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Attorney and Palestine solidarity activist James Marc Leas tells Margaret Flowers why global flotillas are challenging not only Israel’s blockade, but the collapse of international law itself.
Joshua Scheer
As governments continue to ignore their obligations under international law and the Genocide Convention, ordinary people are risking everything to confront the siege and starvation of Gaza themselves. From Italy to the eastern Mediterranean, activists aboard humanitarian flotillas are challenging one of the most brutal blockades in modern history — facing armed interception, detention, violence, and even torture for daring to carry solidarity across the sea.
On this episode of Clearing the FOG, Margaret Flowers speaks with longtime Palestine solidarity activist and attorney James Marc Leas, who joins from Italy as the Freedom Flotilla Coalition sails toward Gaza. Leas explains why these flotillas matter far beyond humanitarian aid: they are acts of civilian resistance against genocide, collective punishment, and the collapse of international law itself.
The conversation traces Israel’s escalating attacks on flotilla activists in international waters, the expanding siege on Gaza, the role of U.S. military and diplomatic support, and why global citizens increasingly believe governments have failed to stop mass atrocities. From the destruction of Gaza’s schools and hospitals to the criminalization of dissent across the West, Flowers and Leas argue that silence has become complicity — and that direct action is now filling the vacuum left by cowardly political leadership.
As Gaza faces mass starvation, relentless bombardment, and the systematic destruction of civilian life, international activists are once again sailing toward one of the most militarized blockades on Earth. After Israeli forces violently seized humanitarian boats in international waters. Their discussion lays bare the growing desperation in Gaza — and the rising global movement determined to stop the genocide governments refuse to confront.
Saif has been released from israeli captivity and after 6 brutal days, his message is clear – we must continue to mobilize!
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 10, 2026
Still, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are being held hostage in israeli dungeons, subjected to inhumane conditions. We are one small step closer to a… pic.twitter.com/BN1OkxXaI4
Saif Abu Keshek has now been released from Israeli captivity after six brutal days of detention, abuse and isolation, but activists say his message remains urgent: the movement must continue to mobilize. While Saif and fellow flotilla organizer Thiago Ávila have returned home safely following international pressure campaigns, thousands of Palestinian prisoners remain trapped inside Israeli prisons under conditions human rights groups have repeatedly condemned as inhumane. Activists behind the flotilla campaign say the releases represent only a small step toward justice and renewed calls for global solidarity, direct action and sustained pressure against what they describe as a system of occupation, siege and apartheid. Organizers also extended gratitude to the legal team at Adalah, along with the countless activists, unions and supporters worldwide who mobilized for the safe return of the detained flotilla members — insisting the struggle for Palestinian liberation is far from over.
The release of flotilla activists Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila has become both a moment of relief and a renewed call for global action. After being violently seized by Israeli forces in international waters and held for days without charges, the two activists were finally released following mounting international pressure from governments, legal advocates and solidarity campaigns worldwide. But upon arriving in Athens, Saif made clear that the focus must remain on the thousands of Palestinians still imprisoned inside Israeli detention centers. “I left behind me thousands of Palestinian prisoners — children, women, and men,” he said, warning that the abuse he experienced “does not compare to the suffering they are going through.” Activists say the flotilla members’ release exposes Israel’s accusations against them as politically motivated attempts to criminalize solidarity with Palestine, while highlighting the brutal reality facing more than 10,000 Palestinians reportedly subjected to starvation, abuse, isolation and torture inside Israeli prisons. Organizers with the Global Sumud Flotilla praised the international mobilization that helped secure the activists’ freedom, while insisting the struggle is far from over and calling for escalating pressure against what they describe as Israel’s ongoing genocide and system of occupation.
For Leas, the flotillas represent something far larger than symbolic protest.
“The main purpose of the Freedom Flotilla is to break the siege entirely — not simply to deliver aid,” Leas explained. “Palestine was once self-sufficient. What Israel has destroyed is an entire society.”
Leas described Gaza not as a place dependent on outside charity, but as a society systematically dismantled through blockade, bombardment and forced deprivation. Farms have been destroyed, fishing operations crippled, hospitals flattened and entire neighborhoods erased.
The result, Flowers noted, is a humanitarian collapse increasingly defined by starvation — particularly among children.
According to Doctors Without Borders, malnutrition among pregnant women, infants and newborns has surged dramatically since Israel intensified restrictions on food distribution inside Gaza. Food access points have been reduced from hundreds to just a handful, creating scenes of chaos and deadly violence as desperate civilians attempt to secure basic supplies.
“Half the people living in Gaza are children,” Leas said. “And Israel is committing genocide against children.”
Israel’s Expanding Assault on Flotilla Activists
The discussion focused heavily on the recent seizure of boats belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla — one of several civilian coalitions attempting to challenge the blockade.
On April 29, Israeli forces intercepted 22 flotilla boats in international waters near Crete, hundreds of miles from Gaza itself. Activists aboard the vessels reported beatings, detentions and abuse after Israeli forces boarded the ships. More than 180 people were detained, while two organizers — Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila and Palestinian-Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek — were taken into Israeli custody.
Leas argued the operation marked a dangerous escalation.
“This is the first time they’ve attacked activists so far away,” he said. “Greece is over 700 miles from Gaza. This was nowhere near Israeli territorial waters.”
Under international maritime law, activists argue, Israel had no legal authority to seize civilian vessels operating in international waters. Yet Leas said most Western governments remained silent.
“There seems to be a two-tier system of law,” he said. “If Israel does something blatantly illegal and violent, governments simply ignore it.”
Despite the seizures, flotilla efforts continue. Additional Freedom Flotilla Coalition boats launched from Sicily in early May and continue sailing toward Gaza, while organizers say even larger civilian flotillas may emerge in the future.
The movement itself has expanded rapidly as outrage over Gaza spreads globally.
Leas described how the Freedom Flotilla inspired additional civilian actions, including the Global Sumud Flotilla and the “1000 Magdalene to Gaza” campaign — efforts involving thousands of activists attempting to confront the blockade through direct action after traditional diplomacy repeatedly failed.
“Governments Already Agreed To Stop Genocide”
Throughout the interview, Flowers and Leas repeatedly returned to what they described as the collapse of international law.
Leas pointed specifically to the Genocide Convention, which obligates signatory states not only to punish genocide after the fact but to actively prevent it.
“Governments already agreed to do this,” Leas said. “They signed the Genocide Convention. The question is: why are they refusing to act?”
He argued that governments possess numerous tools they could use immediately: sanctions, arms embargoes, trade restrictions and diplomatic isolation.
Instead, he said, the United States continues to provide Israel with billions in military assistance while shielding it diplomatically at the United Nations.
“Israel depends not only on inaction,” Leas said. “It depends on active U.S. support — the bombs, the jets, the weapons, the political cover.”
The interview also highlighted growing frustration with the United Nations itself, which both Flowers and Leas described as increasingly incapable of enforcing international law against powerful states.
“We are watching a genocide unfold in front of the whole world,” Leas said. “What could be more damaging to respect for international law than this?”
Crackdowns on Speech and Dissent
The conversation also examined the widening crackdown on Palestine solidarity movements across the United States and Europe.
Leas argued that efforts to criminalize criticism of Israel stem from an inability to morally defend the devastation in Gaza.
“If they had facts and arguments to defend genocide, they would make those arguments,” he said. “Instead they attack free speech.”
Flowers noted growing attempts to punish activists, censor campus protests and suppress organizing efforts tied to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Leas pushed back strongly against attempts to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
“Israel is not a religion,” he said. “Opposing a state committing atrocities is not antisemitism.”
He also pointed to growing Jewish opposition to Israeli policy — especially among younger generations — and cited Orthodox anti-Zionist traditions that reject the idea that Judaism and Zionism are interchangeable.
“Doing Nothing Is Also A Risk”
Perhaps the most emotional portion of the interview centered on Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, one of the flotilla organizers detained by Israeli authorities.
Leas described Ávila as deeply committed, charismatic and driven by concern not only for Palestinians but for future generations.
Flowers referenced a letter Ávila wrote to his daughter explaining why he was willing to risk imprisonment — or worse — to participate in the flotilla.
“Doing nothing is also a risk,” Leas said. “Not just for ourselves, but for everyone.”
For Leas, the stakes extend beyond Gaza itself.
He warned that unchecked militarism, collective punishment and the collapse of international accountability threaten to normalize permanent war and authoritarianism globally.
And despite the dangers flotilla activists face, he said ordinary people increasingly feel compelled to act precisely because official institutions refuse to.
“People are saying enough is enough,” Leas said. “We’re not going to sit here and allow this to continue.”
As governments hesitate, civilian flotillas continue moving toward Gaza — carrying not only aid, but a growing global refusal to accept silence as neutrality.
For more coverage of this vital issue check these out
The Spring 2026 Mission
The World is Rising for Palestine: Global Sumud Flotilla
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