By Roger Fowler

This year the Freedom Flotilla boat, the Handala, is sailing across Europe to build support for the Palestinian people.

Since 2008 international activists have organized numerous solidarity flotillas to the Gaza Strip to challenge and break the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade.

This year the Freedom Flotilla boat, the Handala, is sailing across Europe to build support for the Palestinian people, visiting ports in Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden before setting off to Gaza in 2024.

Above is a video of Handala’s recent visit to Cardiff, from our friends at Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK, with interviews of Freedom Flotilla participants on board.

After warm welcoming events in several ports, including Glasgow, Liverpool, Waterford, Cardiff, and Bristol, the Handala is now sailing to Southhampton then to Rotterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Halmstad, Gothenburg, and Oslo. 

The 2023 voyage focuses on the children of Gaza. This is why the organizers have chosen to name this boat Handala after the iconic 10-year-old Palestinian refugee child created by Naji Al-Ali in his cartoon about Palestinians’ longing to return to their homeland.

– Roger Fowler is the coordinator of Kia Ora Gaza (Aotearoa New Zealand), a member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Website: kiaoragaza.net He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.