Noraini Binti Husin Jamal (Nora), along with around 1,000 activists from around the world who tried and failed to deliver aid to Gaza, is ready to break the blockade with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla next time.
The flotilla of ships was stranded in Turkey in late April leaving 5,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid undelivered, after the Republic of Guinea Bissau withdrew its flag from the lead ship. Organisers have accused Israel of applying pressure to stall the departure. Nora returned to Wales and has been looking forward to rejoining the mission to the Gaza Strip.
A global struggle
Activists from 45 countries waited for their ships to depart from Turkey and set sail for Gaza, challenging the Israeli blockade to bring humanitarian aid to the civilians. But they had no choice but to halt the mission disappointedly after Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag from two ships of the Freedom Flotilla a day before they were due to depart.
After flying back from Turkey, Nora has returned to her normal life for the time being. She’s been taking part in the campaign for Palestine in Cardiff since last October.
For Nora, the Palestinian issue is about more than the lives lost due to bombing by the Israeli army following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. It’s also about the decades of oppression since the annexation of the Palestinian territories. “Generations of Palestinians have been subjected to tremendous suffering and oppression,” she says. “If it was done to me, I would want the community in the world to help us out. It’s not just about one person or one particular group, but it is about the global struggle to stand up for what is right.”
Taking part in the campaign for Palestine for as long as she has, Nora says she is happy to see people becoming more outspoken. “Even people who were sort of neutral are now choosing the right side, because they know that it’s just not right,” she says. “People are much more vocal and determined to do what they can do.”
Solidarity and support
Weekly marches and awareness events have been organised in Cardiff. Nora says she is impressed by how the community mobilises itself to show solidarity with the Palestinians and campaigns for authorities to bring changes about.
Students at Cardiff University, for example, have run an encampment since 14 May. They demand that the university discloses and divests from its relationships with companies with business or investments in Israel.
Nora has been helping out since the beginning of the encampment. When I went there to meet her for this interview, she was talking to people who came to show solidarity with the students. During the interview, nearby students were having a workshop on Palestinian poetry, and people visited with donations of food and other necessities.
Although no exact date has yet been set, Nora will leave the camps and the city for the Freedom Flotilla in a bid to take aid to Gaza again. Despite the postponement she is optimistic about the mission, after being with passionate activists from around the globe during her short stay in Turkey, and witnessing the solidarity shown in different countries and continents.
Nevertheless, the flotilla does not come without personal and collective risks. During the initial Freedom Flotilla [link leads to age-restricted documentary with warning of graphic images] in 2010, nine activists were killed during an Israeli interception.
Nora was involved in the campaign at the time. She did not experience physical risk as she was helping with administrative work, rather than being in the forefront as is the case this time. Indeed, she was not even a Welsh activist at the time, as she was still based in Malaysia, where she was born and raised.
From Malaysia to Wales to Gaza
Having been in the UK for a few years, and in Cardiff and Wales for around a year, Nora feels part of Wales’ community despite having joined it so recently. She says: “Even in the short period of time, we’ve managed to develop such a good relationship. I don’t feel that I’m separated from Wales.”
For her, there is an obligation to be its delegate to the Flotilla. “Because I’ve been involved from day one with the protest for Palestine with the Welsh community, I feel that it is a duty,” she explains. “I carry with me their hopes and their rage and their voices and their solidarity.”
Although the Freedom Flotilla faced a lot of obstacles, Nora believes it is still worth it to pursue this international grassroots direct action. “It has to start from the people … we know that we can’t rely on the world leaders because they have failed us.”
On 20 May, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Hamas’ leaders and Israel’s prime minister and defence minister for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Responding to the warrants, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the ICC’s actions were “not helpful to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out or humanitarian aid in”.
For Nora, many actions by politicians turn out to be symbolic gestures without any effects. It has to come down to the people to take direct action to bring about positive changes.
“People say that ‘you guys are radical, you guys are extreme’. Look, historically the movements trying to revolutionise the justice and liberation of different causes start from the people.”
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