Hungarian-Canadian physician and Holocaust survivor Gabor Mate has voiced his support for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which is scheduled to set sail from Barcelona this Sunday in a renewed attempt to deliver aid.
“I’m here to give whatever support I can to that flotilla,” Mate said in a social media video on Thursday. “I wish I could be there with you.”
Mate recalled Israel’s record of intercepting previous aid convoys at sea.
“Israel has committed piracy in the open seas, seizing these boats of aid and support to the most needy people on Earth, arresting the participants. This time, more boats will leave from many different countries,” he said.
The upcoming flotilla brings together four initiatives: the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Global Movement to Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Sumud Nusantara.
'My heart is certainly with you'
The first convoy will leave Spanish ports on Sunday and will be followed by a second from Tunisia on September 4.
Mate, an expert in childhood development and trauma, described the devastation in Gaza as a source of global anguish.
“What we’re witnessing in Gaza is literally traumatising and breaking the hearts of millions and millions and millions of people around the world. And this flotilla is a gesture of support. It’s a gesture of open-heartedness, of human solidarity. It’s not directed against anybody. It’s directed in support of people whose suffering we’re witnessing, and so many of us feel so helpless in the face of it.”
He ended his message with words of encouragement to those preparing to sail.
“My heart is certainly with you, and my thoughts are with you, and we’ll be watching you,” he added.
