Palestine is Not Alone: The Sumud Caravan Defies the Israeli Blockade and Globalizes Solidarity

In an unprecedented act of grassroots courage and international solidarity, thousands of activists from North Africa set out for Palestine to break Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip. One of the key participants in this journey is Hatem Laouini, a member of La Vía Campesina-Tunisia, who shared his experience in a collaborative interview conducted by journalists from the Forum for Communication for the Integration of Our America (FCINA).

The Madleen Freedom Flotilla, the Global March to Gaza, and the Sumud Convoy are three internationalist actions led by social movements whose common goal is to break the blockade imposed by the occupying Israeli state and denounce the daily genocide against the Palestinian people, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hatem Laouini, a leader in the “One Million Rural Women” movement and the landless workers’ movement, described the Sumud Caravan as a truly grassroots initiative, driven by the people of Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Sudan, Egypt, and Morocco. Although it lacked official support, the convoy kept growing and received backing from Tunisia’s largest trade union center, the UGTT; the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights; and the Tunisian League for Human Rights, among other organizations.