Former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan will lead the Pakistani delegation aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, according to posts from his social media account on Friday.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Pakistan would be joining the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the Israeli siege of Gaza, according to a post on Instagram by the Pak-Palestine Forum, a platform aiming to advance support for the Palestinian cause.
According to its website, the flotilla is a “coordinated, nonviolent fleet of mostly small vessels sailing from ports across the Mediterranean to break the Israeli occupation’s illegal siege on Gaza”.
Reuters reports that dozens of boats carrying aid will depart Spain and Tunisia and set sail for the Gaza Strip. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Portuguese left-wing politician Mariana Mortagua are among hundreds of people from 44 countries participating in the flotilla. Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.
Among the participants is a five-member delegation from Pakistan, led by former senator Khan.
In comments to media.com, the former senator said that the flotilla — the largest civilian aid mission in history — will depart the Tunisian capital on September 4.
“We will be trained on the vessel and the journey from September 1 to 3 in Tunis,” the ex-senator said. “There will be over 100 ships from over 50 countries … this is the biggest humanitarian operation led by civilians,” he said.
“This flotilla is made up of vessels from four different coalitions. One of them, the Sumud Nasantra, includes delegations from the Philippines, Thailand, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan, which I am leading,” he added.
Other coalitions participating in the flotilla include the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Global Movement to Gaza.
“Europe’s Freedom Flotilla will depart from Barcelona, Spain, on September 1,” Khan said. “We are further away, so we will depart on September 4 and converge with the other vessels in the Mediterranean on September 5. We will then travel to Gaza via a sea route.”
The former senator emphasised that the flotilla is legal, nonviolent and peaceful.
“It is legal because we will be travelling from international waters, from which we will transition to Palestinian waters, so we are not coming into contact with Israel,” he explained. “We are only carrying food and water.
“We need to break the blockade, establish a humanitarian assistance corridor and stand up against the genocide,” Khan said. “These are our goals.”
Khan noted that he was the only member of the delegation to arrive in Tunis, as the remainder of the delegation are struggling to obtain visas.
“At the moment, I am alone; however, I am trying to help group members obtain visas. They are four men, none of whom are prominent political figures,” he explained.
In a Facebook post, the ex-senator said he had a meeting with the Pakistani ambassador in Tunisia, who him assured of full cooperation.
When asked about the difficulties or even consequences of embarking on this journey to Gaza, the former senator painted three scenarios.
“There are three options. One is that we reach Gaza successfully and are able to break the blockade and show the world what is taking place there,” Khan said. “Another possibility is that they (Israel) could arrest and deport us.”
The former senator could not rule out the possibility of death, recalling that in the past, Israel attacked and killed those who attempted to challenge their stranglehold on the besieged enclave.
“We are putting ourselves at risk so that the world turns its attention to Gaza and it is moved to stop the genocide going on,” he said.
This flotilla is the latest attempt by activists to break Tel Aviv’s blockage of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s previous attempts, the Handala and Madleen, ended in the detention and deportation of the volunteers on board.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed over 63,000 people and injured 157,951, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The United Nations warned last week that with Israeli forces blocking aid, half a million people face “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza, with famine conditions likely to spread further across the Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment after approving a plan to seize control of Gaza City, calling it the “last bastion of Hamas.”
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