One day before Israeli naval forces began seizing boats participating in the latest Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla on Monday morning, Israeli Jewish and Arab activists launched their own smaller, counter flotilla in a message that Israelis could respond in kind and would safeguard their territorial sovereignty.
“We did our own flotilla,” said Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad, the organizer of the flotilla. Speaking on board one of the three ships in the Israeli “Hasbara” flotilla as it sailed in the waters outside of Herzliya, he asserted that the Gaza-bound flotilla would not reach its intended destination.
“We send a clear message to all the ‘terror flotilla’ activists,” he continued, addressing the participants in the GSF. “You are not welcome here. You will not be able to enter Gaza.”
He went on to assert that, despite the GSF’s claims, it was not bringing in any aid and that the activists on board were Hamas supporters.
Haddad went on to call on everyone around the world who wanted to support the Palestinians in Gaza to “free Gaza from the terrorist organization Hamas.”
The participants in the Israeli flotilla included a group of prominent pro-Israel figures, including Golda Daphna, Hallel Abramowitz-Silverman, Cindy Seni, Marwan Jaber, Ashley Waxman Bakshi, and 12-year-old activist Ben Carasso.
Noting that it had no intention to violate the sovereignty of other countries, but rather to make a symbolic statement, the “Hasbara” flotilla remained in Israeli waters, not far from where it set sail from the Herzliya Marina. It remained out for several hours before returning to port.
On board, the activists waved signs mocking the GSF, which, in previous runs, had been unsuccessful in reaching Gaza and carried little aid.
One sign read, “Is Gaza free yet?” Another stated, “I was promised a sandwich,” a reference to the online trope that Israelis, and in some usages, Jews as a whole, assert they were promised something 3,000 years ago whenever they want it.
It also referred to the sandwiches Israeli forces distributed to the participants in the last Gaza flotilla when it was intercepted.
Haddad: We will show the world the difference between us and them
Haddad expounded on the purpose of the flotilla when speaking to The Jerusalem Post, which was on board the vessel with him.
“If we encounter the ‘Marmara II’ flotilla, the ‘terror flotilla,’ our mission is actually to show the world the difference between us and them,” he said. “They’re going to shout ‘terrorists, baby killers,’ all this nonsense, and we’re going to shout ‘peace.’ We’re going to shout about the partnership between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and we’re going to show that partnership from here.”
Haddad went on to double down on his statement that the GSF was a “terror flotilla,” adding, “They are part of a terror flotilla, and they need to know that, and the world needs to know that.”
The GSF is linked to the Turkish IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, a proscribed terror group in Israel with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and al-Qaeda.
Haddad also had a message for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who, in recent months, has been escalating his rhetoric against Israel. In 2024, Erdogan went as far as to suggest that Turkey may attempt to invade Israel.
Turkish President Erdogan a 'terror supporter,' Haddad says
“He’s a terror supporter,” Haddad told the Post. “This is not me saying this. He himself admitted this time after time in his speeches, supporting Hamas, even giving them shelter in Turkey. And, of course, talking about invading Israel and coming to ‘free Jerusalem.’”
He went on to say that Israelis were a different kind of people, noting that during the 2023 earthquake that hit Turkey, a disaster that resulted in some 60,000 deaths, Israel was one of the first countries to assist in rescue and aid efforts.
“This is the difference between us, human beings who sanctify life, and your government – not your people – your government, that sanctifies death.”