Israel did not arrest the crew of the Madleen, it kidnapped them

The crew are now hostages...

When Israel intercepted the Madleen in international waters, it had no jurisdiction to act, and aside from anything else, the crew had committed no crime. The Madleen was perfectly entitled to sail through international waters and deliver aid to Gaza. The attempt to deliver aid was not illegal, the interception was.

Israeli drones sprayed the Madleen with a white substance and an Israeli boat rammed the aid vessel before commandos boarded it, all because it contained things like baby food, medicine and prosthetics. Israel must defend itself from those things, apparently.

The crew of the Madleen smiled throughout their arrest, but those smiles were not smiles of relaxation, they were smiles of defiance. They knew Israel has a track record of killing the crew members of aid vessels and they showed they would not be intimidated.

In a world of Dawn Frenchs, be a Greta Thunberg or a Rima Hassan.

The crew of the Madleen know they are utterly in the right and Israel is utterly in the wrong. French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan said on Twitter:

When they come to arrest us, I will look at them the way Larbi Ben M'Hidi looked at the colonizers of his land: calm, confident in the liberation of Palestine. They are the occupiers of this land; we are its roots.

Bizarrely, Israel's act of piracy was described by the BBC as "diverting" the Madleen. In what universe was this a diversion? When you capture people in international waters who have committed no crime, you have not diverted them, you have kidnapped them. The crew of the Madleen are hostages, and not only that, Israel is already bragging about how it plans to abuse them.

The crew of 12, who the media describe as "activists", comprise of journalists, politicians, and a doctor. They are to be taken to the port of Ashdod where they will be psychologically tortured by the IDF.

Israel Katz says he has given the order to make the crew watch footage of October 7th to show them “exactly who the terrorist organisation they came to support and for whom they work is”. Presumably, they will only watch the killings carried out by Hamas and not the enactment of the Hannibal Directive.

We know a large number of Israelis, well in excess of 100, were killed by Israeli forces on October 7th. Apache helicopters torched vehicles and Israeli tanks blew up houses with Israelis inside them. I can only assume Greta and the other hostages are not gonna be forced to watch any of that. They will only be shown the actions of Hamas as a Clockwork Orange form of psychological programming. Kind of ironic that Israel always whines about its critics telling a one-sided story of its genocide.

Needless to say, forcing hostages to watch violent videos is a war crime, but Israel has already committed so many crimes, what is one more? Just ask yourself this: if Israel is prepared to carry out a high-profile kidnapping with the world watching, what is it prepared to do to Palestinians when the world isn't watching?

Given some of the hostages are British, and the Madleen is a British-flagged ship, it will be interesting to see if our government speaks out on their behalf or falls silent.

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Yolanda Diaz, was not afraid to speak up. She wrote on BlueSky: “I strongly condemn the seizure of the Madleen boat, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. This violation of international law demands a clear and forceful response from the EU."

Spain has summoned an Israeli diplomat to discuss the seizing of the Madleen. It would be nice if the British government did the same. So far the only British MPs I have seen speaking out are the "bad ones", such as Apsana Begum, who always get smeared as antisemites. Do you understand yet?

Apsana Begum posted on Twitter:

The Madleen is a civilian ship trying to deliver aid to the people of Gaza. Israel should remember that the world is watching & refrain from acts of hostility. The UK Government must remember its own obligations under international law & defend the ship’s right to free passage.

As we hear daily reports of Israelis massacring Palestinians queuing for food, it's safe to say Israel's attitude towards an aid ship has backfired. The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the Madleen as a "selfie yacht", but it's better to take selfies while trying to feed people than post TikToks of your genocide.

The real mission of the Freedom Flotilla was not to feed Gaza because those small vessels can only carry so much. The real mission was to break the starvation blockade by showing the world we are dealing with monsters who have no regard for international law. The Madleen might not have reached the shores of Palestine, but it has spectacularly achieved its mission of exposing a rogue state. Well done.

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