Gaza, Soccer, and Greta Thunberg | The Humanitarian Mission Was Stopped by Israeli Forces

Football can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places. It is necessary to sharpen our vision, broaden our sensitivities, and repel attempts to remove it repeatedly from political life, where it survives as part of culture. There it will be, in some form. Perhaps it will be on the skin of a Swedish activist named Greta Thunberg when she announces that she has been intercepted and kidnapped by Israeli forces, along with her 11 companions from a humanitarian mission sailing in international waters toward Gaza. In one of those instances, football, the sport of the people, will be hidden in a shirt she is wearing, that of Bohemian FC, an Irish club that plays in the country’s top division, is owned by its members, and supports the Palestinian cause.

Football had gone unnoticed on the sailboat Madleen, which is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), on its eighth day of travel aimed at transporting humanitarian aid and breaking the prolonged Israeli blockade on Gaza. But there it was. The 12 activists onboard had spent Sunday focused on the information coming from Israel, mainly regarding the direct threat from the Israeli Defense Minister, who claimed to have ordered the military to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza. “We will not be intimidated. The world is watching,” responded the spokesperson for the Flotilla, Hay Sha Wiya. However, as night fell in Argentina, the official networks of the humanitarian mission and the 12 activists alerted about the interception of the sailboat. “The Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirms that its civilian ship, Madleen, transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza, was attacked and intercepted by Israeli forces at 3:02 AM CET in international waters at 31.95236° N, 32.38880° E. The ship was illegally boarded, its unarmed civilian crew was kidnapped, and its cargo, which included baby formula, food, and medical supplies, was confiscated,” they announced on Monday from the official FFC website.

In the video capture that was spread and seems to freeze the moment of interception over the Madleen—activists are seen surprised with their arms raised—it is difficult to distinguish Greta Thunberg. It is also not easy to identify her fellow activists: German Yasemin Acar, Brazilian Thiago Avila, Turkish Şuayb Ordu, Spaniard Sergio Toribio, Dutch Marco Van Rennes, and French Baptiste Andre, Omar Faiad, Rima Hassan, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi, and Reva Viard. However, in the pre-recorded videos released immediately to alert about their captures, they can be easily recognized. In her footage, the Swede can be seen wrapped in a kufiya, the white and black scarf symbolizing the Palestinian struggle, and underneath it, barely visible, the Bohemian FC jersey. Perhaps an act without major significance or perhaps a nod from the young activist to a football world that has largely ignored what has happened in Gaza, while simultaneously paying tribute to an Irish club that has chosen to proclaim itself on the subject multiple times and through various languages and platforms.

Those who enter the social media of the Dublin club will find that among its latest posts is a literal reference to the sailboat on its journey to Gaza. “All eyes on Madleen,” is read over an image of the vessel, with the Palestinian flag waving. But as powerful as social media is today, the club has complemented them with concrete actions in offline life: the most significant, without a doubt, occurred on May 15 of last year when they held a friendly match between their women’s first team and the Palestinian women’s national team. “We have a reason to tell people that we are human beings. We have rights like you: to play, to express our feelings, to be recognized by the world. With this event, we say that we exist”, were the words Palestinian defender Mira Natour said to the media The Guardian before the match.

On that Wednesday, Palestine won 2-1 against the Bohemian FC team in its first match played in Europe, which coincided with the 76th anniversary of Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic), the Palestinian exodus of 1948, a fundamental event in their national struggle. “It is a show of solidarity in an increasingly hopeless situation in Gaza,” defined that day Daniel Lambert, the club’s operations director, in dialogue with The Irish Times. Charlotte Phillips, a Palestinian goalkeeper from that team, was emotional as the match ended, to the point of not even remembering how the score ended. “They thought they could get rid of us, and they can’t: this is proof of our existence,” she told the media OffTheBall through tears. Five days earlier, the UN had voted in favor of admitting Palestine as a full member, a non-binding but symbolic decision that received 143 votes in favor, 25 abstentions, and nine rejections, including those from Israel, the United States, and Argentina.

“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely headed to the shores of Israel. Passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” posted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X, confirming the interception of the Madleen by forces from their country. After confirming that they were safe, another post announced: ”They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over.”

“We cannot sit idly by, doing nothing, and watch this live genocide unfold before our eyes,” Greta Thunberg explained to the media Democracy Now! before her arrest while still sailing on the Madleen with her companions. The sailboat did not reach its destination. It could not break the blockade. Nor deliver humanitarian aid. But it appeared—like football sometimes does, when no one else expects it—to shake the world and awaken some reaction.