The Green Party of Pennsylvania has endorsed the Global Sumud Flotilla, a multinational fleet attempting to break the blockade of Gaza. Organizers say the flotilla includes more than 50 vessels and carries participants from over 40 countries.
In a September 13 press release, the Green Party said its steering committee met and approved the endorsement on September 6 at the request of Bryarr Misner, an organizer from Allegheny County. Misner said he sought the party’s support because the mission “is more than a symbolic voyage; it is a collective act of conscience that brings the cries for justice in Gaza and across Palestine to the forefront of international awareness.”
“As Greens, we affirm that silence in the face of genocide is not an option,” Misner said. “It is our moral duty to stand with those resisting oppression, and to support the movements that challenge the systems of violence and apartheid that deny Palestinians their rights under international law.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla is part of a broader movement that has organized multiple land and sea missions to Gaza, including the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, and the Global Movement to Gaza. The current convoy left Barcelona, Spain, and Genoa, Italy, on August 31, arriving in Tunis, Tunisia, on September 9. According to organizers, the flotilla has been attacked twice by drones while in Tunisian waters, with both incidents documented on a live map they maintain.
Colleen Schmotzer, a Green Party Steering Committee member from Allegheny County, added that the decision reflected the party’s Four Pillars of grassroots democracy, ecological wisdom, social justice, and nonviolence. “The Global Sumud Flotilla embodies these values by organizing democratically across borders, confronting injustice with courage and without violence, and affirming the inherent worth and dignity of all people,” Schmotzer said.
“Peace cannot be achieved without justice, and justice cannot exist without freedom,” she continued. “Supporting solidarity actions like the flotilla brings us closer to realizing that goal.”
The Green Party of Pennsylvania closed with a call to elected officials, civil society organizations, and “all people of conscience” to join in supporting the flotilla, urging “an end to the blockade of Gaza, accountability for war crimes, and a future where peace is rooted in justice and freedom for all.”
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