Statement by Yanis Varoufakis, Secretary of MeRA25

SOS: The Israeli warship that kidnapped the 180 crew members of the Global Sumud Flotilla off the coast of Crete – an act of piracy and a flagrant violation of the Law of the Sea – is targeting two of them: Saif Abukeshek, a Spanish citizen of Palestinian origin, and Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian citizen who has stood out for repeatedly trying to break the illegal, genocidal Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Unlike the other kidnapped crew members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, whom the Israeli navy disembarked in Crete, Saif and Thiago are being held in an Israeli prison. This is a double violation of international law: Firstly, Israel illegally abducted them at sea. Secondly, Israel has forcibly and illegally transferred them to one of its notorious prisons.

The Greek government in the meantime, fully in line with Israel’s criminal tactics, has actually abdicated its search and rescue obligations and conspired with Israel to take revenge on the brave crews of the Sumud Flotilla, who, through their activist action, are firmly defending international law and the decision of the International Court of Justice, which has clearly and unequivocally declared Israel’s continued naval blockade of Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.

Through their complicity and silence, the Greek government, the European Union, the mainstream media, and the West in general, are flouting, and indeed disgracing, their supposed, much-vaunted, “Western values”. Let us all demand:

• The immediate release of Saif and Thiago
• An end to Israel’s criminal behaviour in international waters
• An end to Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza
• The cessation of practical and moral support by the Greek government and the European Union for the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

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