Activists Organize Gaza 鈥淔reedom Flotilla鈥� - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism

Apr 10, 2024

It has been six months since Israel鈥檚 genocide in Gaza began. The death toll has and Israeli violations continue to mount. Human Rights Watch just released a accusing Israel of using starvation 鈥渁s a weapon of war鈥� against Palestinians and particularly children. Doctors Without Borders has also the Israel Defense Forces of targeting aid workers after the killings of seven World Central Kitchen staff, saying 鈥渢he pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.鈥�

Meanwhile, issued an urgent call to end Israel鈥檚 war, saying it has unleashed 鈥渞elentless death and destruction to Palestinians in Gaza.鈥�

In the absence of international action to stop Israel鈥檚 genocide, advocates of Palestinian rights are planning to set sail in late April on a number of ships carrying thousands of tons of aid directly to the people of Gaza as part of the .

Among them will be Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American human and civil rights attorney, activist, and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. Arraf spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the flotilla and the impacts of the war six months in.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent 麻豆社事件 Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.