How Palestinians in Gaza reacted to the “Madleen” Freedom Flotilla

The al-Zawayda Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip, June 26, 2025. Photo Credit: Dalal Sabbah

“Umm Ahmed,” a woman in her forties, pushes a cart pulled by a donkey loaded with water jugs in the Al-Zawayda refugee camp in Gaza. She comes every few days to sell water to nearby tents in what has become a familiar scene. Her twelve-year-old daughter, Lamis, helps push the cart under the scorching midday sun. Despite the fatigue evident on her face, Umm Ahmed always finds time for friendly banter and even a few laughs.

On June 9, 2025, I asked her if she had heard about “Madleen.” She looked at me confused, apparently knowing nothing about it, so I told her the story. An international humanitarian ship sailing from Europe tried to break the naval blockade of Gaza, carrying activists from around the world along with essential aid. But before it could arrive, Israeli forces intercepted it in international waters and forcibly towed it to the occupied Ashdod port.

I didn’t expect Umm Ahmed’s reaction. She paused with a mix of sadness and joy on her face. “By God, my daughter, I didn’t know… if you had told me earlier, I would have sat watching the sea, maybe I would have sent them my greetings.” Then, with tears glistening in her eyes, she added, “It hurts me that they didn’t reach us, but my heart is happy. There are still those in this world who care about us. Conscience is still alive.”

Later that day, I left my tent and walked toward a nearby street. There, I met two university students, Maram and Riham, heading together to a small shop with electricity and internet to charge their phones and submit university assignments. The sun was blazing and the heat unbearable, but they walked steadily, their hearts focused on more than just grades.

I asked if they heard the news about the ship. Maram couldn’t hold back as she replied, “Madleen…She tried until the very last breath. Whatever happened, we will never forget her!” Then, softly, as if speaking to herself and the world: “When everyone closes their eyes, Madleen sailed against the current. A small ship, but carrying big hearts. These were not adventurers, they were heroes. On board were souls still hearing the call of conscience. They came to say: Gaza is not alone.”

Riham chimed in as well. “Madleen is not just a ship. It is a symbol of humanity and conscience. It might not be the last, because there are still hearts beating with Gaza’s pain.” Their words have stayed with me.

In the evening, I met Asil, a mother of two living nearby, who closely followed the ship’s journey from Sicily: “They are the allies of conscience. No matter how tight the siege, we will see on every wave of the ocean a ship named Madleen.”

Madleen was not just a ship but an idea, a stance and a message. On board were activists from Sweden, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain. Among them Greta Thunberg, Rima Hasan, Omar Fayyad and others. They were threatened, attacked, detained, isolated and imprisoned. They were prevented from delivering the aid, but their message arrived loud and clear: Gaza will not be forgotten. 

From the tents of Al-Zawayda, amid rubble and destruction, I have a message to every soul aboard Madleen: you are now in our hearts. You are the righteous few. Your souls reached Gaza even if your feet never set foot on its soil. You carried our voices to the world despite attempts to silence you. 

Return to us once again when the siege ends and its walls crumble. Gaza’s hearts will always be your harbor.

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