South Africans join historic Gaza flotilla in bold act of solidarity

For Gaza’s people, this journey is a message of hope. For the world, it is a challenge: Where do you stand?

By AZIZ YOUNIS

In the choppy waters off Tunisia’s coast, the Global Resilience Fleet is undertaking a daring journey to the besieged Gaza Strip. On September 5, 2025 three ships, carrying over 200 passengers from 44 countries – including ten South Africans – set sail to challenge Israel’s 18-year blockade with 15 tons of humanitarian aid and a message of global resistance.

The South African delegation reflects the country’s cultural, religious and geographic diversity. Among them are Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s grandson and ANC parliamentarian), Dr Zaheera Soomar (medical doctor and activist), Jared Sacks (academic and Jewish anti-Zionist), award-winning author Zukiswa Wanner, Elham Mafok Hatfield (disaster relief expert), Dr Fatima Hendricks (occupational therapist), and grassroots activists Irshad Ahmed Shothia, Fadel Bahra, Noreen Saloojee and Riad Moolla.

Ordinary South Africans are taking the risk

For Dr Zaheera Soomar, a mother of three, the decision to sail was not taken lightly. ‘We’ve marched, we’ve protested, we’ve pressured governments,’ she says. ‘And yet, for two years, the genocide has continued. The fleet is a form of non-violent activism—driven by desperation.’

Dr Zaheera Soomar, a mother of three, leaves her home in South Africa to sail into dangerous waters from which she may not return. (Photo AL JAZEERA)

Soomar describes the blockade not only as a humanitarian crisis but a moral test. ‘What if this were my child? What would I expect the world to do?’ she asks. ‘Palestinians live with this fear daily. I can’t stand by and do nothing.’

Her family’s initial reluctance was understandable. ‘My husband and mother were very worried,’ she admits. ‘But I told them: this is about basic humanity.’

Jared Sacks, a Columbia University-trained academic and founder of a children’s charity, shares a different challenge. As a Jewish anti-Zionist, he feels the added burden of confronting the false equivalence between Judaism and Israeli violence. ‘Israel doesn’t speak for all Jews,’ he says. ‘More and more Jews around the world reject Zionism and its genocidal logic.’

His message is unequivocal: ‘Zionism must be dismantled—not only for the sake of Palestinians, but for the future of the world.’

Zukiswa Wanner, who famously returned Germany’s Goethe Medal over its support for Israel, views Gaza as a symbol of a global crisis. ‘Gaza is ground zero, but it’s not isolated,’ she says. ‘From Brazil to South Africa, from favelas to townships, the weapons and ideologies destroying Gaza are being exported everywhere.’

Zukiswa Wanner: ‘Breaking the Gaza blockade should be the job of governments, not civilians.’ (Photo AL JAZEERA)

Her decision to sail, she explains, was triggered by a growing sense of injustice. ‘It shouldn’t be civilians doing this. It should be governments. But if they won’t act, we must.’

Mandela and intergenerational solidarity

Zwelivelile Mandela carries his grandfather’s legacy into the Mediterranean. Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, he calls the Israeli occupation ‘worse than apartheid.’ Quoting Nelson Mandela’s iconic statement—‘Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of Palestinians’—he reaffirms South Africa’s long-standing solidarity.

The ANC’s alignment with the Palestinian cause dates back to the 1960s. Under apartheid, Israel armed and trained South African security forces. In return, the ANC forged ties with the PLO, rejecting normalization. Nelson Mandela famously met Yasser Arafat just 16 days after his release from prison in 1990 and often wore the keffiyeh in solidarity.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zwelivelile Mandela, has made the Palestinian keffiyeh an inseparable part of his identity. (Photo AL JAZEERA)

Today, that legacy continues in policy. In 2023, South Africa severed diplomatic ties with Israel. In December, it filed a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. By 2024, public support for Palestine had reached 87% nationwide.

Cramped cabins and heavy training

This is no leisure cruise. Life aboard the fleet is austere: over 200 activists share tight quarters, bunk beds, limited food, and little privacy. Soomar explains, ‘We’re strangers living on top of each other, in danger, in stress. But we’re here for a purpose.’

Every participant is trained in non-violent resistance. ‘If Israeli forces intercept us, we resist with words and stance,’ Sacks explains. ‘There will be no excuse for violence.’

Wanner remains hopeful but realistic. ‘We’ll likely be stopped,’ she says. ‘But if there’s even a half-second chance we can break the blockade, it’s worth it. Symbolically, it’s already a victory.’

The flotilla’s cargo includes essential medical and educational supplies. Among the 200 passengers are 45 healthcare professionals, 35 academics, 25 journalists, and 40 human rights activists. The route—from Tunisia to Gaza—is over 1,200 nautical miles and will take at least seven days, assuming there are no interventions.

Gaza, the blockade, and the world’s complicity

The Gaza blockade, imposed since 2007, violates international law. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment, and Article 55 obliges occupying powers to provide for civilians’ basic needs. In 2024, the ICJ ordered Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid and avoid acts of genocide. Yet the blockade remains.

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Soomar highlights the fleet’s alignment with this ruling. ‘This is about breaking the blockade and opening a humanitarian corridor,’ she says. ‘That’s entirely consistent with international law.’

The mission has garnered global attention: over 10 million social media views, 15 live international TV broadcasts, and the hashtag #ResilienceFleet trending in 15 countries.

State responses have varied. Tunisia has enabled departure from its ports. Turkey has offered logistical support. Ireland and Norway provide parliamentary backing. The Arab League endorses the effort. Israel has vowed interception and arrests. The US has urged the fleet to abandon its mission. The EU remains split.

Wanner voices her disappointment in global inaction: ‘How is our government preparing for the G20 while a genocide unfolds? This is our responsibility—to hold our leaders accountable.’

Messages to the world and Gaza

Sacks, speaking on behalf of ‘South African Jews for a Free Palestine,’ rebukes Israel’s appropriation of Jewish identity. ‘To claim genocide is done in our name is vile,’ he says. ‘Zionism is not Judaism—it’s colonialism, it’s fascism, it’s the same logic that once oppressed Jews.’

The fleet is also a message of defiance. ‘We’re here, we see you, we won’t stop,’ Soomar declares. ‘We’ll keep coming back—bigger, louder—until this ends and Palestine is free.’

For Gaza’s people, this journey is a message of hope. For the world, it is a challenge: Where do you stand?

This article was first featured in Al Jazeera Arabic.