Fellipe Lopes joins human rights activists on aid flotilla to Gaza and will report for Hot Press

Irish-Brazilian film maker, photographer, and reporter Fellipe Lopes has joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a campaign sending multiple vessels carrying  5,500 tons of aid for Gaza in mid-April. He will report on progress for Hot Press.

Fellipe is joining the international coalition which has set sail for Palestine every year since 2010.

Lopes is known for his work as documentary filmmaker and as a reporter having been nominated and shortlisted for the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Award 2021 for his report published on hotpress.com about a refugee from Syria, living in Lesbos, Greece. He also works with the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

Lopes will be joined on the Freedom Flotilla by several high profile human rights activists' including former US army colonel Ann Wright and anti-war campaigner and Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin.

“President Biden waited six months, waited until 33,000 had been killed, mostly women and children, before picking up the phone and demanding that Netanyahu reduce civilian harm, allow more aid in, and protect aid workers,” said former U.S. diplomat, Ann Wright.

“But even if Israel allows more humanitarian aid in, it is still bombing Gaza with U.S. bombs, shooting innocent people and imprisoning the 2.2 million people that live in Gaza. Getting humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza is urgent, but it is not sufficient.

"We must end Israel’s unlawful, deadly blockade as well as Israel’s overall control of Gaza. That’s why we need this flotilla, filled with unarmed civilians, human rights observers from 30 countries, to challenge Israel’s brutal grip on the Gaza strip,” Wright concludes.

On January 26 2024 the International Court of Justice ruled that, ‘the State of Israel remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order, including by ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.’

Speaking of the ICJ ruling, Ismail Moola of South Africa's Palestine Solidarity Alliance, (part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition) said: "The International Court of Justice's preliminary measures ordered against Israel are very clear.

"The court's ruling requires the whole world to play their part to stop the genocide unfolding in Gaza, including unobstructed access to vital aid. While our governments fail to lead in these urgently required humanitarian responses, people of conscience and our grassroots organizations must act to take leadership. When governments fail, we sail!"

Earlier this week, Israel inspired widespread international revulsion after the Israeli war machine killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, who were providing food relief to civilians in Gaza.