“Enough Is Enough”: Freed Gaza Flotilla Activists Demand the World Keep Fighting for Palestinian Prisoners and Breaking Israel’s Siege on Gaza

May 12, 2026, SCHEERPOST, Joshua Scheer

Attorney and Palestine solidarity activist James Marc Leas tells Margaret Flowers why global flotillas are challenging not only Israel’s blockade, but the collapse of international law itself.

As governments continue to ignore their obligations under international law and the Genocide Convention, ordinary people are risking everything to confront the siege and starvation of Gaza themselves. From Italy to the eastern Mediterranean, activists aboard humanitarian flotillas are challenging one of the most brutal blockades in modern history — facing armed interception, detention, violence, and even torture for daring to carry solidarity across the sea.

On this episode of Clearing the FOG, Margaret Flowers speaks with longtime Palestine solidarity activist and attorney James Marc Leas, who joins from Italy as the Freedom Flotilla Coalition sails toward Gaza. Leas explains why these flotillas matter far beyond humanitarian aid: they are acts of civilian resistance against genocide, collective punishment, and the collapse of international law itself.

The conversation traces Israel’s escalating attacks on flotilla activists in international waters, the expanding siege on Gaza, the role of U.S. military and diplomatic support, and why global citizens increasingly believe governments have failed to stop mass atrocities. From the destruction of Gaza’s schools and hospitals to the criminalization of dissent across the West, Flowers and Leas argue that silence has become complicity — and that direct action is now filling the vacuum left by cowardly political leadership.

As Gaza faces mass starvation, relentless bombardment, and the systematic destruction of civilian life, international activists are once again sailing toward one of the most militarized blockades on Earth. After Israeli forces violently seized humanitarian boats in international waters. Their discussion lays bare the growing desperation in Gaza — and the rising global movement determined to stop the genocide governments refuse to confront.

Saif Abu Keshek has now been released from Israeli captivity after six brutal days of detention, abuse and isolation, but activists say his message remains urgent: the movement must continue to mobilize. While Saif and fellow flotilla organizer Thiago Ávila have returned home safely following international pressure campaigns, thousands of Palestinian prisoners remain trapped inside Israeli prisons under conditions human rights groups have repeatedly condemned as inhumane. Activists behind the flotilla campaign say the releases represent only a small step toward justice and renewed calls for global solidarity, direct action and sustained pressure against what they describe as a system of occupation, siege and apartheid. Organizers also extended gratitude to the legal team at Adalah, along with the countless activists, unions and supporters worldwide who mobilized for the safe return of the detained flotilla members — insisting the struggle for Palestinian liberation is far from over.

The release of flotilla activists Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila has become both a moment of relief and a renewed call for global action. After being violently seized by Israeli forces in international waters and held for days without charges, the two activists were finally released following mounting international pressure from governments, legal advocates and solidarity campaigns worldwide. But upon arriving in Athens, Saif made clear that the focus must remain on the thousands of Palestinians still imprisoned inside Israeli detention centers. “I left behind me thousands of Palestinian prisoners — children, women, and men,” he said, warning that the abuse he experienced “does not compare to the suffering they are going through.” Activists say the flotilla members’ release exposes Israel’s accusations against them as politically motivated attempts to criminalize solidarity with Palestine, while highlighting the brutal reality facing more than 10,000 Palestinians reportedly subjected to starvation, abuse, isolation and torture inside Israeli prisons. Organizers with the Global Sumud Flotilla praised the international mobilization that helped secure the activists’ freedom, while insisting the struggle is far from over and calling for escalating pressure against what they describe as Israel’s ongoing genocide and system of occupation.

For Leas, the flotillas represent something far larger than symbolic protest.

“The main purpose of the Freedom Flotilla is to break the siege entirely — not simply to deliver aid,” Leas explained. “Palestine was once self-sufficient. What Israel has destroyed is an entire society.”

Leas described Gaza not as a place dependent on outside charity, but as a society systematically dismantled through blockade, bombardment and forced deprivation. Farms have been destroyed, fishing operations crippled, hospitals flattened and entire neighborhoods erased.

The result, Flowers noted, is a humanitarian collapse increasingly defined by starvation — particularly among children.

According to Doctors Without Borders, malnutrition among pregnant women, infants and newborns has surged dramatically since Israel intensified restrictions on food distribution inside Gaza. Food access points have been reduced from hundreds to just a handful, creating scenes of chaos and deadly violence as desperate civilians attempt to secure basic supplies.

“Half the people living in Gaza are children,” Leas said. “And Israel is committing genocide against children.”

Israel’s Expanding Assault on Flotilla Activists…………………………………………………. https://scheerpost.com/2026/05/12/enough-is-enough-freed-gaza-flotilla-activists-demand-the-world-keep-fighting-for-palestinian-prisoners-and-breaking-israels-siege-on-gaza/