Flotilla "Activist": Goal was IDF, not Gaza
A Gaza flotilla participant and prominent New York anti-Israel activist said Sunday that last week’s blockade run was primarily an act of direct confrontation with the IDF intended to refocus attention on Gaza.
A Gaza flotilla participant and prominent New York anti-Israel activist said Sunday that last week’s blockade run was not primarily a humanitarian aid mission, but an act of direct confrontation with the IDF intended to refocus attention on Gaza.
In a video posted by Palestinian Youth Movement NYC, Adalah co-vessel organizer Rosa Martinez said media coverage had misrepresented the April and May flotillas by describing them mainly as aid missions.
“I think that’s kind of flattening what it is that we’re doing,” Martinez said. “Yes, there is aid. The aid that we have isn’t sufficient to the structural issues in a post ‘ceasefire’ Gaza.”
Martinez, who also goes by Rudy, said the mission was rooted in direct action.
“For me, as someone who, I think at this juncture in history, is very wedded to direct action, I feel like directly confronting the Israeli occupation forces at sea as we try to break this 20-year genocidal siege... is a historic responsibility,” he said.
He added that the mission’s priorities included “engaging with the IOF directly” and “putting the spotlight back on Gaza,” which he said had fallen out of the headlines.
Martinez was arrested on May 18 after his vessel was intercepted by Israeli naval forces along with dozens of other Global Sumud Flotilla ships. He described his four-day detention as a “waking nightmare,” while saying it was only a fraction of what Palestinians endure.
Martinez has previously faced criminal charges connected to anti-Israel protest activity in New York. He was among the so-called CUNY 8, a group charged after the City University of New York protest encampments, which the New York Post reported caused $3 million in damage. Charges included burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and possession of burglar’s tools.
In a February interview with Al Fida’i, Martinez said he had “zero regrets” over the protest activity.
Martinez also drew attention in December 2023 after telling pro-Israel influencer Rachel Herman that the October 7 massacre was “one of the greatest days” of his life and “one of the greatest days in the history of decolonization.”