Greta Thunberg, activists plan new aid flotilla to Gaza
The 22-year-old Swedish activist says she and a group called the Global Sumud Flotilla will be launching “the biggest attempt to break the illegal Israeli siege over Gaza” on August 31.
Dozens of boats will set sail from Spain on the day, and will meet dozens more that will sail from Tunisia and other ports on September 4, she said in a post on Instagram. “We are also mobilizing more than 44 countries on simultaneous demonstrations and actions to break complicity in solidarity with the Palestinian people!” she added.
Thunberg and 11 other activists were arrested by Israeli forces in June, during a previous attempt to break the siege on Gaza. They were held for several hours and later deported.
Katie talks to Chris Smalls, the founder of Amazon’s first U.S. labor union, the Amazon Labor Union founder, who was beaten, arrested and detained by the Israeli military for attempting to bring aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The only Black passenger on the ship, he was treated worse and was one of the last to be released from Israeli prison.
Madonna asks Pope Leo to visit Gaza and save its children
Pop superstar Madonna has urged Pope Leo to “please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late”.
“As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone,” she said in a post on Instagram.
“You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save those innocent children,” the singer added.
Pope Leo has repeatedly spoken in support of Palestinians in Gaza, following in the footsteps of Pope Francis.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, visited Gaza last month, describing the situation there as “morally unacceptable”.
Pizzaballa, who is the most senior Catholic authority in the region, and Theophilos III visited Gaza after an Israeli attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City killed at least three people.
Pope Francis held nightly calls with the people sheltering at the Holy Family Church until shortly before his death in April.
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