- Opinion
- 07 Oct 25
Flotilla activist and TD Barry Heneghan: "Whatever the Israelis do to us, it's nothing compared to what Palestinians endure"
Connecting to Dublin from the Mediterranean Sea, Barry Heneghan TD speaks to Hot Press as his humanitarian aid boat enters the vicinity of Gaza where they expect to be illegally intercepted by Israel as soon as this evening.
Sailing peacefully through the Mediterranean is a boat named Milad. Aboard is a load of humanitarian aid and a proud crew of seven: three French, one Dane, two Irish and one Irish-Danish.
Milad is the fastest of an eight-strong fleet launched from Sicily, as part of a joint mission by Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza. Having departed shortly after the Global Sumud Flotilla, they've been travelling quietly for the past 13 days.
At the time of writing, Milad is off the shore of Egypt. But at about midnight tonight, it will enter the "red zone": the 150 nautical miles (278 kilometres) from Gaza where previous flotillas were attacked or intercepted by Israeli forces.
In the next 24 hours, Milad's crew is prepared to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza— or to be illegally abducted by hostile Israeli forces.
Barry Heneghan, independent TD for Dublin Bay North, speaks to Hot Press from on board Milad this morning. The call is short and at times choppy — as Heneghan explains, they are actively entering the zone where Israeli forces were expected to begin scrambling signals. And as the threat of interception looms, Heneghan describes the feeling on the boat not as scared but as "determined."
"The story is not us being intercepted," he tells Hot Press.
"The story is that for two years there has been a genocide occurring in Gaza, and we need a bigger reaction on a global stage."
Every nook and cranny on the boat carries aid in the form of medicine, baby formula, first aid supplies, prosthetic limbs and more. Every piece of it matters.
"Underneath the bed I'm sleeping in, there is a significant amount of aid," says Heneghan, adding that the rhetoric of calling the cargo "symbolic" for its quantity misses the point.
"Any aid that gets into Gaza, even if someone deems it a small amount, is still aid that has broken through an illegal blockade. I've spoken to multiple Palestinians and people in Gaza, who do not see the aid as symbolic. They see it a lot more than that."
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He defines the mission as "a clear message that they are under illegal siege, they have been under illegal siege and they have every right to receive this humanitarian aid."
He adds that both Milad's mission and course are not only legal but explicitly protected under international law.
"International laws protect us in international waters. We are a humanitarian mission delivering aid to people that need it. If we are illegally intercepted, Israel has broken international law and it needs to be condemned on a worldwide basis."
The Geneva Convention, UN, International Criminal Court and more stipulate that vessels have freedom of movement in international waters and that states are obligated to permit the free passage of humanitarian aid. The targeting or obstruction of humanitarian aid is criminalised under such laws. To intercept, attack, seize or abduct the crew of a humanitarian vessel like Milad in international waters would be highly illegal on many levels.
When the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying 437 activists (including at least 15 Irish citizens) and life-saving aid to Gaza was intercepted, and its crews abducted, Israel violated many such conventions — with not enough condemnation, Heneghan suggests.
"Israel does not have impunity to breaking international law, but as they continue to do so, we're not giving out the right message," he says.
"It needs to be condemned, what they did. They illegally abducted civilians from across the world in international waters."
Reports arose of Israeli captors violating the human rights of detainees. Heneghan and fellow crew members remain undeterred - "It's only pushed us even further."
"Whatever the Israelis do to us, that's nothing compared to what Palestinians have had to endure and we sail in solidarity with them," he says.
"The fact that they're doing that to citizens who they know will go out and speak to news... Imagine what they are doing to the thousands of Palestinian prisoners."
Before they departed, Heneghan and his crew went through intensive training to prepare for any possible outcome.
"We went through various scenarios based on other flotillas and how they were intercepted," he says.
"As a crew, we have prepared for many scenarios, such as if we are under drone attack, if we are under gas attack, if there are violent Israeli soldiers on board, how to react in the most peaceful manner. We will act to show complete solidarity with Palestine, but also to limit any injuries or casualties to members on board."
Heneghan adds that it was particularly important for him to be present as an EU elected government official.
"Thousand Madleens to Gaza were looking to get EU representatives on each boat in the hope that it provides some security for the other members," he says.
"You can never really know how the genocidal state of Israel will act, but we hope that having an EU representative on each boat will add some security."
Heneghan has a foot in both worlds. As a TD, he is in close communication with the Irish government. As an activist, he now stands for those who were previously abducted and mistreated by Israeli forces, with little to no action from the Irish government in response.
"Well, as an independent who has supported the programme for government, the only time that I voted against the government has been for the Palestinian issue," he says.
"I voted against the government over the Israeli war bonds. But I spoke to the Tánaiste three days ago and he said that they were doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the Irish citizens. Obviously now we see the mistreatment of those citizens, I would urge the government to speak out heavily against that. You need to condemn any mistreatment of your citizens, especially when you look at that this is humanitarian flotilla which was illegally intercepted on international waters."
As much as government action is needed, Heneghan says he and his fellow Irish activists on board (including author Naoise Dolan, who was going to be on the Global Sumud Flotilla until her boat was cancelled) are confident in their countrymen's support for Palestine.
"If any country is to know occupation, it's Ireland," Heneghan says.
"We had 800 years of forced occupation by colonial mindset. We have huge solidarity. It's embedded in our blood to understand what it is like to be under occupation. That is why Ireland has stood and will always stand with the oppressed, not the oppressor."
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Milad is named after the daughter of the late Walid Daqqa, Palestinian novelist and the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail. Milad never met her father; he was imprisoned the entirety of her life. Thus, the boat was dedicated to her and to every Palestinian child growing up amid loss and occupation, deprived of safety and family.
It is for these children's futures, Heneghan tells me, that the flotilla sails.
"We look at the messages from Gazans, we've received video from young children in Gaza naming our flotilla and that's what pushes us on: their hope," Heneghan says.
Milad and the rest of the flotilla can be tracked and watched via livestreamed CCTV footage on the Thousand Madleens website.
