Cracks in the ‘Iron Wall’: Pushing the edges of Palestine solidarity

A few days ago in Madrid, at a demonstration marking the launch of this year’s Global Sumud Flotilla from Barcelona to Gaza, two slogans stood out. The first was the familiar: “It is resistance, not terrorism.” The second was one we are less accustomed to hearing: “Armed struggle is justified.”

When paired with “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” it is clear that the global solidarity with Palestine and rejection of the state of Israel movement—what I will call the Solidarity/Rejection movement—has raised its ceiling. Supporting armed resistance and the right to all of historic Palestine were once strict red lines in the European and American public spheres. Those lines are being actively erased.

Beyond the sea

Last year, I joined the first Global Sumud Flotilla. Its timing coincided with a peak of global fury against the genocide. Since then, the movement has ebbed—especially after the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement and the marketing of the lie that the “crisis” was resolved. But the movement did not die.

Like any struggle for a fundamental cause, it experiences waves. It cannot be a perpetually ascending line. While others and I have criticisms of the Flotilla’s leadership and their methods, the movement’s true strength lies in the ordinary participants, not the “stars” or celebrities.

This movement has moved far beyond “charitable” solidarity. It is now a direct political challenge to the existence of the occupying state.

Cracks in the fascist camp

The radicalism of these slogans, the university encampments, and the massive global marches signal a shift in how the world sees Israel. The Palestinian cause has become a global axis, intersecting with the resistance against capitalist exploitation, racism, patriarchy, and climate collapse. It is now the symbol for the rights of the dispossessed everywhere.

This shift is creating cracks in the global fascist alliance led by Trump and Netanyahu. The recent defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary is one indicator. Another is the friction within the right-wing camp itself, such as Giorgia Meloni’s recent refusal to support the US-Israeli war on Iran and her suspension of military cooperation with Israel.

Even within the United States, we hear the first internal critiques of Trumpism, alongside the president’s unprecedented drop in popularity. The sheer bloodiness and corruption of the Trump–Netanyahu era have become too much even for those who once only whispered their criticisms—including the Pope.

Meanwhile, a new alliance of progressive governments from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia is forming to confront this “barbarism,” under the banner of Global Progressive Mobilisation. Their first demand: a complete restructuring of the United Nations on pregressive foundations, to be led by a woman.

Closer to Reality

For the first time, the world is moving past the failed “two-state” discourse and the lens of mere humanitarian pity. People are realizing that the Trump–Netanyahu system is a danger to humanity itself.

But for this movement to last, it must build transparent, multilateral, and democratic structures. It must protect itself from the “cult of personality” and individual interests. To be a true alternative to what it rejects—corruption, patriarchy, and racism—it must stand on solid intellectual ground.

We must move away from the fragmented, shallow discourse of “influencers” and the hollow spectacle of temporary activism tourism. If we want to compete, we must compete in awareness. We must liberate ourselves from Eurocentrism and the delusion of white activists who think they are “more Palestinian” than the Palestinians.

While the far-right relies on religious myths and racism, our movement must remain secular and grounded in reality. Palestinians do not seek martyrdom for holy stones or steeples; they seek a free and dignified life on their own land.

The Solidarity/Rejection movement is now the core of the struggle against global fascism. Its future depends on its ability to link the suffering of Palestine to the rights of the poor and the downtrodden everywhere. Only then will we see real cracks in the “Iron Wall.”

The Challenge

There is a detail I have saved for last. After the Israeli army hijacked the previous Flotilla and arrested the participants, some women were subjected to sexual assault by soldiers. In at least one case, it was rape.

Evidence shows these were not individual “excesses” but a systematic political and security policy to use sexual violence as a tool of terror. Despite this, the desire to defy has not evaporated. Dozens of boats, manned by dozens of women, are sailing right now in a new attempt to break the siege.

It is a defiance that explains itself.