Gaza aid flotilla intercepted: Activists say the Israeli military surrounded boats

[0:00] Joining us now from the Mediterranean Sea is activist Yassin Ben Jaloun, who's with the Global Samud Flotilla. [0:06] Yassin, thank you for talking to us. [0:08] Yassin, talk us through how all of this unfolded. [0:12] Where were you at the time of your boat being intercepted? [0:17] Yes, thank you for having me and thank you for echoing all our voice. [0:20] This is what we need today. [0:22] Not enough people are talking about this Global Samud Flotilla. [0:25] This is the largest, peaceful, non-violent flotilla, humanitarian flotilla to Palestine. [0:32] We have over 70 boats sailing to Palestine. [0:36] And last night, as you mentioned, last night we witnessed a snapshot of Israel's long, long, year-long campaign of slaughter, of dehumanization, of starvation of the Palestinian people. [0:55] We witnessed just a snapshot of that on the Mediterranean Sea when they abducted and kidnapped 160 of my comrades here on the Mediterranean Sea. [1:07] They came onto our boats. [1:10] They destroyed our engines. [1:12] They destroyed our sails. [1:14] They prevented our comrades to continue to sail when we know that there is a major storm forecasted coming tomorrow. [1:22] This is unprecedented. [1:24] 1,050 kilometers from Palestine. [1:28] They're doing this in the middle of the Mediterranean. [1:31] Where is Europe? [1:31] Where are the leaders of the world? [1:33] Why are we not talking about this more? [1:35] I am bewildered by the violence that we've been witnessing for the past three years in Palestine. [1:42] And yet it's continuing here with innocent civilians, with us that are just trying to bring aid to Palestine. [1:49] And I have no words. [1:50] And Yossin, you talked about the treatment of the Israelis there when they intercepted this flotilla. [2:00] What were you met with exactly? [2:02] How did it actually unfold? [2:04] Where were you? [2:04] What were you doing when it happened? [2:06] So, thankfully, not all the boats were intercepted. [2:10] Out of the 70 boats, we're giving Israel a bit of a lot of work because they were not able to intercept all our boats yesterday. [2:20] Only about the 20 boats were, 22 boats to be precise, were intercepted. [2:24] Some were left adrift in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and no one is saying anything. [2:31] Where is it? [2:31] We're just south of Korea right now, in Greece. [2:35] And where are the European leaders? [2:37] Where is Greece? [2:38] The boats are holding French flags, Spanish flags. [2:42] Where are the leaders of these countries? [2:44] They're supposed to protect their vessels and their citizens. [2:48] Do you know at the moment, Yassim, what's happened to the people that were on the boats? [2:55] You said around 22 boats intercepted there. [2:57] What's happened to all of the crew that was on there? [3:01] So, I am able to speak to you right now because every one of our boats is equipped with the satellite internet system and cameras. [3:09] The first thing Israel does when they step on our boats is they destroy the cameras and they destroy our satellite and communication systems. [3:18] So, we have no way to know where our comrades are right now. [3:21] Some of them are with Israel on a military vessel. [3:25] That's what Israel has said. [3:28] We've heard that they may be dropped on a random beach in Prita somewhere without any means of communication. [3:36] What is happening? [3:37] How can this happen in 2026? [3:39] I did not think I would be witnessing this. [3:41] Yesterday, two women were killed in Palestine. [3:44] They were run over by a settler. [3:46] If this happened in Cincinnati or I don't know where in the world, the world would stop everything they're doing and we would only be hearing about this. [3:54] This is why we're seeing it. [3:55] Because those women were killed by settlers and no one is talking about it. [3:59] Because yesterday, they violated maritime law, international law. [4:03] And no one other than you and other media, and thank you for this, are talking about this. [4:08] Why? [4:09] How can they sleep at night? [4:10] I can clearly hear the bewilderment that you have there, Yassine, when it comes to what you're saying is the lack of international response. [4:19] Why do you believe that there perhaps is apathy? [4:23] Because we have heard from some European leaders and certainly from Spain's, the Spanish leader, Pedro Sanchez. [4:30] He's called it a breach of international law and he's urging European Union action. [4:36] Of course, he's been one of the most vocal leaders, certainly not just in Europe, but in the world when it comes to the genocide in Gaza. [4:43] What more needs to be done? [4:45] What do you want to see leaders do? [4:50] I don't know. [4:51] It's the million dollar question. [4:52] What has it? [4:53] It's been three years and it's still ongoing. [4:56] Why? [4:57] How is this possible? [4:59] We're in this. [5:00] If you knew who was on my boat, you'd be astonished to see that it is normal people like me who are either activists, journalists, doctors, nurses. [5:10] I had a soil scientist on my boat. [5:13] People trying to make a difference because governments have failed. [5:16] And so what does it take for the world to wake up for us to stop doing what we're doing, to stop being complicit in our comfort? [5:25] It's all about comfort, not wanting to step away from your comfort in order to try and make the world a better place. [5:33] All right. [5:35] Thank you very much. [5:36] We're trying. [5:36] Yeah, please go ahead. [5:39] We're trying. [5:39] That's what I wanted to say. [5:40] We're trying, and Israel is preventing us from bringing aid to a population that has been starved for the past three years, for a population that has been ongoing, an apartheid regime for 80 years. [5:53] Nothing has been able, and we thought, maybe this flotilla could change something. [5:58] Maybe if people like yourself and everyone who's listening could go on the streets, could protest, could boycott, could call the representatives. [6:07] That's what we need. [6:08] We need you to call your representatives to make sure that things can change, that the flotilla has a safe passage to Palestine, and that hopefully we could make justice in this world, more justice. [6:22] All right. Thank you very much for speaking to us. [6:25] Yassine Ben Jaloun there with a message for more justice, speaking to us from the global Samud flotilla on the Mediterranean Sea. [6:34] Thank you.