Famine has become one of the central weapons with which the Israeli government seeks to exterminate the population of Gaza. On October 1, the Israeli military attacked the Sumud flotilla, a fleet of ships attempting to break the siege around Gaza in order to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid. People around the world protested in response—notably, in Italy, where millions of people flooded the streets across four consecutive days of demonstrations. But another flotilla, Thousand Madleens to Gaza, is right behind Sumud. Here, we present a statement from one of the participants.

I’m writing you 300 miles from Gazan shores. I’m a sailor aboard the Soul of My Soul, a boat funded and supported by Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, an anarchist disaster response organization in North America. We are part of the Thousand Madleens flotilla. Our mission is to break the siege of Gaza—to challenge Israel’s stranglehold by barging in with a few scrappy sailboats full of infant formula and medication.

I’m not a zealot. I know how small our chances are of powering through the blockade imposed by the Israel Occupation Forces. If we are bound to be water cannoned, boarded, arrested, and kidnapped, like our comrades in the Global Sumud Flotilla were a few days ago, then it is clear that the power lies not with us but with you. I want you to know about us, about me, and I want you to take action of your own.

I’m a sailor. Some take to vans, some to small cabins in the woods, but sailboats have always been my thing. I never imagined that my penchant for sailing around vintage plastic sailboats from the 1970s would ever be relevant to any political struggle, very less one so center-stage. I ended up here when a call went out looking for comrade with some sea time. I jumped at the chance. As a lifestyle, do-it-yourself yachting is about as marginal to political struggle as you can imagine, but here I am.

Don’t let anyone tell you your passions are too fringe to be part of our greater fight for freedom. I’m not a veteran activist or even a marine professional. If I ended up here, you can too.

Our boat illustrates how anarchists can plug into these wider highly visible political campaigns while staying true to our convictions. I know that many of us shy from activism like this—big orgs with a back office and actions that center themselves in the media’s eyes. Our boat was self-organized, sourced and purchased by comrades. We assembled our own equipment, legal support, and crew, then plugged into the bigger org at the end, once we were fully fledged. Maybe our boat is a bit like an affinity group. This has preserved us some degree of autonomy and decision-making power, and we can still sail with our comrades as a fleet.

I’m often asked what the goal of our flotilla movement is. Is this a largely symbolic act? Is there any chance we’ll get through?

My own feelings have changed many times. There is historical precedent for boats getting through. A few of them did before the lethal attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010. It’s not like Israel’s political ideology and animosity for the Palestinian people was much different then.

But I’ve been watching the news out here at sea, and we see the enormous waves of protest against the genocide erupting across the world in response to the attack on the Sumud flotilla. This has enabled me to understand our purpose here. We’re just a rallying point. The world is sick of Israel’s murderous bombardment and brutal siege of Gaza, and we are offering an occasion to fill the streets of the world once again—this time to end it.

If there is any chance of the Thousand Madleens flotilla arriving on Gazan shores, it will be because all of you demand it. If you rise up in defense of Palestine worldwide, the political waters might part before us. Maybe we will be the first trickle of a people’s sea corridor.

Please, act however you can, as loudly or as decisively as you can. You take the streets, and we will take the sea.

Free Palestine.