{"id":70193,"date":"2025-06-18T11:49:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=70193"},"modified":"2025-07-02T04:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:04:08","slug":"sumud-at-the-walls-a-tale-of-two-sieges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/70193\/sumud-at-the-walls-a-tale-of-two-sieges\/","title":{"rendered":"Sumud at the Walls: A Tale of Two Sieges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>From the Madleen to the Sumud (Global March to Gaza), the silence has been broken.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-1024x527.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-70195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-1024x527.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-300x154.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-768x395.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-1536x791.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-2048x1054.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px-510x263.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p>The state of Israel is enforcing two sieges: one on the people of Gaza and another that it exports to the world.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The first siege is physical.<\/strong> It deprives Gaza of food, fuel, water, and medical aid. A narrow strip of land, densely populated with families, schools, community spaces, and businesses, has become a graveyard of lives and futures. More than two million people are trapped there, many on the brink of famine, amid relentless bombardment.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The second siege is informational and psychological.<\/strong> It suppresses truth, distorts suffering, and reframes reality. It constructs a lie in which no one in Gaza is seen as a civilian\u2014where every family is recast as combatants and every apartment building, school, hospital, and playground are legitimate targets to terrorize and bomb. This narrative justifies the ongoing devastation. It makes genocide palatable by making it invisible, then repeats itself through Western mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Together, these sieges sustain the machinery of destruction.<\/strong> However, the informational and psychological siege is older and more profound. Long before October 7, Gaza had already become a scar: a living reminder of violent colonialism, forced displacement, a modern apartheid state, and the unfinished Nakba. To uphold the colonizer\u2019s myth of victimhood and permanence, this living evidence needed to be erased.<\/p>\n\n<p>And so: starve, bomb, deny. Occasionally, permit a trickle of aid to pass, then resume the flow. Bury the evidence amongst the rubble and the bodies.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Convoy to Break the Informational Siege<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>In May 2025, something moved against the tide of silence.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The Sumud Convoy to Gaza, a coalition of grassroots activists, medics, organizers, journalists, and concerned citizens, set out from Cairo with a clear purpose: to break the siege, bring aid to starving civilians, bear witness to genocide, and confront the world about its complicity and the information siege orchestrated by the state of Israel.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>This caravan didn\u2019t just try to enter Gaza. It attempted to <em>enter the global conscience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\udf39\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddfe SUMUD Convoy has begun its journey from Tunisia moving towards <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> for breaking the siege<br><br>They stopped 12 but how will they stop thousands?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BreakTheSiege?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BreakTheSiege<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SumudConvoy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SumudConvoy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreedomFlotilla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreedomFlotilla<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8W7CQ9v1Zt\">pic.twitter.com\/8W7CQ9v1Zt<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Aisyah \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 (@isyh_aas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/isyh_aas\/status\/1932617522970562805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>In doing so, it threatened the second siege: the curated blindness, the silence of liberal institutions, the complicity of those who know but say nothing. <strong>The convoy exposed how Gaza is not only isolated by barbed wire and drones, but by narrative, by a wall of lies more impenetrable than concrete.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>It is not merely a delivery of supplies; it is a political act of solidarity \u2014 a people-powered intervention against state-sanctioned starvation. Travelling across Egypt towards the Rafah crossing, the convoy carries medical aid, food, and baby formula, along with cameras, statements, bodies, and unwavering resolve.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Sumud Convoy was met, predictably, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/6\/13\/egypt-libya-stop-activists-gathering-for-march-to-gaza-organisers-say\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with roadblocks, detentions, delays, and misinformation,<\/a> not only by Israel but also by Egyptian authorities under international pressure. The convoy\u2019s presence made visible what governments and mainstream media tried to bury: the siege is a deliberate, coordinated policy, not merely a humanitarian crisis, but rather a military strategy.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>\u201cSumud\u201d means steadfastness.<\/strong> This was not charity. It was defiance.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was not a plea for mercy, but a demand for justice.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8BREAK THE SIEGE:<br><br>The Sumud convoy has arrived in Gabes, where more people are joining the journey in solidarity. <br><br>It will pass through Libya, then Egypt, and arriving at the Rafah crossing to break the siege on Gaza.<br><br>The convoy consists of thousands of volunteers from\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XOj0E9ZTiL\">pic.twitter.com\/XOj0E9ZTiL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SuppressedNws\/status\/1932146752456724981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Wall Will Not Hold<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>After October 7, many rushed to raise the walls higher, to reinforce the siege on truth. Yet Gaza\u2019s reality still leaks through: a toddler buried beneath rubble; a doctor operating without anesthesia; a mother nursing her child in a tent, surrounded by death. These images survive despite the blackout.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Sumud Convoy was one such image, a moving vessel of conscience.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"660\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/94fc5192-img_5560.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-70202\" style=\"width:498px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/94fc5192-img_5560.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/94fc5192-img_5560-300x291.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/94fc5192-img_5560-350x340.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/isyh_aas\/status\/1932617522970562805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>It is unlikely to succeed in delivering all its aid. But it will succeed in making something far more dangerous cross the border: truth. It showed that the world is not entirely numb. That solidarity is not dead. That resistance to genocide is not antisemitism, it is humanity.<\/p>\n\n<p>The siege cannot last forever. Each act of resistance, each convoy such as the Madleen voyage, each vigil, each voice chips away at its foundation. The illusion of \u201cthe most moral army,\u201d of \u201cno famine,\u201d of \u201cself-defence\u201d begins to fray. What was once hidden is now a topic of debate. What was once normalized is now named.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Sumud Convoy won&#8217;t be the last. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DK9wM5YsVAR\/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Others will follow<\/a>, whether on foot, by car, or by sea. Some will be turned back, while others will break through.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"775\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/e8236454-land-march-to-gaza-mey-680tall.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-70205\" style=\"width:348px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/e8236454-land-march-to-gaza-mey-680tall.png 680w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/e8236454-land-march-to-gaza-mey-680tall-263x300.png 263w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/e8236454-land-march-to-gaza-mey-680tall-298x340.png 298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2025\/06\/15\/why-israels-shock-and-awe-has-proven-its-power-but-lost-the-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Greenpeace Acts in Solidarity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>At Greenpeace, we recognize that the fight for environmental justice is deeply intertwined with the struggles for human rights, social justice, and racial justice.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>What\u2019s happening in Gaza is not merely a political crisis. <\/strong>The conflict in Gaza also poses significant environmental implications. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/climate-change\/war-warming-emissions-from-conflict-in-gaza-already-higher-than-what-36-countries-territories-emit-in-a-year?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Current emissions<\/a> from military operations have already exceeded the annual greenhouse gas output of 36 countries and territories. When accounting for emissions linked to pre-war military fortifications and the projected emissions from post-war reconstruction, the total exceeds 32.2 million tonnes of CO\u2082 equivalent. That\u2019s more than the annual emissions of 102 countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Beyond carbon metrics, the widespread destruction of residential areas, water infrastructure, agricultural land, and essential services underscores the environmental toll of sustained military action. This devastation has displaced millions, forcing them to survive in makeshift shelters amid public health risks and hazardous debris. These conditions represent a systematic erosion of basic human life. They unfold largely out of view, hidden by geopolitical forces that benefit from silence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>We are with those who refuse to look away. We are with those who speak out, organize, and resist. We are in solidarity with the people of Gaza, and we support the Sumud Convoy <strong>because the wall is cracking. Because Gaza is still standing. Because steadfastness cannot be starved. Because genocide cannot be unseen. Because the world, once blindfolded, is beginning to see.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>And once we see, we must make a choice.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What You Can Do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/al-soumoud-convoy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Follow<\/a> and share<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newarab.com\/news\/tunisian-land-convoy-pushes-ahead-break-gaza-blockade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> updates<\/a> from the Sumud Convoy on social media<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Donate to frontline organizations providing direct support in Gaza<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Join calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the siege<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Speak out, even when it\u2019s hard, especially then<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>This isn\u2019t just about Gaza. It\u2019s about what kind of world we want to live in.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong><em>Solidarity is a verb. <\/em><\/strong><strong>So, let\u2019s act.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Gaza needs your voice.<br><br>Follow us now and be part of the movement that\u2019s shaking the world.<br><br>We\u2019re documenting a historic global uprising.<br><br>\ud83c\udfa5 Live scenes<br>\ud83d\udcf7 Powerful images<br>\ud83d\udce2 Protest updates <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R0RszXLOxl\">pic.twitter.com\/R0RszXLOxl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Global March To Gaza (@globalmarchgaza) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/globalmarchgaza\/status\/1934303604284006434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p><strong>*<\/strong>Nakba = The Nakba, meaning &#8220;catastrophe&#8221; in Arabic, refers to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which included the destruction of Palestinian society and the loss of their homeland. This event is commemorated annually on Nakba Day, typically on May 15th.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In May 2025, something moved against the tide of silence. The Sumud Convoy to Gaza, a coalition of grassroots activists, medics, organizers, journalists, and concerned citizens, set out from Cairo with a clear purpose: to break the siege, bring aid to starving civilians, bear witness to genocide, and confront the world about its complicity and the information siege orchestrated by the state of Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":70195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"Breaking the Siege: The Madleen and Global March to Gaza","p4_og_description":"In May 2025, something moved against the tide of silence. The Sumud Convoy to Gaza, a coalition of grassroots activists, medics, organizers, journalists, and concerned citizens, set out from Cairo with a clear purpose: to break the siege, bring aid to starving civilians, bear witness to genocide, and confront the world about its complicity and the information siege orchestrated by the state of Israel.","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2025\/06\/7f22df42-dont-trump-canada-website-background-2160-x-1112-px.jpg","p4_og_image_id":"70195","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[29,33,123],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-70193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-work","tag-indigenous","tag-peacefulprotest","tag-racialjustice","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70193"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70864,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70193\/revisions\/70864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70193"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=70193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}