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.
