By Roger Fowler

Two Kiwi/Palestinian volunteers, Youssef Sammour and Rama Hamida, crew members on the Freedom Flotilla boat, the Handala, received a warm welcome home after recently arriving back in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The Handala has been visiting dozens of Scandinavian and European ports raising awareness and building solidarity for the Palestinian struggle this year.

Youssef and Rana got a rousing response when they spoke about their experiences at the weekly rally for Free Palestine in Auckland this weekend.

They have been crew on the Handala for the past three months. Their participation in the flotilla was facilitated by Kia Ora Gaza, a member of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

The Handala is currently undergoing maintenance in Italy, while the other two Freedom Flotilla ships continue to be blocked from leaving their Istanbul port, by the Turkish authorities as tensions rise in the region

First up at the rally, Youssef also highlighted the need to strengthen the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign, build nationwide rallies, and continue to push for government action to end Israel’s occupation and genocidal war.

Here are Youssef’s and Rana’s full speeches.

‘I Choose to Be Palestinian’

We set sail from France in mid-June and stopped in several ports in Spain, in Portugal, France, Corsica, Sicily and Malta. 

We attended and spoke at rallies, government houses, universities, schools, workers unions, art centers. We met with mayors, party leaders, medical practitioners, professors, artists, activists, and the local Palestinian communities in each port. 

At sea, we had 4-hour shifts where we would navigate and steer Handala in between each port. Which gave us just enough time to reflect on our experience of the port we had just left as well as plan for our next destination. 

It was a heavy journey filled with intensity and emotion, there were heartwarming ups and gut-wrenching downs. We were tossed around rough seas and enjoyed calm waters with visits from dolphins. Extreme cold at first and blistering heat at the end both physically and spiritually. 

We met some wonderful people and there are too many stories and experiences to mention, but I invite you to watch the videos that Rana and I have posted on Instagram if you’d like to see key snippets and highlights.

We had always left Aotearoa hoping that there would be a ceasefire by the time we approached Palestine and we could actually make it to Gaza and deliver the support that our people desperately need. Both practically in the form of medical aid, and emotionally by actually physically showing up in solidarity.

As the journey progressed, the genocide worsened and the bombing didn’t stop. It has not stopped. Our cargo ships in Turkey holding over 5000 tonnes of food and medical aid to this day have been held there by the Turkish government without any valid reason, leaving only Handala, our small Norwegian fishing vessel carrying 17 passengers alone in this mission. 

After several long and intense discussions among the crew and then with the steering committee, it eventually became clear that Handala would not be able to make it to Gaza alone, the dangers were simply too high. 

Every red line we can possibly think of has been crossed by Israel with impunity. More UN personnel, reporters, and healthcare workers have been murdered than in any other “war” since the creation of the UN 78 years ago. 

Do you remember when they denied bombing that first hospital in October? Now there are no hospitals left. What is to stop them from blowing us out of the water? 

And so it was with a heavy heart that we left Handala, our home of three months, in Sicily where it is undergoing some much-needed maintenance and repairs, while the committee reassesses the next steps.

Here we are now. Back to work, back to the routine, and the past 3 months feel like they were all a dream. 

If you were to ask me what it was like to be a diaspora Palestinian right now having just come back from this journey? I would tell you my survivor’s guilt makes it hard to breathe every day.

I feel guilty that I am here. 

I feel guilty that I have a safe house and have a fridge full of food.

I feel guilty because my family being forced into exile in 1948, supposedly got me a “better chance at life”. Or did it? For Palestinians in the diaspora, we are not here, but we’re also not there. 

We have two choices: To try to somehow find a way home, then to live under forced exile, apartheid and settler violence in the heart of our homeland (where we yearn to be), or to live in voluntary exile as a resident alien, in another country. 

Either way, to be a stranger in a strange land.

I have been asked multiple times over the years: Why don’t you just make this your home? You seem to have assimilated so well, can you try to just move on? But even if it had nothing to do with my ancestry, I choose to be Palestinian! 

I choose to be Palestinian, because I believe in dignity, justice, and in humanity. I believe in perseverance. In resilience. 

I choose to be Palestinian even though they don’t play fair. Even after living through our holocausts, Al-Nakba, Al-Naksa and now Gaza and the West Bank, even through the heartbreak of it all, even through the decades of dehumanization, even through the live-streamed screaming of our beautiful Palestinian babies as they burn alive, even through, even through, even through, WE RISE UP, we choose to be  Palestinians and we choose to NEVER BE THE VICTIM. 

From the river to the sea, and all around the world, we are the Palestinians.

Honestly, many of us can’t even process the depths of depravity and the extent of abandonment. We are not ok. Your Palestinian friends, they might muster up a smile but they are not ok. Please look after them. 

We feel as though we are stuck in a feverish dream and we wake up every morning to find ourselves still in it. It feels like the world should be in a state of emergency, yet outside of the rallies, nobody around us seems to notice. 

How do we cope? We don’t. We push through, as best we can. We allow ourselves brief moments to rejuvenate our spirit, I find solace in the sea, in nature, and and surrounding myself with loved ones.

Then, I rejoin the fight for human rights. 

I choose. I choose to be a strong Palestinian.

Our generation has been instilled with a moral, political and ethical commitment to liberation. An unwavering hunger for telling the truth and an unquenchable thirst for Justice. 

We are fighting in Palestine, we are resisting from all the way here in Aotearoa, we are alive all over the world, and we refuse to be erased, we will not be erased. 

Today, we Palestinians in the diaspora have a greater responsibility than ever before – as our families in Palestine are faced daily with life-or-death situations. The fate of the revolution has been shifted from them to diasporic hands and our hearts may be broken but we will not grow weary in this battle for human rights. 

Despite ICJ rulings ordering Israel to immediately cease all military actions in Gaza. Despite a passed UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Despite arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and members of his cabinet. 

And despite, just last week, a passed UN resolution imposing a 12-month deadline on Israel to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, and to remove all illegal settlements, and return to the agreed 1967 borders. Despite all of this, Israel’s terror continues and has now expanded to the West Bank and Lebanon. 

Our governments who claim to represent us and our shared values of peace and justice have failed us, therefore we must rise up and demand change. We must be louder than ever.

We must demand that sanctions be placed, that the ambassador be expelled and that all economic and political ties with Israel be severed. We must demand they be held accountable. 

I ask you all, to please be resilient, please keep boycotting, please keep pushing your members of parliamet and your governments to not just speak but to act. Please keep pushing BDS (boycott divestment, sanctions). Please keep attending the demonstrations, and encourage your friends and family to join. We are fighting against a powerful entity, but we have humanity on our side. And we will prevail.

Palestine and the Palestinians in it will be Free, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Free Palestine!

‘It is Only the Beginning’

My journey is no different than Youssef’s in many ways. Being on a humble ship called Handala, the 10-year-old Palestinian boy who was displaced and has since turned his back to the world facing Falastine, was an eye-opening mission. 

The heat was increasing as we drew closer to the fire. I could notice that within the interpersonal dynamic on the vessel, the various meetings on land and even the ship itself had engine issues – the ship was speaking louder than most our politicians, feeling and communicating to us her worry of the state of the world. 

The decision to be there and stand for human rights in that form, felt at the beginning to be a more tangible action, “we will meet the humanity in those people in power” I said to myself. Yet slowly as we met more politicians on the way, the energy started weighing heavier and heavier. 

Politicians would express their “concerns” and “condolences” yet give no answer about any actions made to affect and bring change to the situation. “When I wake up in the morning, if I have one wish, it is world peace,” one politician said – and when asked practical questions about his contribution and a photo, he said, “This meeting is unofficial “ and refused to take a photo with the crew of Handala. 

Disappointment, anger, frustration, and sadness were emotions that rose as we did more of these meetings. I felt pity for their inability to be a free human, to pair their action with their empty words. 

Palestinians in Gaza are more free than the puppets of the free world. 

The genocide in Gaza was escalating even more as we drew the deadline of deciding whether to stay on board until Gaza or stop just before that. Deciding not to stay was not an easy decision: I was closer than ever to Falastine – I could smell it so close, so warm. 

“I have nothing to lose,” I said. Yet I know I have so much, I have an amazing community, a lively life, dear nephews, my sister, my parents, and my work.  I’ve got the gift of life. And I am reminded that to live for a cause is harder than to die for it. 

To live with this responsibility and be willing to risk it all, live it to the fullest and put it all on the line with every choice I make for this movement. For liberation of Falastin and the world. 

Falastin is not a country anymore. It is an ideology of justice, humanity, compassion, equality and freedom. 

And for us to shift the current and balance the scale we need to learn from each other and make this a consolidated global movement.

On the journey, we also met artists who I joined voices with and sang, trade unions who were active in successful revolutions, schools kids learning about injustice and painting their love for the kids in Gaza, and local solidarity groups who are committed to continuously meeting with their governments and protest, media teams who were covering Handala and the aim of it, 

We met olive trees with their resilience – sat with them and listened to their ancient wisdom. Stomped our feet on their soil waking up memories of my ancestors within my blood. 

These meetings taught me to keep the light as a guide to my actions and that when the lives of millions past, present, and future are on the line, we work together. 

On a micro level; starting with ourselves. Holding ourselves and each other accountable.

Shake the conditioning and decolonize our thoughts, words and actions. Find our centre to act from a place of balance. 

Ask yourself every day:

How am I unconsciously perpetuating the cycle of abuse?

How can I contribute even if with one action? 

How can I challenge my fear and say the word of truth somehow?

What tools do I have and can use in service?

We counterbalance the chaos around with peace within an organization, the killing with more life, the silencing with a louder voice, and the division with unity stronger than ever.

On a macro level, we show up, to marches, to council meetings, and engage with the system so we can change it from within. Infiltrate the cancer of the world with healing on many levels.

We are going to escalate by organizing even more, holding our politicians accountable for their contribution to this genocide on humanity and to many untelevised ones. We will remind them of their roles, why they are elected, and that we will not let them swim in their bloody money without account anymore. 

Before I started speaking, some of you got a Jazmine essence on your wrist, this is a gift from a Palestinian sister I met in Malaga- Spain. She brought it straight from Gaza. 

Smell it, allow it to swell through your breath and into every cell within your body. 

Between all the blood, screams and destruction we are witnessing, allow even if a small place for a Jazmine smell, and let it paint the beauty this land and its people have in them. Let this memory continue to build a future reality full of flowers and peace. Real peace.

Hold onto the person next to you

We need to listen to each other

Trust each other. And work on our and each other’s strength points. 

We are each other’s resources, so let’s wake up even more and see the possibility of our union. 

It is only the beginning and the only way is through. There are no shortcuts, Kia kaha whanau.

(The Palestine Chronicle)