Category Archives: Mideast

The Global Sumud Flotilla: Over 50 ships will set sail for Gaza

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from the Peoples Dispatch

In July 2025, a new international maritime initiative was launched: the Global Sumud Flotilla. It was formed by four major coalitions: the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Maghreb Sumud Convoy, and the Southeast Asian Nusantara Sumud Initiative. The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to depart on August 31, 2025. Its goal is clear: to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians. 


Photo from Al Jazeera

The flotilla is composed of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, parliamentarians, doctors, and trade unionists, alongside humanitarian cargo. More than 39 national delegations have pledged participation, making this the largest people-led maritime effort in solidarity with Gaza since the 2010 “Mavi Marmara”.

Behind every flotilla passenger lies a story of conviction. Greek trade unionists brought banners pledging workers’ solidarity with Palestine. Doctors from Spain and Italy carried vital medicines banned from entering Gaza. Parliamentarians from South Africa and Norway insisted that breaking the siege is a moral and political duty.

This is not the first flotilla of its kind this year. The “Handala” and “Madleen”, two of the Freedom Flotilla’s flagship vessels, also set sail in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. However, they were attacked by drones and stormed by Israeli forces. Passengers were beaten, kidnapped, and deported. Phones were confiscated, activists were interrogated, and many went on hunger strike to protest their detention. The attack was not just on the Freedom Flotilla; it was an attack on the principle of global solidarity itself.

The Global Sumud Flotilla insists that its mission is entirely lawful under international maritime law. Civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid in international waters are protected under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Israel’s interception of the “Handala” and “Madleen” constitutes nothing less than piracy and a war crime.

The flotilla’s organizers remind the world that Israel has maintained a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007. As they prepared for upcoming missions, flotilla spokespeople declared:

“Our boats carry more than aid. They carry a message: the siege must end. The greater danger lies not in confronting Israel at sea, but in allowing genocide to continue with impunity.”

Criminalizing solidarity, violating international law

In recent months, Israel has escalated its campaign to silence international solidarity with Palestine by targeting civilian flotillas attempting to break the Gaza blockade. These ships, carrying activists, aid, and a message of defiance against siege, have become symbols of global resistance. Instead of engaging through diplomacy or respecting humanitarian principles, Israel has resorted to force on the high seas, treating peaceful civilian missions as military threats.

The assaults on the “Handala” and “Madleen” are more than acts of piracy, they are grave breaches of international law. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters. By seizing vessels outside its territorial jurisdiction, Israel has acted as a rogue state.

International legal experts have consistently affirmed that the blockade of Gaza since 2007 constitutes collective punishment, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention. The International Criminal Court has received multiple submissions documenting Israel’s starvation siege, now exacerbated by open genocide. Yet governments that loudly invoke “rules-based order” remain silent when Palestinians, and their supporters, are the victims.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(continued from left column)

Instead of protecting citizens, western governments have facilitated Israel’s repression. Passengers aboard the flotillas were stripped of their phones, interrogated, and some were denied re-entry into the Schengen zone. Western states’ silence amounts to complicity.

Some detainees launched hunger strikes in Israeli prisons to protest their abduction. Others returned home to smear campaigns. Western right-wing media accused activists of “provocation” or of “endangering security”. Once-beloved Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who joined the “Madleen” flotilla, received attacks from mainstream media, on social media, and from influential political figures. Such tactics aim to delegitimize solidarity and sow fear among those who dare to act.

But these campaigns have failed to extinguish the moral clarity of the movement. From dockworkers in Barcelona refusing to load arms to Israel, to students occupying universities in the US and Britain, the flotilla has become a symbol: solidarity cannot be blockaded.

The human face of global resistance

The Global Sumud Flotilla represents a convergence of struggles across continents:

The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine mobilized thousands of activists worldwide.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, with roots going back to 2010, brings long experience of organizing maritime resistance. 

The Maghreb Sumud Convoy, launched in June 2025, gathered over 1,000 participants from across North Africa under the banner of “coordinated action for Palestine”.

The Nusantara Sumud Initiative, launched from Malaysia and eight other Southeast Asian countries, embodies South–South solidarity inspired by Palestinian steadfastness.

Together, these four networks transformed the flotilla from a handful of ships into a people-powered humanitarian corridor. The first official mission is scheduled for August 31, 2025, from Spain, followed by a second launch from Tunisia on September 4, with more than 50 ships expected to participate.

At a press conference in Tunis, organizers emphasized that the flotilla is not merely logistical, it is symbolic:

“This will not only be a fleet. It will be a reminder that the world is watching, that Gaza is not alone, and that peoples will not remain silent.”

The Freedom Flotilla is part of a long lineage of resistance at sea. The 2010 assault on the “Mavi Marmara”, in which Israeli forces killed ten activists, shocked the world. But instead of stopping solidarity, it multiplied it.

The Global Sumud Flotilla marks a new stage. By linking Mediterranean ports, North African caravans, and Southeast Asian convoys, it builds a transnational infrastructure of resistance. Its Arabic name Sumud, steadfastness, reflects both Palestinian resilience and the determination of people across the world to act where governments have failed.

Breaking the siege, building the future

The choice is now clear. Israel will continue to attack peaceful ships in international waters, abduct activists, and suppress humanitarian efforts, because the siege is a cornerstone of its genocidal project. Western governments will continue to look away.

But ordinary people, from Greek dockworkers refusing to load weapons for Israel, to Tunisian unions welcoming flotilla missions, to students and parliamentarians raising their voices, are building a counter-power.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is both a lifeline and a warning: Gaza will not be starved into silence, and solidarity will not be blockaded.

As the flotilla prepares to set sail with more than 50 ships, its message resounds across seas and continents: The siege must fall. Gaza must live. Palestine must be free.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

In Largest Israeli Protest to Date, 1 Million Israelis Demand Gaza Ceasefire to Free Hostages

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article and video from Democracy Now (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License)

August 18: Massive protests have erupted in Israel, with about 500,000 people marching in Tel Aviv Sunday [August 17] to demand an end to the war in Gaza. Organizers say 1 million took part in demonstrations across the entire country. Most of the Israelis who were out on the streets “blame Netanyahu” for prioritizing his political survival over an end to the war, says Oren Ziv, reporter and photographer for +972 Magazine. Ziv notes that most Israelis are “not speaking directly on the suffering in Gaza, on the killings, on the children, on the starvation,” but instead focus on the survival of the hostages held in Gaza.


Frame from Democracy Now video

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

We turn now to Israel, where over 500,000 people protested in Tel Aviv Sunday to demand an end to the war in Gaza and for the Israeli government to reach a deal to free the hostages in Gaza. Over a million people took part in protests across Israel as the families of Israeli hostages called for a nationwide day of stoppage. This is Lishay Miran-Lavi, the wife of Omri Miran, who’s being held in Gaza.

LISHAY MIRAN-LAVI: Last week, we decided to call to everyone in Israel, to all the citizens, to stop, take a day and stop all the country, in one saying: Please release the hostages, bring them home, and stop the war. We are really caring about our dears that’s over there. My Omri is over there 681 days. I miss him. Our daughters, Roni and Alma, really miss him, and I’m really, really scared and afraid about his life. I want him here, and I want all the hostages here.

AMY GOODMANAMY GOODMAN“Those who call to end the war delay the hostages’ release and guarantee that the horrors of October 7 will return,” unquote.

For more, we go to Oren Ziv, reporter and photographer for +972 Magazine and the independent Israeli news site Local Call.

Oren, welcome back to Democracy Now! You were covering the protests. Can you talk about the significance of the size of these protests, and what exactly the Israelis were calling for?

OREN ZIV: Thank you for having me.

I think it’s a really interesting moment, because over the past almost two years, we’ve seen big protests, but not huge like that. And we’ve seen also moments during the war with Iran, with Lebanon and other occasions that the numbers were really low. People — you know, Netanyahu is doing what he’s doing the best, and he’s dragging time and making people tired. And this is also true to the Israeli public, that went in tens of thousands in the last year and a half or two years. But yesterday, a big and a significant number of people went out.

And it’s even more important with the incitement we’ve seen from Netanyahu and other ministers that were even more harsh than Netanyahu, saying that protesters are helping Hamas, making the price of a deal higher, and so on. So, in the fact of in the end of this day — during the day, there were hundreds, if not thousands, small vigil, direct action roadblocks. The country was shut down, basically, traffic-wise. And in the evening, we saw one of the biggest vigils and demonstration we’ve seen in recent years, of almost half a million people in the streets in Tel Aviv. And this is, first and for all, a message from the Israeli public, and what the polls show, that the vast majority of the Israeli public is willing to end the war in order to release the hostages.

Now, it’s important to say that this is from an internal Israeli perspective. It’s not like the protests we see abroad. These are people who are calling to return the hostages in any price. And after two years, many of them, many in the Israeli public, blame Netanyahu. He’s trying to blame Hamas. But many of the people, or the most of the people who went out yesterday to the streets, are blaming Netanyahu for not doing a deal, to survive politically. This is a very common statement you hear from everyone on the streets. And they’re calling to end the war. They’ve seen in the last two years that only political agreements and ceasefire agreements bring back hostages alive. We’ve seen over 40 hostages that died in captivity, either from the army’s attack or from reaction of Hamas when they were trying to — when the army was coming nearby. And people had enough.

In the same time, it’s important to say that the vast majority of the protesters yesterday, although the fact they called to end the war, they’re not speaking directly on the suffering in Gaza, on the killings, on the children, on the starvation. You can hear it here and there. You can hear it from smaller groups that have been protesting from the beginning of the war against the genocide and the ongoing ethnic cleansing. But it’s not on the stages. It’s not the main message yet.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to get your response to how Israelis have responded to Israel’s Channel 12 airing those leaked recordings of Israel’s former military intelligence chief saying 50 Palestinians must die for every victim of October 7th, saying tens of thousands of Palestinians must die. In the recording, Aharon Haliva is heard saying, quote, “It does not matter now if they are children.” He said, quote, “They need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price.” Oren Ziv?

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(continued from left column)

OREN ZIV: So, to be honest, the vast majority of the discussion inside Israel was regarding the fact that this person, that many Israelis see as the responsible for the catastrophe of October 7th, for the failure of the Israel intelligence to finding out that this will happen, so people thought this kind of leaked recordings — some people say that he might have leaked it out — are kind of serving him, to clean him and to blame the problem is the general system. So, in Israel, the vast majority of discussion was about that. Was it really leaked? Is it serving him? Why? You know, many people, hostages — family members of hostages are saying he should be trialed and sit in prison.

But this segment didn’t catch a lot of attention in Israel, because, unfortunately, this is very common. It’s something we heard from day one from politicians, from army people, in the public, in the — in right-wing demos, we hear it. We hear it everywhere. So, unfortunately, this didn’t cause a lot of noise in Israel.
`
But definitely, it shows you that such a high commander saying these things openly, you know, without being ashamed and without getting any attention in Israel, show you that this decision of revenge, of genocidal war, was done from day one. And Israel, also to cover the failure of October 7, decided to go to a revenge, a horrific war, as we’re seeing now. And you can see that this decision is not just by soldiers on the ground or right-wing or extreme so-called settlers. This is all across the army, from the high-ranked commanders and the politicians to the simple soldiers. And now when we see the horrific reality in Gaza after almost two years, we can understand this was planned. The army felt they have to revenge to cover up the failure of October 7.

AMY GOODMAN: I also wanted to ask you about the Israelis who are refusing to enlist in the Israeli military. You just posted a short video of 19-year-old Yona Roseman, who was sentenced to 30 days in military prison.

YONA ROSEMAN: Today, I’m going to show up at a draft office and declare that I refuse to serve in an army that’s committing genocide. And for that, I will probably be sent to military jail.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Yona Roseman. How common is this, the refuseniks?

OREN ZIV: So, it’s not very common, especially in mandatory service. Eighteen-year-old students, high school students are all the system, all their life — all the education system is pushing them to go to the army. That’s the norm. In order to be like Yona and other brave young Israelis, you have to go against the stream and to educate yourself and to go to demonstration and meet people and not watch the Israeli mainstream media, who doesn’t show you what’s going on in Gaza and the West Bank. And so, it’s not very common.

But we’ve seen some increase in the number. Already from the beginning of the war, more than 12 announced, ones who went public, a youth who refused. And they pay a price. It’s not only 30 days in prison. They have to go again and again to prison a few times. But among reservists, we’ve seen — reservists, we’ve seen a growing movement of people refusing, because of what’s been happening in Gaza, also calling to release the hostages. And we’ve seen hundreds of people refuse. With some of them, the army chooses not to deal with prison, but to release them quietly.

Specifically about Yona and her group from Mesarvot — “refusing” in Hebrew — they are showing — they want to show that not everybody in Israel, that there is a small group who resists the genocide and the horrific things the army does. And as she told us, that’s her duty. That’s the only thing you can do when you see what the army is doing. She told me in the interview before she went to prison that she decided even before October 7 and before the war in Gaza to refuse, but after the genocide started, it was much easier for her to take this decision. And we hear it from other refuseniks, as well.

And, you know, it’s very hard. When she appears on social media, on national media, they get a lot of incitement, hatred, inside the prison and also when they go out. Last month, they burned some of the enlistment orders in the streets in Tel Aviv. And to do something like that in the general atmosphere in Israel, that is very hostile to this action, is very, very brave.

AMY GOODMAN: I finally wanted to ask you, as you cover protests, yes, the protests this weekend of a million Israelis, but also about the protest outside the hotel where GHF staff were staying in Tel Aviv. That’s the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, this shadowy U.S.-backed Israeli company that is supposedly providing food aid, but when people come, they are often shot dead as they try to seek food, children and adults alike. What about that protest?

OREN ZIV: So last week, a group of activists, radical left-wing activists, located where the so-called GHF staff, including CEO and other senior members, are staying in Tel Aviv, because, you know, they work in Gaza in coordination with the Israeli army and other companies, but they’re staying in a very fancy hotel in the shore of Tel Aviv. And they wanted to come there to send a clear message that this is not accepted, that they’re not welcome here, and to stop this lie that is called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. So, they came there, around 50 protesters, to surprise. The police was not aware of it. They arrived there to the entrance of the hotel, we know from people inside. They heard them inside the hotel. And they were protesting there for about an hour. The police was trying to push them away.

Some tourists and people who passed by tried to confront them. And this happens, by the way, in every demo like this, against the genocide, against the starvation, in Tel Aviv and other cities, that are often attacked by the Israeli public. The Israeli mainstream media doesn’t show the images or the voices from Gaza like you do and many other media outlets. So, when the Israeli public is met on the streets with people who are trying just to show the facts, to shed light on what’s happening on the other side of the fence, people are many times surprised or even angry and try to attack the protesters. And they are telling me this is only one of first actions they will do against the GHF operation here in the region.

AMY GOODMAN: Oren Ziv, we want to thank you for being with us, reporter and photographer for +972 Magazine and the independent Israeli news site Local Call.
– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

London: ‘We will continue protesting for Palestine, and we will win’

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Shabbir Lakha from Counterfire

Amid the state clampdown on Palestine solidarity, hundreds of thousands marched through London in defiant opposition to the genocide, reports Shabbir Lakha

Recently, The Economist remarked that the “Starmerites thought they had defeated the politics of Palestine. It may defeat them.” To prove how correct this assessment is, on Saturday, [August 9] an estimated 300,000 people marched through central London for the 28th national demonstration for Palestine since October 2023.

Video of march

It was an objectively huge demonstration, but even more impressive considering it was called with two-weeks’ notice, in the middle of August, and despite the police’s best efforts to intimidate protesters and to delay the coalition from announcing the route.

The demonstration was emotionally charged, angry and militant. Along with the usual array of placards taking aim at Starmer and calling for action, there were noticeably more signs relating to the clampdown on our democratic rights and civil liberties. The huge number of banners of local groups from across the country showed the truly national character of the march. The one noticeable absence was any significant presence of trade union flags or banners.

Over 800 people also gathered in Parliament Square to defy the proscription of Palestine Action, and the Met Police arrested 466 people – including a blind man in a wheelchair and a 90-year-old woman. The Met Police had set up field arrest-processing sites at the top and bottom of Whitehall, and swarms of them and their reinforcements from forces around the country trotted about in stormtrooper formations throughout the day.

As Lindsey German, Convenor of Stop the War Coalition said in her speech,
“We are bitterly opposed to the proscription of Palestine Action. It is not terrorism to carry out direct action. It is not terrorism to support the Palestinians… There is something deeply, deeply wrong when a society allows Israel to commit genocide but cannot allow protests on the streets of London… We will continue protesting, and we will win.”

The weekend’s mobilisations come after weeks of horrifying images of Palestinian children starving to death, of seeing desperate Palestinians being shot dead while queueing for aid in cattle-pens, and following Netanyahu’s announcement of his plan to launch a full military invasion and total re-occupation of Gaza.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(continued from left column)

Keir Starmer’s pathetic statement in response offers only the mildest criticism to an open declaration of intent to commit further war crimes and to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people. His ‘threat’ of recognising a Palestinian state rings hollow while he continues to arm the genocidal Israeli state, train its soldiers on RAF bases and provide intelligence from RAF spy flights.

But his meek words are nonetheless a departure from his October 2023 claim that Israel ‘has the right’ to cut off food, water and electricity for Gaza’s civilian population. Starmer is reacting to the persistent groundswell of opposition his government is facing over its role in facilitating genocide.

The backbone of this has been the consistent mass mobilisations that have repeatedly brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of the capital. Polling shows that a growing majority of the population back a ceasefire, arms embargo and sanctions on Israel. In recent weeks, there has been a noticeable sea change in the coverage and editorial lines of mainstream media outlets, including the Daily Express, the Financial Times and The Economist.

This is coupled by a rapidly expanding list of celebrities and cultural figures speaking out in all forums against the genocide and the British government’s actions. Saturday’s national demonstration was addressed by Bafta-nominated actor Denise Gough, comedian Ivo Graham, and Danni Perry, a dancer who held up a Palestinian flag at the Royal Opera House and successfully campaigned to get the Royal Ballet and Opera to cancel its production in Tel Aviv.

Denise Gough told Counterfire,
“I’m here at the rally because if I don’t spend my time in spaces where people have care for the rest of the world then I feel very, very alone. It’s important for all of us to come here so that we can get re-energised, because genocide is exhausting.”

When the situation in Palestine is as dire as it is, when there is growing support among some of the most influential figures in society for an end to British support for Israel, and when the government is on the backfoot, is precisely the time to escalate the movement to put an end to Starmer’s support for genocide and to defend our right to protest.
Upcoming mobilisations:

Saturday 16 August: Stop Arming Israel – protest at RAF High Wycombe

Saturday 6 September: National demonstration for Palestine – central London

Saturday 27 September: National demonstration at Labour Conference – Liverpool

Sunday 5 October: International Meeting against the War – Paris

Shabbir Lakha is a Stop the War officer, a People’s Assembly activist and a member of Counterfire.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

Europe, Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY,

Australia: Pro-Palestine demonstration shuts down Sydney Harbour Bridge

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Nick Dobrijevich from the Peoples Dispatch (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Hundreds of thousands rallied on Sunday, August 3, calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people marking one of the largest political mobilizations in Sydney for decades. Organized by the Palestine Action Group (PAG), organizers estimated that 300,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge – one of the most recognizable landmarks in Australia.

video of the march

The State Premier of New South Wales (NSW), Chris Minns, publicly opposed the action earlier this week saying it would, “allow Sydney to descend into chaos”. The NSW police also attempted to shut the protest down by challenging organizers in the Supreme Court. NSW has one of the harshest restrictions on the right to protest introduced under recent anti-protest laws.

Starting in Lang Park in Sydney’s CBD, the rally was addressed by Palestinian writer and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah and refugee rights advocate, Craig Foster. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was also in attendance.

Federal Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi told the rally, “they [the government] parroted Israel’s propaganda. They demonized anyone who stood up and spoke out…Now because of your pressure, because of you protesting week in, week out, they are moving inch by inch. We cannot stop now.”

Jewish writer and journalist Antony Loewenstein said, “we are the majority, not the people who support what is happening in Palestine today. The only way this will stop is isolation for Israel. There is only one way: sanctions, boycotts and divestment.”

Growing opposition to Israel

Since October 7, 2023, there have been weekly rallies in Sydney and across Australia. Yet Sunday saw broadener sections of the population mobilize in support of Palestine. Historic numbers of community groups, trade unions and political organizations endorsed the action while a number of NSW politicians – including from the Minns government – backed the historic “March for Humanity”.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(continued from left column)

In the lead-up to Sunday’s action, images of Israel’s deliberate starvation of Palestinians in Gaza featured regularly on Australian mainstream media. The government’s staunch and ongoing backing of the Israeli regime further pushed a groundswell of support for Palestine.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong made minor criticisms of Israel and followed other imperialist countries in backing a future Palestinian state. Finance Minister Jim Chalmers was widely quoted saying, “from an Australian point of view, recognition of the state of Palestine is a matter of when, not if.”

This came after minor sanctions on far-right extremist politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in June. However, the Australian state has so far failed to adopt any of the movement’s demands including an end to all military ties with Israel, immediate sanctions, an end to weapons manufacturing – particularly deals with Elbit Systems and production of parts for F-35 fighter jets – and the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador.

Pushing forward

In recent decades, Australia has seen large mobilizations in support of progressive causes at home and against imperialism abroad. Some of these campaigns have forced the government to capitulate to the demands of the movement.

The 1960s and 1970s Moratorium Movement, for example, forced an Australian military withdrawal from Vietnam while the movement for East Timor’s independence forced the Australian state to abandon its decades-long backing of the Indonesian military government in the 1990s. Large rallies against the US invasion of Iraq and Australian involvement in that, however, did not succeed.

It remains unclear whether the Australian state can be pushed to abandon its unequivocal support of Israel’s genocidal war and force Wong and Albanese to adopt concrete action instead of empty slogans. Sunday’s rally is a clear indication of the broadening opposition to Israel’s genocide among broader sections of the Australian population This growing momentum could force further political changes.

Nick Dobrijevich is an Asia Pacific solidarity activist, translator and researcher based in Sydney, Australia.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

East Asia, Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY,

Colombia: At Hague Group Emergency Summit, 30+ Nations Seek to ‘Halt the Genocide in Gaza’

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article by Brett Wilkins in Common Dreams (reprinted according to Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Ministerial delegates from more than 30 nations gathered in the Colombian capital Bogotá Tuesday [July 15] for an emergency summit focused on “concrete measures” to end Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza and other crimes against occupied Palestine.

(Editor’s note: According to a followup article, “On the second and final day of an emergency summit in Bogotá, Colombia—which co-chairs the Hague Group with South Africa—the coalition announced a six-point plan for “coordinated diplomatic, legal, and economic measures to restrain Israel’s assault on the occupied Palestinian territories and defend international law at large.”)


Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, speaks during the emergency conference of The Hague Group at the San Carlos Palace in Bogotá on July 15, 2025. (Photo: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images)

The two-day Hague Group summit ultimately aims to “halt the genocide in Gaza” and sois led by co-chairs Colombia—which last year severed diplomatic relations with Israel—and South Africa, which filed the ongoing genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) joined by around two dozen countries. Progressive International first convened the Hague Group in January in the eponymous Dutch city, which is home to both the ICJ and International Criminal Court (ICC), whose rulings the coalition is dedicated to upholding.

“This summit marks a turning point in the global response to the erosion and violation of international law,” South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said ahead of the gathering. “No country is above the law, and no crime will go unanswered.”

Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir said before the summit: “The Palestinian genocide threatens the entire international system. Colombia cannot remain indifferent in the face of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The participating states will not only reaffirm their commitment to opposing genocide, but also formulate concrete steps to move from words to collective action.

That action includes enforcement of ICC arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and forced starvation in a war that has left more than 211,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hague Group members Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, and Senegal will attend the summit. Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela will also take part.

Notably, so will NATO members and U.S. allies Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. Like Israel, the United States denies there is a genocide in Gaza, despite growing international consensus among human rights defenders, jurists, and genocide experts including some of the leading Holocaust scholars in Israel and the United States.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(continued from left column)

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department—which has sanctioned ICC judges and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese for seeking accountability for Israeli crimes—told Jewish News Syndicate Monday that the United States “strongly opposes efforts by so-called ‘multilateral blocs’ to weaponize international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas.”

The spokesperson added that the Trump administration “will aggressively defend our interests, our military, and our allies, including Israel, from such coordinated legal and diplomatic warfare,” even as U.S. allies take part in the summit.

Undaunted by U.S. sanctions, Albanese is among several U.N. experts who spoke at the summit, which she hailed as “the most significant political development in the past 20 months.

In prepared remarks, Albanese—who earlier this month said that “Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history”—told attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional—applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful.”

“This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order,” she argued. “That era must end.”

According to Albanese:

The world will remember what we, states and individuals, did in this moment—whether we recoiled in fear or rose in defense of human dignity. Here in Bogotá, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: Enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace—grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.

The Israeli Mission to the United Nations told Jewish News Syndicate that “what the event organizers, and perhaps some of the countries attending, forget is what triggered this conflict—namely, the butchering of 1,200 innocent souls on October 7, and how 50 Israelis remain in brutal captivity to this day by Hamas in Gaza.”

“Attempting to exert pressure on Israel—and not Hamas, who initiated and are prolonging this conflict—is a moral travesty,” the mission added. “The war will not end while hostages remain in Gaza.”

In addition to the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICJ—whose ruling in the genocide case is not expected for years—has ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, to stop blocking lifesaving humanitarian aid from entering the strip, and to halt its assault on Rafah. Israel has ignored all three orders.

“The choice before us is stark and unforgiving,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in The Guardian last week. “We can either stand firm in defense of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”

“While we may face threats of retaliation when we stand up for international law—as South Africa discovered when the United States retaliated for its case at the International Court of Justice—the consequences of abdicating our responsibilities will be dire,” Petro continued. “If we fail to act now, we not only betray the Palestinian people, we become complicit in the atrocities committed by Netanyahu’s government.”

“For the billions of people in the Global South who rely on international law for protection, the stakes could not be higher,” he added. “The Palestinian people deserve justice. The moment demands courage.”

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

global, HUMAN RIGHTS, Latin America, Mideast, ,

Israel: Tens of thousands of protesters at Hostages Square call for an end to the Gaza war

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Arab News

Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Israel on Saturday [June 28] to demand that the government secure the release of 49 hostages still held in Gaza.


A crowd filled the “Hostages Square” in central Tel Aviv. Image: Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO

It was the first rally by hostages’ relatives since Israel agreed a ceasefire with Iran on June 24 after a 12-day war, raising hopes that the truce would lend momentum to efforts to end the Gaza conflict and bring the hostages home.

Emergency restrictions in place during the war with Iran had prevented the normally weekly rally from taking place.

A crowd filled “Hostages Square” in central Tel Aviv, waving Israeli flags and placards bearing the pictures of Israelis seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The deadly attacks prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a fierce military offensive in Gaza, vowing to crush Hamas and free the hostages.

Continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:
 
How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(Continued from left column)

Twenty months and several hostage exchanges later, 49 of those seized are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead — raising pressure on Netanyahu’s government.

“The war with Iran ended in an agreement. The war in Gaza must end the same way — with a deal that brings everyone home,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main body representing the relatives, in a statement to mark the rally.

Some demonstrators called on US President Donald Trump to help secure a ceasefire in Gaza that would see the captives freed, hailing his backing for Israel in the conflict with Iran.

“President Trump, end the crisis in Gaza. Nobel is waiting,” read one placard, in reference to a possible peace prize for the US leader.

“I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump,” one released hostage, Liri Albag, said at the rally.

“You made brave decisions on Iran. Now make the brave decision to end the war in Gaza and bring them home.”

– – –

Other sources about the demonstration include the following: Haaretz, Times of Israel and France 24
– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Mideast

Hundreds of Thousands March Against US-Backed Israeli Aggression in Tehran

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams (reprinted according to Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran and other cities across Iran on Friday to protest Israel’s illegal and escalating assault as the U.S.—Israel’s top ally and arms supplier—considers entering the war, which killed or wounded more than 2,600 Iranians during its first week.


Iranians protest Israeli attacks in Tehran on June 20, 2025. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi called Friday’s demonstrations “unprecedentedly large.”

“We have to keep in mind that a considerable proportion of Tehran’s population has decided to get out of the city amid the attacks, but still we see huge numbers,” said Asadi. “Since day one of these strikes, we’ve seen this strong sense of anger from ordinary citizens. Now they’re taking to the streets to express that.”

Protests also broke out in the capitals of Iraq and Lebanon as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes, and Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Geneva for talks with European Union and United Kingdom officials.
Continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:
 
How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

(Continued from left column)

In an interview ahead of the talks, Araghchi called the United States “a partner in this crime” and said that Iran is unwilling to engage in negotiations “until this aggression stops.”

Citing an unnamed senior Iranian official,  Reuters reported that Iran “was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that any proposal for zero enrichment—not being able to enrich uranium at all—would be rejected, ‘especially now under Israel’s strikes.'”

The mass demonstrations came as U.S. President Donald Trump weighed options—including the use of a nuclear weapon—to directly join Israel’s attack on Iran. The White House said Thursday that a final decision from the president will come within two weeks.

Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement Friday that “the use of nuclear weapons to prevent the mere possibility of nuclear weapons is not strategy—it is a waking nightmare.”

“A nuclear strike would massacre Iranians indiscriminately and unleash devastating radioactive fallout across Iran and the region, spreading terror, panic, and irreversible harm,” said Costello. “We should never have come to this point. But we are here. And we must raise our voices, urgently, against Netanyahu’s war of aggression and the warmongers cheering it on. The path forward is diplomacy, not devastation. We must shut this Pandora’s box before more horrors are unleashed.”

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Mideast

The Hague: Rally against Gaza genocide June 15

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from the New Arab

Tens of thousands of people dressed in red marched through the streets of The Hague on Sunday (June 15) to demand more action from the Dutch government against Israel’s ongoing atrocities in Gaza, calling it a genocide.

(Editor’s note: the following video of the three-mile march supports claims that there were 150,000 people and that it was the largest demonstration in the Netherlands in this century.)



Video copied from twitter account of Rutger Bregman

Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam organised the demonstration through the city to the International Court of Justice, creating a so-called “red line”.

Many waving Palestinian flags and some chanting “Stop the Genocide”, the demonstrators turned a central park in the city into a sea of red on a sunny afternoon.

Protesters brandished banners reading “Don’t look away, do something”, “Stop Dutch complicity”, and “Be silent when kids sleep, not when they die”.

Organisers urged the Dutch government – which collapsed on 3 June after a far-right party pulled out of a fragile coalition – to do more to rein in Israel.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(continued from left column)

“People in Gaza cannot wait and the Netherlands has a duty to do everything it can to stop the genocide,” they said in their call to action.

Dodo Van Der Sluis, a 67-year-old pensioner, told AFP: “It has to stop. Enough is enough. I can’t take it anymore.”

“I’m here because I think it’s maybe the only thing you can do now as a Dutch citizen, but it’s something you have to do,” she added.

A previous protest in The Hague on 18 May drew more than 100,000 people, according to organisers, who described it as the country’s largest demo in 20 years.

Police did not give an estimate for that demonstration.

Israel began waging a war on the Gaza Strip on7 October, 2023, in response to a surprise attack launched by Hamas. Israel’s actions have been decried globally over the months, with many experts labelling it as a genocide against the Palestinian people.

Israel’s military operation has killed at least 55,207 people, the majority of them civilians.

The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a case brought by South Africa against Israel, arguing its actions in Gaza breach the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

Europe, HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast,

Final declaration of NADA (Regional Democratic Women’s Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa) congress

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Women Defend Rojava

The first congress of the Regional Democratic Women’s Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa (NADA) took place in Suleymaniya [Iraq] on May 15th, 16th, and 17th, 2025. Around 200 women from 19 different countries participated, including representatives from Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, and others.

This congress was a strategic event for women and society in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as an important step toward building a global women’s confederation. Below is the final declaration of the congress.

“We are currently undergoing a period of significant transformation, marked by dramatic changes in all areas and unfolding amid intense developments at both the regional and international levels. While unjust policies and practices have deepened the devastating impact of these transformations on women, they have also opened up new and significant opportunities.

In this context, the NADA Alliance held its first post-foundation congress on May 15–17, 2025, in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, under the slogan ‘Towards a Democratic Society Based on Women’s Revolution.’ The congress brought together hundreds of women activists, organizations, and institutions from across the Middle East and North Africa (including Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan). The participation of women from Arab, Kurdish, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, Amazigh, Persian, Afghan, and Yazidi (Êzidî) communities represented the unity of women across the region’s immense cultural diversity.

The congress sessions focused on core theoretical issues related to the exclusion and injustice faced by women in the Middle East. The third world war currently unfolding in the region was described as a silent genocide against women: massacres, forced displacement, abduction, and the use of women as tools of war, as seen in the atrocities committed against Yazidi women in Shengal in 2014, or in the ongoing devastation in Palestine over the past year and a half. Similar atrocities are taking place in Sudan and Yemen. These brutal wars are not only the product of democracy-deprived nation-states, but also the result of global capitalism’s alliance with local political-religious powers. These dynamics, compounded by patriarchal laws, constitutional frameworks, and regressive social values, have further marginalized women.

The congress also addressed the historical legacy of women’s resistance and their struggle to uphold this legacy amid today’s crises. Women have never stepped back; on the contrary, they have forged a powerful connection between the matriarchal culture of the past and the goals of contemporary struggle. The women’s revolutions in Rojava, Sudan, Yemen, and Tunisia, as well as the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) uprising in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat), are vivid examples of this continuity. The congress emphasized that a society based on women’s freedom must be built upon a shared life rooted in equality between men and women.

Participants thoroughly evaluated the current state of the women’s struggle, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities that lie ahead. The discussions emphasized the importance of seizing available resources and historical openings to strengthen efforts toward building peace and establishing a democratic society rooted in the women’s revolution. It was also stressed that regional alliances among women must be reinforced, and the need for collective resistance against patriarchal and anti-woman neoliberal coalitions was highlighted. The congress further underlined that women must have access to legal, constitutional, and security-based protection and defense mechanisms, particularly in times of war and conflict.

(Article continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

(Article continued from left column)

The congress emphasized that in response to the political dynamics of the third world war, it is essential to develop a unified political struggle led by women and to build global women’s networks that can carry forward the universal legacy of women. The NADA Alliance was highlighted as a driving force in continuing the passionate women’s revolution under the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî”.

On the third day of the congress, participants reviewed the past activities of the NADA Alliance, defined its strategic objectives, and established seven specialized committees to implement the alliance’s projects.

Participants reached a consensus on the following points:

– To strengthen the NADA Alliance as a comprehensive women’s platform grounded in human rights, embracing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Istanbul Convention, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and relevant regional protocols.

– To adopt the Rojava and North and East Syria Women’s Revolution Document and the Charter of the Global Democratic Women’s Confederation as core references of the NADA Alliance, thereby reinforcing international solidarity among women.

– To enhance women’s organization and resistance for a society based on freedom, a life shared in equality between women and men, democracy, and social justice.

– To struggle for a democratic society and peace built on individual freedom, free from extremism, and from ethnic, religious, or sectarian divisions.

– To support Abdullah Öcalan’s Call for Peace and Democratic Society, which centers on women’s freedom.

– To demand the release of women prisoners held in the jails of occupying forces and authoritarian regimes.

– To stand in solidarity with the resistance of Yazidi women and offer support for their struggle.

– To provide both national and international support to women’s resistance in the face of war, occupation, genocide, displacement, demographic engineering, and sexual violence occurring across the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

– To establish networks among women’s organizations, promote the sharing of ideas, visions, and experiences, and address women’s issues as a transnational human cause.

– To ensure women’s active participation in political decision-making processes and to strengthen their intellectual and social capacities.

– To expand the work of the NADA Alliance through its local committees in each country and to reinforce joint actions on both local and regional levels.

– To build a women-centered, independent media that amplifies women’s issues and counters the male-dominated media narrative that degrades women.

Long live the free women’s struggle in the Middle East and North Africa!

Long live the women’s revolution! (Woman, Life, Freedom – Jin, Jiyan, Azadî)

Regional Democratic Women’s Alliance (NADA Alliance)”

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Global March to Gaza

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

An article published June 12 in Sharing.org Reprinted according to  Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

Meeting in Cairo, Egypt, over 30 countries are coming together for a historic international march  in solidarity with Gaza.

In a first-of-its-kind step, a coalition of unions, solidarity movements, and international human rights organizations from over 32 countries has announced the launch of the “Global March to Gaza” — a plan to enter the Gaza Strip on foot in response to the catastrophic humanitarian conditions endured by its population under an Israeli siege that has lasted nearly 20 months.

The march aims to directly stop the genocide against the Palestinian people, facilitate the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, and demand an end to the siege on Gaza.

Participants are from Western countries, not just from Arab or Muslim communities, with more than 10,000 people having expressed interest in joining. Task forces have been formed geographically to ensure effective logistics and multilingual media communication.

The march follows an Israeli plan to delegate aid entry to a private company, which the UN has rejected, arguing it would worsen displacement, restrict aid access, and tie humanitarian aid to political and military agendas.

Key objectives of the march

Around 3,000 aid trucks loaded with food, medicine, and fuel have been waiting for months at Rafah. The march’s primary goal is to break the inhumane blockade imposed since 7 October 2023.

According to the organizers, other goals include:

1. Stop the genocide

Collective, practical action to halt ongoing Israeli crimes, especially the use of starvation as a weapon and the systematic killing of children.

2. Immediate humanitarian aid access

Demand for direct and urgent entry of food, medical supplies, and essentials through the Rafah Crossing, where thousands of trucks have been stuck at the border.

3. End the siege

Call for the unconditional opening of a stable humanitarian corridor and removal of restrictions preventing access to food, clean water, fuel, and medicine.

4. Mobilize international opinion

Unite civil societies across countries to expose war crimes, pressure governments, and engage global media in supporting justice and Palestinian human rights.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

(continued from left column)

Video copied from twitter account of March to Gaza

5. Accountability for war crimes

Call for legal and ethical accountability for all parties contributing to or complicit in violations against the Palestinian people.

Solidarity as a principle

German lawyer Melanie Schweizer explained that this peaceful initiative also sends symbolic messages of international solidarity, aiming to:

° Represent civil societies of the participating countries.

° Involve unions, rights organizations, medical and humanitarian sectors, and individuals from all backgrounds to amplify the voice of global civil society.

° Emphasize the nonviolent and voluntary nature of the march — no government backing, and participants self-fund their journey.

March route and logistics

Because participants come from various countries, the plan is to converge in Cairo starting 12 June, then travel to Arish and proceed on foot to Gaza via Rafah Crossing.

Eduard Camacho, from the Catalan union IAC, confirmed that each person will cover their own expenses with minimal logistical support. The route involves:

1. Coordinating local start points and liaising with ground activities.

2. Dividing participants into national groups, each organizing in its own language and culture.

3. Reaching Cairo, traveling to Arish, and marching by foot to Rafah.

4. Engaging embassies and Egyptian authorities, formally requesting cooperation.

5. Staging a sit-in at Rafah Crossing to demand its opening and aid delivery.

More information: https://marchtogaza.net

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY