The ship carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was seized in international waters. Photo: Jackson Nick.
The Jewish Council has called for Australian intervention after Israeli forces boarded the Madleen, a civilian ship operating as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) to bring humanitarian aid to Palestine.
The ship was carrying aid to the city of Gaza, including baby formula, food and medical supplies, to relieve mass malnutrition and starvation following Israeli blockades.
The FFC has said that all members of the crew, including well-known Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, have been detained by Israel.
Lawyers representing the ship’s crew have accused Israel of breaching international law, arguing that the workers were sailing in international waters and had been “abducted” into Israel, only to then face deportation for entering Israel illegally, something they had not done at the time of seizure.
“Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen,” human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser Huwaida Arraf said.
“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalised for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade.”
Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, is among the arrested crew and the French Foreign Minister has sought assurances from Israel that French crew members (of whom there are six) would receive consular assistance upon arrival in Israel.
The Jewish Council said the IDF had previously attacked activists supplying aid to Palestine. In 2010, Israel raided and attacked the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying aid to Palestine, killing nine members of the crew and injuring more.
The United Nations International Fact-Finding Mission classified six of the killings as “extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions”.
“Israel has a history of killing activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and cannot be trusted to ensure the safety of the Freedom Flotilla crew,” Jewish Council executive officer Sarah Schwartz said.
”We call on the Australian Government to urgently intervene to secure the immediate release of the vessel and safety of the crew.
“It has been months since meaningful humanitarian aid entered Gaza, with Palestinians in Gaza now at risk of imminent starvation and death.
”The continued inaction of Western governments such as Australia has created a permissive environment for Israel’s continued and increasingly flagrant breaches of international law.”
The Jewish Council was established in 2024 with a stated “opposition to Israel’s continued policies aimed at the destruction of Palestinian life”.
The organisation said it was “opposed to the Israeli occupation and the prioritisation of the rights of Jewish people over the rights of Palestinians”.
The Jewish Council is not to be confused with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body representing Australian Jews.
Established in 1944, the organisation supports a two-state solution and has reaffirmed “Australian Jewry’s strong and unshakeable solidarity with Israel and her people”.
