A flotilla of ships is currently carrying aid to Gaza, and organizers are reporting that they have been suffering “psychological operations,” such as explosions near their boats, drones flying around, and the music of ABBA “jamming” their radios.
According to NBC News, the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is made up of more than 500 people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg. As of early Wednesday, the fleet was sailing near Greece. In a statement, they explained: “We are witnessing these psychological operations first-hand, right now, but we will not be intimidated.” They also added “Sumud,” which in Arabic means “steadfastness” or “steadfast perseverance.”
The GSF shared a video overnight, which shows a bright light coming through ther dark sky, and then a loud a boom. The clip was reportedly filmed by the crew of the Spectre, one of the boats in the fleet. It seems the prevailing speculaiton is that the interfgerance comes from Israel or supportors of the state, though that is unconfirmed.
In a separate video posted by Yasemin Acar from the vessel Alma, ABBA can be heard playing, with Acar saying, “They’re jamming our radio… We do not know where this is coming from, the sound, but other vessels are experiencing the same thing.” This is relevent because, like Thunberg, the members of ABBA hail from Sweden.
Thunberg issued a statement to Reuters, onTuesday, confimeing that drones had been flying above them every night “but for Palestinians, especially in Gaza, those drones are dropping bombs constantly.” She added, “This mission is about Gaza, it isn’t about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day.”
Notably, this week, the U.S. special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, accused Israel of “attacking everybody.” In an interview with The National — the state-owned English-language daily newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates — Barrack mentioned both Syria and Lebanon as countries that have been attacked, then mentioning Tunisia, which seems to be a refeernece to alleged attacks on the flotilla.
“Personally, I hate what’s happened in Gaza on all sides,” Barrack said. “For the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the Jordanians, for the Lebanese, for the Syrians, for the Turks. You know … it’s a mess.”
“Israel is a valued ally,” Barrack contined. “We subsidize them” by $4 billion to $5 billion a year. “It has a special place in America’s heart, and we’re living with the confusion of what’s happening in this transition.” He then added, “So it’s complicated.”
