Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc condemns the seizure of the Sumud Flotilla and writes to international rights groups

Press release

Piracy against the Sumud Flotilla: when the high seas become a theatre of organised terrorism

In flagrant violation of all international norms and laws, Israeli occupation forces committed an outright act of piracy by intercepting the Sumud Flotilla in international waters. This act of aggression, which targeted civilian vessels carrying peaceful activists from around the world on a purely humanitarian mission to break the unjust siege of Gaza, once again reveals the terrorist nature of the occupying state and its contempt for the international community and its institutions.

We at the Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc have followed with deep concern the reports that some 500 human rights activists, including women and prominent international figures, were taken to occupation prisons, notably the notorious Ketziot prison. The scenes of these free people being humiliated by extremist figures in the occupation government, who called them “terrorists”, are part of a disinformation narrative aimed at demonising every free voice that rejects injustice and stands with the besieged Palestinian people.

This attack is not an isolated incident but a new chapter in the suffocating siege imposed on Gaza for years, which has turned the Strip into the world's largest open-air prison. Freedom of navigation on the high seas, guaranteed by international instruments such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, has been blatantly violated, placing the international community before its historic and moral responsibilities.

The Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc condemns this crime in the strongest terms and regards it as organised state terrorism. Such practices will only strengthen the resolve of those in solidarity with the Palestinian cause to continue their peaceful struggle to lift the siege and expose the falsehood of a narrative built on brute force.

A message to the international conscience

In keeping with its moral and humanitarian responsibility, the Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc has sent urgent letters to leading international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as to UN special rapporteurs, urging them to act immediately and press the occupation government to release all detainees and guarantee their safety.

The international community's silence on this crime is a green light for further violations. History will not forgive those who stand idle, and the blood of the innocent and the voice of the free will remain stronger than the machinery of repression and aggression.

Djelloul Chetouane
President of the Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc Foundation
Algiers