Moro activists joining ‘global flotilla’ for Gaza
Maranao protesters, mostly youth, show their support on Friday for a global solidarity action for Gaza amid intensified attacks by the Israeli Defense Force on the besieged city. — Photo from Drieza Lininding/Moro Consensus Group
OZAMIZ CITY — At least 10 Moro activists who are mostly from war-ravaged Marawi City are joining the global flotilla aiming to break the military siege on Gaza City and bring much-needed humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people amid the Israeli Defence Force’s stepped up offensive.
Drieza Lininding, chair of non-government Moro Consensus Group, said two of the activists have already traveled to Indonesia in time for the flotilla’s kick off in the coming days.
In its website, the Global Sumud Flotilla said the movement “is a coordinated, nonviolent fleet of mostly small vessels sailing from ports across the Mediterranean” aiming to “break the illegal siege on Gaza by sea, open a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Sumud means perseverance and resilience.
As of Sunday, the movement’s website said they have gathered delegations from 44 countries.
The flotilla brings together a diverse coalition of international participants, including those involved in previous land and sea efforts to bring aid to the besieged Palestinian people like the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Global Movement to Gaza, and Sumud Nusantara.
“Each boat represents a community and a refusal to stay silent in the face of genocide,” the organizers said.
“We are a coalition of everyday people — organizers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, lawyers, and seafarers — who believe in human dignity and the power of nonviolent action… Though we belong to (and/or) hold different nations, faiths, and political beliefs, we are united by a single truth: the siege and genocide must end,” the organizers added.
Maranao protesters, mostly youth, show their support on Friday for a global solidarity action for Gaza amid intensified attacks by the Israeli Defense Force on the besieged city. — Photo from Drieza Lininding/Moro Consensus Group
On Friday, more than a thousand Maranaos, mostly youth, gathered at Marawi City’s Sarimanok Stadium, at the heart of the city’s once business district that was ravaged by a five-month war in 2017 following a siege by Islamic State-linked militants. The protesters expressed their solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians.
Lininding said they, too, feel the “horrendous ordeal” suffered by the Palestinians in Gaza as they, themselves, “had a taste of it in 2017 when we were uprooted from Marawi because of the war and our lives were never the same again.”
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Friday’s gathering that started at 1 p.m. was also attended by several local government officials and religious leaders. /das
