Write to First Minister to condemn attack on Freedom Flotilla ship
SPSC Statement, 2 May 2025
On the same day that the Red Cross warns the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the “verge of total collapse,” SPSC this morning received an appeal from a member who is one of thirty activists who set sail with humanitarian supplies on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition mission to Gaza:
This is an emergency call. My name is Yvonne A Ridley and I'm here in Malta with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition where we have been preparing to launch our humanitarian solidarity action to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza and bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinians that they are deliberately starving.
Last night after midnight, just hours before we were supposed to board, our ship was hit by an unprovoked, illegal attack by 2 in drones in international waters close to Malta. A fire broke out and our ship began to sink.
12 crew and four humanitarians are on board. I need you to urgently pressure your government to STOP all funding to the Israeli occupation, to take all actions in their power to bring an end to this genocide and to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.
Activists report that late last night before the drone attack, two boats were acting suspiciously. At 00:23 Maltese time the Freedom Flotilla ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. An SOS distress signal was sent but no ships in the area came to the rescue, activists report that someone intercepted their SOS saying all was OK and that there was no need to respond. The ship is currently located in international waters near Malta and all activists are safe.
We condemn this attack on the Freedom Flotilla ship and remember that almost to the day on 31 May 2010, the Freedom Flotilla of six ships, carrying 700 activists from over 50 countries and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, were raided by Israeli soldiers who killed 10 activists on board. Yvonne was also on the flotilla in 2010.
SPSC welcomed the Freedom Flotilla to Scotland in 2023 and supported a fundraising drive to help the Coalition organise for their next voyage to break the siege of Gaza. Since then, we have seen Israel's devastation of Gaza, a genocide on the Palestinian people and today we see fresh images of starving children. All backed, politically and logistically, by the British government.
Demand that the Scottish Government make statement to condemn this attack on a ship carrying out a humanitarian mission that included a Scottish resident on board. The Scottish Government must also cease all trade, divest from the state of Israel, and immediately end all funding to arms companies.