Hundreds of Tunisians gathered at the Sidi Bou Said port on Sunday to welcome Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who arrived aboard a flotilla of vessels carrying aid intended for Gaza, the BBC reports.
Thunberg, accompanied by 350 anti-Israel activists, is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which organizers say aims to “break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.”
The 22-year-old addressed the crowd, declaring: “We all know why we are here. Just across the water there's a genocide going on, a mass starvation by Israel's murder machine.”
The flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona last Monday, includes approximately 20 vessels. Some ships have now docked in Tunisia, where they will be joined by local teams and loaded with additional supplies before continuing toward Gaza.
The flotilla was to have set sail from Tunis on Sunday, but organizers announced Saturday that their departure has been postponed to Wednesday, citing “technical and logistical reasons beyond management’s control” for the delay.
In addition to Thunberg, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who severed her city’s ties with Israel while in office, is also taking part in the flotilla. The flotilla has also garnered support from Hollywood figures such as Susan Sarandon and Liam Cunningham, known for his role in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
Thunberg was previously deported by Israel in June after taking part in another flotilla, the Madleen, which was intercepted by the IDF.
The activists were then given food and water, despite many of them having prepared prerecorded videos claiming that they were “kidnapped” by the IDF.
The Foreign Ministry said that the Gaza aid aboard the Madleen included less than a single truckload of aid, and it would be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.