Mexican activist aboard Gaza flotilla: ‘Don’t look away’

"De sur a sur, Palestina libre" is a photo of Karen Castillo in Barcelona embroidered with the words "From south to south" and "Free Palestine." Photo © Marlén Castro. Embroidery © Araceli Gomez Cañipa and Shirley Rios Pozada, Cooperativa Visual, 2025.

Reportage • Marlén Castro • September 12, 2025 • Leer en castellano

“El Huga, the ship that has been my home for eight days, is rocking back and forth with the waves. It's almost noon.

I'm standing at the bow watching as we approach Tunisia. I'm wearing sneakers; I haven't wanted to take them off, not even to sleep. I think it's best to be ready for any emergency, like an armed drone, an interception, or an air strike.

Most of my crewmates go barefoot. Having had several bad experiences in Mexico, I’ve learned that it’s better to be prepared.

We’ve just finished our daily drill. It’s a training exercise, in case we are attacked. That possibility looms large as we get closer to Palestine.

I close my eyes. I imagine what that moment will be like. Facing soldiers who have murdered children, babies, pregnant women. I try to understand what is in the hearts of Israeli soldiers; and of Israelis who support the genocide of the Gazan people.

I wonder how they were educated to feel so much hatred. It seems to me that they must have gone through a very cruel process of dehumanization to reach the point of wanting to destroy an entire people.

When I hear seagulls, I open my eyes. Despite the risks of this mission, I’ve been enjoying the spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

As we entered the Mediterranean, we began to see dolphins and turtles, species threatened by overfishing and pollution. At 30 years old, embarking on this mission and crossing this sea has been the most powerful experience I’ve ever had as an activist.

I stand up for a better view of the harmonious landscape of the white and blue houses of Tunisia. We’ll be here for a couple of days. We need to restock our supplies and fuel. We’re also stopping here to wait for other boats, then we’ll depart for Gaza.”

These are the words of Karen Castillo, shared with Ojalá in an interview via WhatsApp earlier this week. Castillo is a Mexican activist waiting to set sail for Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla. This is her story.

Supporting the struggle for Palestine

It was mid-August, and Karen Castillo was traveling from Mexico City to Chiapas, a state in southeastern Mexico, to attend the Resistance and Rebellion Gathering in Zapatista territory. During the 18-hour bus ride, she saw the open call for the Global Sumud Flotilla, and applied using her cell phone.

When she returned home to Mexico City, she received an email requesting more information about herself and the Memory and Freedom Human Rights Observatory, which she oversees.

“I felt very anxious, very excited,” said Castillo in an interview with Ojalá in Barcelona. 

On Thursday, August 21, she was informed that she had not been selected. “I was super nervous when I checked the Observatory’s email, they thanked me and encouraged me to keep participating.”

Castillo, who studies law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and writes for independent media outlets such as Zona Docs and Somos el Medio, went back to her daily routine until Tuesday, August 26. That’s when she got a WhatsApp message saying the first email had been a mistake, and she’d been selected after all.

“I felt so many things at once. Excitement, joy, but also fear. My first thought was, ‘How am I going to tell my family that I'm going to Gaza?’” she said. “This is a big deal. I still hadn’t told many people, just my partner and the team at the Observatory.”

The idea of seeing herself on a boat bound for Gaza made her feel dizzy and nauseous, and she lost her appetite. Meanwhile, Castillo read the manuals she was sent to prepare herself, made decisions regarding her absence from the Observatory, and made travel arrangements, like buying plane tickets.

For Castillo, it seemed things moved very quickly. She received the message accepting her participation on Tuesday. By Friday, she was expected in Barcelona for training. By Sunday, she would be sailing with the flotilla.

Flotillas for Gaza

There are six Mexicans, including Castillo, on the humanitarian flotilla, made up of 300 activists from 44 countries aboard 20 boats. Among them are human rights defenders, journalists, and Catalonia politicians, including former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and, for the third time, youth climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Castillo boarded a plane to Europe, where she had never been before. There, she received intensive training on how to react to an attack by one of the most feared and cruel armies in the world.

She then boarded El Huga. There are another 19 people from many European countries and Latin America on board. Castillo said words failed to describe how she felt when they boarded the ship.

More than 5,000 people cheered as the 20 boats left Moll de la Fusta (“wooden pier” in Catalan) in Barcelona.

Several ships have previously failed to accomplish the same mission. In May 2010, the Mavi Marmara was attacked by Israel, killing all 10 activists on board.

In May 2025, the ship Conscience was attacked by armed drones. The shots opened holes in the hull, and the crew sent out a distress call, aborting the mission. The ship sank.

A month later, the sailboat Madleen was intercepted by Israeli soldiers. The activists were detained and deported. Swedish environmentalist Thunberg has been on board both missions this year.

Demanding an end to the genocide

Almost two years after the Israeli genocide in Gaza began, the situation is horrifying and widely known.

Some 63,000 Palestinians have been killed in the bombings and 159,000 wounded. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, cited by the AP, 332 people had died of starvation by August 31, and nearly half a million—a quarter of Gaza's population—lack basic necessities, while the world looks on.

On numerous occasions, Gazans have been shot at by Israeli soldiers while lining up for food. In early August, the UN reported the killing of almost 1,400 Gazans in such circumstances.

Festival for Gaza

Sol Band's mission is to tell the story of the Palestinians. That’s what vocalist Rahaf Shamali said after a performance on Friday, August 29, the first day of the Gaza festival, ahead of the Global Sumud Flotilla's departure. The festival was an initiative by organizations in Barcelona to support efforts aimed at delivering humanitarian aid.

The members of Sol Band left Palestine for their own survival. They use music to tell the world what life is like in the Gaza Strip under Israeli siege. Shamali spoke in English about her life's mission and how difficult it was to leave Gaza when all of her family members stayed behind. 

Every day, the band receives news from Gaza. That's how they found out that their musical director, Saadi Mdoukh, who was unable to leave, was killed in an Israeli bombings.

On August 29, Shamali had an even more personal mission. Her mother asked her to record the band’s performance, and others at the festival. “She wants to know what people think outside of Gaza,” she said in an interview.

The people of Barcelona once again proved that the city, where the Global Movement for Gaza was born, is a key center of global solidarity with Palestine.

Already under attack

On Sunday, September 7, the eighth day of their journey, the Global Sumud Flotilla boats arrived in Tunisia. The activists needed more supplies, but mostly, they really needed a shower, as water aboard is limited to pressing needs, and to get some sleep. After arrival to the North African country, everyone onboard went ashore in small boats.

An estimated 30 more boats from Italy, Greece, and Tunisia, along with approximately 400 more people, are expected to join the flotilla in Tunis.

El Huga is not a ship designed to cross the Mediterranean, similar to many others that are part of the flotilla, says Castillo, but it served them well. Five of the 20 ships that left the port of Barcelona broke down and had to return. It is not known whether they will still be able to reach Tunisia and rejoin the mission. 

Neither is it known if Israel will carry out its threat to treat Flotilla members as terrorists, as it had threatened to do before they set sail from Barcelona.

On Monday night, Castillo and Ernesto Ledezma, both from the Mexican delegation, were returning from a meeting to the hotel where they were staying when word began to spread that one of the ships had been attacked by armed drones. 

“We are going to continue to Gaza despite the armed drone attack,” Castillo told me. “The only thing that can save us all is to demand that governments in the global North stop siding with these supremacist interests. Only the people can do that. Don’t look away!”