A coalition of human rights advocates has arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, as they prepare to set sail to Gaza on a civilian flotilla carrying urgently needed food and medicine. Hundreds will participate in the humanitarian aid mission. The Freedom Flotilla is expected to set sail later this month. This is Palestinian American activist Huwaida Arraf.

Huwaida Arraf: “What we have on board is lifesaving aid. We are watching in horror as an entire people are being deliberately starved, on top of the bombings and the killings and the maiming that we have seen. And we can’t stand by, because our governments aren’t doing anything to stop it. So we are taking to sea to attempt to deliver this aid and to directly challenge the siege in hopes of breaking it.”

Huwaida Arraf was one of the organizers of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which Israel attacked, killing 10 activists.