- Opinion
- 16 Apr 26
Caoimhe Butterly on the Global Sumud Flotilla : "When we sail, we need to sail as a people's flotilla. Without spectacle, without stars and without opacity"
The new flotilla has begun its journey, setting sail from Barcelona after a weather-related delay. Organizers state that over 70 boats and 1,000 people will participate globally.
Irish human rights campaigner Caoimhe Butterly is currently sailing with the 2026 Global Sumud Flotilla, a mission to deliver aid to Palestine. On Instagram, she shared her reflections on the ongoing war and the flotilla.
“I will sail (on a flotilla support boat) but with significant concerns,” said Butterly. “Concerns about elevated risks to participants' safety, doubts about timing and resource allocation (at a time of acute scarcity and survival in Gaza) and broader questions about organisational cultures and the strategic impact of symbolic actions (even brave ones) after almost 3 years of live- streamed genocide and accelerated impunity.”
Butterly has a history with similar missions, having been aboard a relief flotilla during the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla raid. More recently, in 2025, she joined the first leg of the Handala in July and participated in the civilian-led Global Sumud Flotilla in August, both of which aimed to break the blockade. The Flotilla was intercepted by Isreali forces, arresting over 300 activists.
“During that time, I’ve watched the movement around the sea strategy grow from two humble fishing boats to the mobilising catalyst it is today,” she continued. "I’ve also watched what hyper-visibility does to people, some of them comrades. How power can undermine accountability, how projected constructs of heroism can be internalised. How egos can inflate and diminish clarity and collective care. How consistencies and contradictions can exist side by side.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla is mobilising again, with the objective to deliver aid and also begin rebuilding healthcare and basic infrastructure destroyed over the past two years as the population endures ongoing Israeli attacks.
The new flotilla has begun its journey, setting sail from Barcelona after a weather-related delay. Organizers state that over 70 boats and 1,000 people will participate globally.
“A movement that understands and grieves each irreplaceable, small, beautiful life (In Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan, Congo and beyond.) as if it were our child, our sacred responsibility,” she added. “Because they are. Because if Gaza is our lighthouse within the storms, our moral and political compass, then we need to remain steady and sober and anchored as a movement.“
Butterfly also spoke of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera. She was known for her 25-year coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was killed while reporting on an Israeli raid in the West Bank, in 2022.
“And as a feminist boat, post flotilla, we aim to honour the legacy of the brave and beautiful Shireen Abu Akleh, by giving the boat another life," she continued. "For the sailboat to be a place of community and healing for the long-term as much as possible."
“And maybe, just maybe, in the years to come, the Shireen will sail home to a Free Palestine," she concluded.
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