Most people might have a “huh” moment when you realize you’re cackling over the idea of destroying a ship carrying aid to starving people. But, proving that there’s nothing too repellent and supervillainous for Republican politicians, Senator Lindsey Graham is praying for the obliteration of the Freedom Flotilla ship Madleen, which is currently trying to break Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza.
Hope Greta and her friends can swim!https://t.co/Noab4QyJtV
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 1, 2025
On board are climate activist Greta Thunberg, Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, and European Parliament member Rima Hassan, with the plan being that having high-profile people on board will create publicity and perhaps make the IDF think twice before they attack.
Make no mistake, this is actual no kidding courage. Just last month, the Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla ship carrying aid, was attacked and severely damaged by Israeli drones while sailing through international waters off the coast of Malta. Before the launch, Thunberg underlined why she’s putting her life on the line:
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying. Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even nearly as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
Davos Seaworth actor Liam Cunningham shared similar sentiments, saying:
“I have to be able to look at my grandkids when they when they hit their teens and say to me, ‘What did you do during this?’ I do not want to be one of those people that said, ‘I didn’t do anything’. In World War Two, there was an excuse that you didn’t know what was going on with the Holocaust – an obscene event that was going on – there was an excuse to say, ‘I didn’t know’. Your only answer [for not acting now] to your grandkids, or your kids, when they grow up is, ‘I didn’t care’. The world cannot stand by and allow this to continue.”
True bravery
Sacrifice, bravery, and ethical commitment like this are a foreign language to men like Lindsey Graham, who are content to fatten themselves in corporate-backed do-nothing Washington jobs while actively making the planet a worse place to live on.
In what may be a turning of the tide, the response to Graham’s post is widespread disgust: “What a cowardly and despicable creature you are”, “a despicable human being”: “You’re a deranged psychopath who should be frog-marched to a jail cell at The Hague for the rest of your stinking putrid life”, and dubbing him “a cheerleader for mass murder”.
Make no mistake, the Madleen will inevitably meet an aggressive response from Israel. Previous attempts to bring aid to Gaza have seen aid workers killed, multiple people seriously injured by shrapnel, and boats destroyed in open water. We can only hope that the celebrities on board mean Israel holds back this time for fear of terrible publicity. But, at this point, what’s a couple more bodies for them?
Published: Jun 2, 2025 03:39 am