✍ By Mohammed Talha Siddi Bapa
History rarely moves forward in calm waters. Often, it is the fragile craft steered by unlikely captains that break through the storms of oppression. Today, that craft is a fleet of modest vessels crossing the Mediterranean. And the unlikely captain at its heart is Greta Thunberg.
Known across the globe as a climate activist, Greta has now become something greater: the face of defiance against the blockade of Gaza. With her hands on the wheel of the Freedom Flotilla – also called the Sumud Flotilla – she sails not only against Israel’s siege but also against the ocean of indifference that has drowned much of the world’s conscience.
A Different Kind of Power
Greta does not command an army. She has no weapons, no throne, no oil wealth. What she carries instead is something far more dangerous to tyrants: conviction.
The flotilla is not an armada of warships. It is a caravan of fragile boats, vulnerable to storms and hostile patrols. Yet their very fragility is what makes them powerful. They symbolise the stubbornness of conscience – proof that even in the face of overwhelming military might, ordinary people can still chart a course toward justice.
Every chant on the deck echoes across continents:
“We are sailing to Gaza.
When the world stays silent, we set sail.
Sail to Gaza.”
The Hawk’s Lesson
Allama Iqbal once described the hawk as a creature of freedom – unwilling to build a nest, always restless, never content with captivity. Greta’s voyage captures that same spirit.
She has already endured arrest, violence, and deportation at the hands of Israeli forces during an earlier attempt. Yet here she is again, braving the same dangers, leading an even larger convoy, proving that humiliation cannot shackle resolve.
The hawk’s sky is not limited by borders. Similarly, Greta’s conscience is not confined by nationality, religion, or ethnicity. She is Swedish, yet her heart beats for Palestinians. She could have remained in the comfort of global celebrity. Instead, she has chosen to ride waves toward the most dangerous coastline in the world.
Crowds on the Shore
From the ports of Sweden to the beaches of Tunisia, thousands have gathered to cheer the flotilla. Their flags and chants turn the shoreline into a living mural of solidarity. For a moment, the Mediterranean ceases to be just a sea; it becomes a bridge between continents of conscience.
Greta’s own presence electrifies these gatherings. Her face, often pale with exhaustion, glows with something deeper – a defiance that cannot be extinguished. To see her steering a boat toward Gaza is to be reminded that the human spirit can still outshine political cowardice.
Silence in the Palaces
But the image grows bitter when set against another: the rulers of the Muslim world, seated in their palaces, surrounded by luxury, armed with wealth and armies.
These men host summits that produce little more than empty communiqués. They issue statements crafted not for their people but for the approval of Washington and Tel Aviv. Their strategy sessions resemble rehearsals for obedience, not blueprints for liberation.
And all the while, Gaza bleeds. Hospitals are reduced to rubble. Bread lines are targeted. Children are pulled lifeless from the debris. The genocide has long crossed the threshold of unspeakable, and yet the response from much of the Muslim leadership has been to look away.
Western Democracies, Hijacked
But the story of shame does not belong to Muslim rulers alone. The hypocrisy of the West – those self-proclaimed guardians of democracy and human rights – is equally staggering.
From London to New York, from Paris to Sydney, the streets have been flooded with protests. Millions have marched demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. University campuses have erupted with encampments and sit-ins, echoing the anti-apartheid movements of decades past. Poll after poll shows Western citizens – especially the younger generation – rejecting Israel’s brutality and demanding justice for Palestinians.
Yet their governments do not listen. In Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, elected leaders have chosen not to heed their own people but to obey the dictates of Tel Aviv and the lobbies that guard its interests. Instead of restraining Israel, they reward it – with weapons, diplomatic shields, and billions in aid. These are not democracies responding to their citizens; these are governments hijacked by Zionist influence, defying public opinion in broad daylight.
The paradox is brutal: in Western capitals, ordinary people are dragged to jail for waving Palestinian flags, while their governments send bombs to Israel that bury Palestinian children under rubble. In Washington, Congress cheers Netanyahu while American streets roar “Ceasefire Now.” In Paris, peaceful protesters face tear gas while French arms still flow to Israel. In London, students are expelled for speaking out while Downing Street tightens ties with the very regime starving Gaza.
So, we must ask: what is democracy worth when millions in the streets cannot bend the will of a handful of politicians enthralled by Israel’s narrative? What is freedom of speech worth when solidarity with the oppressed is punished, while propaganda for the oppressor is state policy?
The flotilla, then, is not only sailing against Israel’s navy. It is sailing against a Western order that has betrayed its own principles, its own people, its own future. It is a mirror exposing that the so-called free world has chained itself to the interests of a settler-colonial state.
Women Who Shame the World
Greta and her companions are not only braving waves and weapons. They are shaming entire governments. Each video message they release is more cutting than a thousand speeches at international forums. Each word is a mirror that reflects the cowardice of those who could act but choose not to.
How ironic: European girls in small boats are doing what Arab kings, with their vast armies, dare not. History is writing its comparisons without mercy. One day, schoolchildren will ask: Who defended Gaza? The answer will not include the names of rulers in gilded palaces. It will include Greta and those who sailed with her.
Gaza as Humanity’s Compass
Gaza is not merely a piece of land. It is the test of whether humanity can still stand upright. To defend Gaza is to defend the very idea that people should not be starved, caged, and bombed simply for existing.
This is why the flotilla matters. It is more than a protest; it is an alarm bell for the world. Each mile it advances tears apart the blockade of apathy. Each wave it conquers says to us: if we cannot defend Gaza, we cannot defend humanity itself.
Time’s Judgment
Time is not neutral. It records. It compares. It delivers its verdicts.
On one side, it is engraving the names of Greta Thunberg and her fellow sailors into the pages of courage. On the other, it is writing the names of rulers who turned their faces away into the footnotes of betrayal.
The Mediterranean waves themselves seem to chant two stories: one of courage, one of cowardice. The question is which one humanity will choose to remember.
Sail On
So the flotilla presses forward. Wooden hulls against warships. Determination against indifference. Life against genocide.
Sail to Gaza.
Sail to Gaza.
And in doing so, it reminds us of a lesson Iqbal left behind: the hawk does not build its nest. It soars.
