Today, in a staggering act of violence and defiance of international law, the Israeli military attacked and boarded the Madleen, a humanitarian flotilla attempting to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza. The vessel was in international waters, carrying aid workers, doctors, journalists, and supplies desperately needed by a population Israel has systematically bombed, starved, and displaced.

This was not a military confrontation. It was the assault of an unarmed civilian aid ship by a state acting with total impunity. This is piracy, it is state terror, and it is a genocidal act of war.

A regime engaged in genocide would send sends drones and armed commandos to detain civilians in international waters. We are witnessing the total moral collapse of a state, supported for years by Western Governments to act with utter impunity, violate our global legal system, morality and principles. No amount of spin or military propaganda can hide the cruelty of deliberately starving a population, targeting children, bombing hospitals and bakeries, and then violently stopping others from bringing aid.

This attack on the Madleen not a separate incident — it is part of the same campaign to eliminate Palestinian life, hope, and survival. It is why the International Court of Justice has already ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide.

This is not complicated.

Israel has no legal authority in international waters. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Israel's boarding of a civilian aid ship beyond its territorial waters is an act of piracy, unlawful kidnapping, forcible abduction and armed aggression.

Under international humanitarian law, deliberately blocking aid to a population facing starvation is a war crime.

Under the Genocide Convention, when a state intentionally denies food, water, and medicine to a population it is bombing and displacing, this constitutes part of a genocidal campaign.

The silence of the New Zealand Government is no longer neutral, and it demonstrates a shocking lack of respect for international law, for human rights, and for the safety of global humanitarian workers.

It reflects a broader decay in foreign policy — where selective outrage and Israeli exceptionalism undermine the credibility of everything New Zealand claims to stand for.

We call on the New Zealand Government to:

• Publicly condemn Israel’s illegal assault on the Madleen and its passengers. • Demand the immediate release of all aid workers, journalists, and civilians abducted by Israeli forces.

• Suspend all diplomatic, military, and trade cooperation with Israel until it complies with international law.

• Support international accountability mechanisms, including referring Israel’s crimes to the International Criminal Court and backing enforcement of the ICJ’s provisional measures on genocide.

This Has to Stop. This is not just a crisis in Gaza. It is a crisis of global morality, of international law, and of our basic shared humanity.

We stand with the people of Gaza. We stand with the brave souls aboard the Madleen, and we demand an end to this madness before the world forgets what it means to be human. We need a government that stands for all that is right, not all that is wrong.

Aid is not terrorism. International waters are not Israel’s territory. And silence in the face of evil is complicity.

Thyme4Action
Human rights advocates, educators, and community members committed to justice and international law

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