UN Demands Release of Thiago and Saif After GSF Interception

United Nations has called on Israel to immediately release humanitarian activists Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek after they were detained following the interception of a humanitarian aid flotilla near Crete.

UN spokespersons stated that civilians delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza must not be treated as criminals or terrorists. The UN also requested an independent investigation into allegations of mistreatment during detention.

Thiago and Saif are members of Global Sumud Flotilla, an international non-violent mission aiming to deliver humanitarian assistance and challenge the blockade on Gaza.

The interception, which occurred in late April 2026, sparked international concern and calls from human rights organizations for the protection of humanitarian activists and safe access for aid missions.

The United Nations reiterated that humanitarian aid access to Gaza must be protected and that international volunteers’ rights should be respected.

#FreeThiago
#FreeSaif
#StandWithThiago
#StandWithSaif
#SaveGaza
#FreedomFlotilla
#GlobalSumudFlotilla
#HumanRights
#ProtectHumanitarians
#EndTheBlockade
#VoicesForGaza
#JusticeForPalestine
#SolidarityWithGaza
#HumanityFirst
#CeasefireNow

🚨 Watch the #LIVESTREAM OF #PERSEVERANCE and the other #FREEDOMFLOTILLA boats as they make their way toward #GAZA to #EndTheBlockade.
Please follow & share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRl3KpzmMtQ

#Flotilla2026 #CanadaBoatToGaza #FreePalestine #BreakTheSiege #EndGazaGenocide

🚨 Watch the #LIVESTREAM OF #PERSEVERANCE and the other #FREEDOMFLOTILLA boats as they make their way toward #GAZA to #EndTheBlockade. Please follow & share.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbRdx9rSeIU

#Flotilla2026 #CanadaBoatToGaza #FreePalestine #BreakTheSiege #EndGazaGenocide

US to Allow Russian Oil Tanker to Reach Cuba, Breaking Blockade
The tanker full of crude oil could reach its expected destination by Tuesday, providing a lifeline to the island amid intense US pressure.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/world/americas/cuba-russian-oil-tanlker.html?unlocked_article_code=1.W1A.BYuT.GnK5wIVM193u&smid=url-share

from #NewYorkTimes
[gift article]

It would also reduce pressure on a #Cuban government facing a looming economic collapse and escalating threats from Washington, and show that, at least for now, the island can still depend on its longtime ally, #Russia.

The #Trump administration had been enforcing what amounted to an #OilBlockade around #Cuba since January, threatening nations that had been sending fuel to the country and, in one case, escorting a tanker heading toward Cuba away from the island.

The Coast Guard has two cutters in the region that could have attempted to intercept the Russian tanker. Yet the Trump administration did not order those vessels to act, according to a #US official...

#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockade
#news #politics #USpol

#Cuba sends world-class #doctors to #remote areas all around the #world.

The #USA sends #bombs and #sanctions to kill as many #people as possible worldwide.

#EndTheBlockade #LetCubaLive #USImperialism

The Trump administration has tightened the blockade on Cuba, even going so far as pirating fuel laden vessels returning with their cargo to the island. This has resulted in rolling blackouts, food spoiling faster, hospitals losing power, trash pickup becoming more difficult or impossible, etc. The Let Cuba Live project is raising funds to be able to ship solar panels to Cuba to be able to help alleviate their suffering at this critical moment. Please donate to the Let Cuba Live project and sign on. You can even leave messages of love and solidarity for the Cuban people.

Please reboost!

#Cuba #EndTheBlockade
https://www.letcubalive.info/

Donate to buy solar panels for #Cuba:

https://www.letcubalive.info/donate

#LetCubaLive #EndTheBlockade #Solidarity

Statement by Arturo O'Farrill on #Trump's oil blockade on Cuba (from Facebook)

My name is Arturo O’Farrill. I am a composer, pianist and educator. I am also the founder of Belongó, formerly known as the #Afro #Latin Jazz Alliance, a non-profit which is breaking ground in the next few weeks on a Culture Hub in Harlem called Casa Belongó. I am the Bill Evans fellow at the New School for #Jazz and Contemporary Studies. I am the recipient of 6 #Grammy awards and 2 Latin Grammies. I have an Honoris Causa, an Honorary Doctorate from Tufts University and have served as Distinguished Faculty and Associate Dean for The University of California Los Angeles.

I speak out today in support of the sovereignty of #Cuba. The president of the #UnitedStates and his administration are reinforcing a cruel decades-old economic #blockade and have extended this cruelty to block #oil supplies for the island. [continues]

Full statement PDF: https://drive.proton.me/urls/W9BKBZDED0#70vsqpufgIuf

#news #politics #EndTheBlockade

#GlobalSumud Flotilla Announces Spring Mission to ‘Break the #IllegalBlockade of #Gaza’

Organizers say they’re “mobilizing thousands from over 100 countries in a coordinated, nonviolent response to #genocide, siege, mass #starvation, and the destruction of civilian life in Gaza.”

Brett Wilkins
Feb 05, 2026

Excerpt: "Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla—the largest-ever activist effort to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by sea—said Thursday that they will launch a new and bigger mission next month to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian exclave, whose people have suffered from 28 months of genocidal Israeli war and siege.

"Global Sumud Flotilla called its spring 2026 mission, which is scheduled to depart from Barcelona on March 29, 'a historic escalation in civilian-led maritime action to break the illegal blockade of Gaza.'

" 'We are sailing again this year. This time, we’re sailing with more boats, and more activists... and we are determined to break this illegal siege on Gaza and show the world that the peace talks are not really peace talks, but the further colonization of Palestinian territories,' organizer Yasmin Acar told South African Broadcasting Corporation News Radio. 'We will not stop until the siege is broken.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/global-sumud-flotilla-2026

#WorldPol #GlobalSumudFlotilla #GazaGenocide #EndTheBlockade #IsraeliWarCrimes