AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We go to get an update from the Freedom Flotilla boat, the Madleen, sailing to Gaza with vital humanitarian aid. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition initially planned to sail from Malta last month, but their ship was damaged after it was bombed by drones in international waters. Earlier this week, the Madleen received a mayday call directing them to a boat that was rapidly deflating with about 30 to 40 migrants on board.

For more, we go to the Freedom Flotilla, where we’re joined by Thiago Ávila. He’s a Brazilian activist and steering committee member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. He’s among 12 activists sailing to Gaza. The mission also includes the renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, whom we spoke to earlier this week.

Thiago, welcome to Democracy Now! Israel has threatened to raid your ship. We know what happened to the Mavi Marmara more than a decade ago, when the Israeli military raided the ship and killed nine people on board. How are you — where are you now in the sea? What’s happened with these migrants? And how do you plan to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza?

THIAGO ÁVILA: Thank you so much for having the Freedom Flotilla here on Democracy Now!, first. It’s an honor. You do a very important work.

We are here somewhere in the Mediterranean, actually 500 nautical miles from Gaza. If we would go to the north, we will be going to Crete in Greece. If we would go to south, we will be going to Egypt right now. And we are on the sixth day of a — day of a journey that will end. On Monday, we’re likely on the morning to get to Gaza. That’s our estimated time of arrival.

And we are right now with 12 people. Spirits are high. And we are carrying lifesaving aid, food, medicine, crutches, prosthetics for amputated children, water filters. And we’re doing our best here to be useful for the solidarity movement for Palestine. We are a nonviolent direct action mission that not only wants to break the siege, this illegal siege that Israel has put Gaza for 18 years, but also wants to create a people’s humanitarian corridor, so that all countries, all organizations, institutions and the social majorities of the world can help and can be in support of the Palestinian people. People cannot stand anymore seeing children starving to death, and it is in their hearts, the idea of doing something. And we’re part of this doing something collectively, with all the demonstrations, all the global uprising, dock workers blocking the cargo vessels to Israel. There’s so many people doing amazing things, disrupting arms factories, creating, breaking the media blockade and spreading true information about the genocide of eight decades. So, we are part of the same thing.

And yesterday, we received a mayday call from a boat that was rapidly deflating, and we managed to rescue four of those people. Unfortunately, the rest has been taken and illegally deported back to Libya, from a Libyan so-called coast guard. But the four of the ones that we managed to rescue, they were sent to the coast guards, and they — we are asking for refugee for them in Greece. So, this was something that happened that we did not expect. We sailed for two-and-a-half hours doing search and rescue operation, despite the fact that only a few of our members here are trained in search and rescue operation. But life comes first, so we changed our course completely yesterday to do and attend to this mayday call. And in the end, we did what we could, and we were very happy that we managed to rescue four people from the water. In the Mediterranean, being on the water means death very, very fast. So, we’re glad that we did it.

AMY GOODMAN: Thiago, we just have another minute, but I wanted to ask you about Latin American solidarity with Gaza. You’re a Brazilian activist. Why you decided to come from Brazil?

THIAGO ÁVILA: Yes. I come from a place where imperialism always plays a decisive role. My country suffered two military coups, and both of them had the support of the United States. And so, it’s important that we understand that imperialism and Zionism, they are the greatest evils of our generation, and we need to defeat them wherever we can. And Palestine is now the strategic place for all peoples to unite and fight against oppression, exploitation and the destruction of nature.

They have been threatening us for many, many years. For 17 years, any flotilla mission that tried to reach Gaza has been threatened by them. But we will not bow to their threats. We do not need their permission. This is international waters, and we’re going to Palestinian territorial waters. So, we’re going not with their permission, but with the help of millions and billions of people that know that starving children to death is wrong, that bombing hospitals, shelters and schools is wrong. And that’s what we are counting on. They cannot defeat us by force. If they attack us, we’ll have thousands of people on the next flotilla. And they will understand, like all oppressive regimes understand in the end, that they cannot beat the people’s true force, that people’s power is the ultimate power, and love and solidarity can beat any hateful, racist and supremacist ideology, like Zionism.

AMY GOODMAN: And if Israel raids your boat, they have pledged not to allow the ship to dock or to even approach Gaza, Thiago.

THIAGO ÁVILA: Yes, they did this before, like you mentioned, 15 years ago. They killed nine — executed nine of our participants, and another 10th died six months later. And one month ago, they just bombed our boat. And they’ve been sending drones every night here for three nights in a row. So we can expect violence from them.

And we do our preparations. We train our participants in nonviolent direct action, so that even facing extreme violence, we remain nonviolent, because there’s no military victory for us here. We’re a humble boat, 12 people, that — a 18-meters boat.

So, we only can win through solidarity, making sure that the whole world knows that Gaza has been under siege for 18 years, living eight decades of genocide and ethnic cleansing. And this is how we also move the structures for a safe passage. So, spreading word of what we’re doing guarantee us a safe passage, because if they understand that they cannot afford to attack us, and that it will be even worse for them if they attack, we have a chance.

AMY GOODMAN: Thiago Ávila, we want to thank you for being with us. All safety to you, Brazilian activist, among 12 activists sailing to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid on the Madleen ship, named for the first Gazan fisherwoman, the ship launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. You can also see our interview with Greta Thunberg, also on that boat, at democracynow.org.