We are on our way to Gaza. Our stop in Malmö is one of all thirty stops on our journey. We will stay here until 10 May and then continue to Copenhagen, Europe, and on to Gaza.
We are sailing with Handala to show that Palestine has the support of the people, in Europe and around the world. In every port we are met by an ever-increasing solidarity for Palestine.
We are students, pensioners, normal people from several countries, united in a common purpose, to break the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip. As artists, musicians, writers and sailors, we have therefore embarked on Handala.
We are here to protest peacefully and will not be provoked.
We support Palestine and believe that after so many years of occupation, colonialism, oppression and blockade, it is more important than ever to act now.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, of which Ship to Gaza Sweden, Ship to Gaza Norway, Rumbo a Gaza España and Canadadian Boat to Gaza are part, is taking action.
With this fishing boat Handala, we are making a new attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. Our actions are and have always been peaceful.
For 17 years we have been fighting to break the blockade and this year it is more important than ever. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic.
No one can fail to see the suffering of the people of Gaza, who for so many years, and since last October, have been subjected to unparalleled indiscriminate bombing, shelling and displacement. The whole world is watching the murder of Palestinian children.
What the world is witnessing in Gaza is genocide and we believe it is our duty to act. We wish more people could understand what the Palestinians have already understood, that Palestines freedom is the freedom of the whole world.
The US, EU, Swedish government and other Western governments are to blame for the humiliation, hatred and violence that Palestinians live with every day.
Their complicity in the genocide must not go unnoticed. Our leaders must be held accountable for their actions.
Right now, Rafah in the Gaza Strip is being bombed and here in Malmö, the Eurovision Song Contest is underway, in which Israel has been welcomed to participate.
We cannot celebrate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza with a music festival in which Israel participates.
It is a shame for the European Broadcasting Union and Sweden that their participation could not be stopped.
We condemn Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.
We condemn Israel for genocide, occupation, blockade and the use of starvation as a weapon.
We condemn the Swedish government for complicity in the genocide and occupation.
Our demands are clear.
We demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The Palestinian people have the right to return and rebuild their country.
We demand that our governments act to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
We demand that the Swedish government upholds international law and that Israel is held accountable for its crimes.
Finally, we demand free passage for Handala to Gaza.
