Israel
Anti-Israel flotilla to feature activist linked to proscribed group
Jaldia Abubakra heads the Samidoun network in Spain, the group said in a document announcing her participation
September 1, 2025 13:26
Jaldia Abubakra heads the Samidoun network in Spain, the group said in a document announcing her participation
September 1, 2025 13:26An international anti-Israel flotilla to Gaza will feature at least one member of Samidoun, the group said on Saturday.
An international movement focused on the welfare of Palestinian prisoners, including terrorists, in Israeli jails, Samidoun announced on X that Jaldia Abubakra, whom it identified as the coordinator of its network in Madrid, Spain, will join the flotilla due to arrive next month.
Samidoun, the parent organisation of Abubakra’s group, is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Canada and Israel and has been banned in Germany. It is not proscribed in Spain, where Abubakra operates, or in the UK and there is no suggestion that she has engaged in any illegal conduct.
The organisation made the announcement on its official account, sharing a post referring readers to the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, which Abubakra founded.
The text, titled “Jaldia Abubakra: Returning to Palestine with the Global Sumud Flotilla,” contains references to her senior position with Samidoun.
In October 2024, the US and Canada issued joint statements listing Samidoun as a terrorist entity. Washington called it a “sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organisation”.
The same month, the Dutch Parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to designate Samidoun as a terrorist group. The organisation has been banned in Germany since 2023.
And, last month, Samidoun director Mohammed Katib had his refugee status in Belgium revoked, with the country also announcing its own intentions to ban the group.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail on Sunday from Spain, heading for the Gaza Strip. It comprises dozens of vessels carrying activists from 44 countries.
Israel has intercepted and redirected previous flotillas and deported their passengers, and it is expected to block the Sumud flotilla as well.
High-profile activist Greta Thunberg is also on board one of the vessels, having been deported from Israel once already on a previous attempt to breach the naval blockade of Gaza.
But Israel Hayom reported that, should she be detained again, she may face harsher terms, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir presenting Prime Minister Netanyahu with a plan to hold her in "terrorist-like" conditions.
The paper quoted sources close to the minister as saying: "Following several weeks at Ktzi’ot and Damon [Israeli detention camps for Palestinian prisoners], they’ll be sorry about the time they arrived here. We must eliminate their appetite for another attempt."
It is not clear what exactly the plan would entail, though it reportedly includes seizing the flotilla to be converted into a "maritime force for police operations".
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