and is currently underway, combining a sailboat named the Ghassan Kanafani with a mobile caravan that travels from port to port and into inland towns and cities. The initiative is actively providing on-the-ground support for Thiago and Saif while pursuing its core objectives: keeping international awareness focused on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, amplifying Palestinian voices, building a durable solidarity network across Italy, and raising essential funds for the Al Awda Hospital in Gaza, which continues to struggle against all odds to survive and serve the sick and wounded under ongoing attacks and deteriorating conditions.
These flotillas are not provocations. They are a direct challenge to Israel’s illegal siege and the live-streamed genocide that has escalated with total impunity since October 2023. The world has watched children starved, hospitals bombed, and entire families erased — all while Western governments, including Italy and the EU, continue to arm and shield the perpetrator.
The raid in international waters reveals the sadistic arrogance of Zionism. This arrogance was further revealed last week with the disgusting images of Israeli security minister Ben Gvir’s 50th birthday party, where they celebrated with noose draped cakes glorifying colonial conquest and genocide. Israel stands exposed before the eyes of the world not as a legitimate state, but as a European settler-colonial project — an ethno-supremacist enclave built on stolen land. Palestinians are the indigenous Semitic people of the region. The European colonizers who created “Israel” are not. “Make Israel Palestine Again” is not a slogan of revenge or hatred; it is a call for historical justice and decolonization.
This reality is thrown into even sharper relief by the grotesque farce of Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” — a gang of billionaire real-estate speculators and Zionist hucksters dreaming of turning the ruins of Gaza into a luxury “Riviera” while two million Palestinians suffer in tents, face continued bombings, and are denied basic humanitarian aid. This is gangster capitalism unleashed.
The detention of Thiago and Saif, the murder of flotilla activists in 2010, the blockade that starves a population, and the ongoing genocide all flow from the same racist, supremacist logic. Zionism cannot tolerate witnesses. It cannot tolerate solidarity. It must abduct, isolate, beat, and disappear those who dare sail toward Gaza with medicine and truth.
Yet the opposite is happening. International solidarity is exploding. From Brazil to Spain, from Italian ports to streets around the world, the demand is growing louder: Free Thiago and Saif! Free the over 10,000 Palestinian Political Prsioners! Free Marwan Barghouti, Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya!
The flotillas continue. The resistance at sea continues. And on land, the movement must intensify. The Zionist project — illegitimate, colonial, and increasingly exposed — is cracking under the weight of its own crimes. The world is watching. History is watching.
Free Thiago and Saif. Break the siege. End the genocide. Free Palestine.
Letter from Thiago to his daughter:
Dear Teresa,
I’m sorry for not being home with you right now.
Unfortunately your father, your mother, and so many people around the world understood the historical task that we have the responsibility to fulfil.
Today over a million children are suffering a genocide, being starved to death, being amputated without anesthesia, and suffering from horrific, hateful ideas, despite not knowing what Zionism and Imperialism is.
I’m sure you miss me too much and all the mothers and fathers of Palestinian children also miss them so much and would give anything to live a life of love, happiness, and joy that every human being deserves, independently of race, religion, ethnicity or any other characteristic.
Your world will be safer because many parents decided to give everything to build this better world for you.
I hope someday you understand that because I love you so much there was nothing more dangerous for you and for other children than living in a world that accepts genocide.
Please remember your father as the person that would sing to you and play the guitar for you to sleep. And when you grow up your mom will also tell you that your father was a revolutionary and that even when facing the most horrific people alive – Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Itamar Ben-Gvir – he stood firm to the belief of building a better world.
Please do not forget Palestine!
With all my love,
Thiago Ávila.
