A Letter from the Global Sumud Flotilla

Solidarity Must Become Tangible

Daniel Müller reflects on joining the Global Sumud Flotilla 2026, the violence he experienced at sea and the hope he carries back to Tamera. His testimony is a call for nonviolent resistance, human connection and communities that embody alternatives to war.

By Daniel Müller, 29/5/2026

Dear friends,

The news coming out of Palestine over the last two years has often left me with a deep, paralyzing sense of powerlessness. I absorbed the horror without finding the words or actions for what it stirred within me. To break out of this passivity, I followed the call to place my privilege, my body and my practical knowledge as a sailor at the service of humanity and to join the Global Sumud Flotilla 2026.

In Barcelona, I met an extraordinary group of politically engaged people from over 40 countries. Together, under immense time pressure, we readied the boats – sustained by an unmistakable political will, moral clarity and radical nonviolence. When we finally set sail in April toward Gaza on our boat, the Arkham, it was incredibly exciting. On our way from Barcelona, with a stopover in Sicily and onward to Crete, we truly grew together as a crew across all cultural and religious backgrounds, and as an entire flotilla learning how to act together at sea. At the same time, we were all fully aware of how dangerous this mission was.

On April 29, 100 nautical miles west of Crete in international waters, the brutal reality of state violence nevertheless caught us by surprise. Speedboats carrying special forces approached out of the darkness and opened fire on us with rubber bullets. I was hit in the thigh. When soldiers boarded our boat, we were bound and forced onto a prison ship. They destroyed the Arkham, leaving it unmaneuverable and abandoned to the sea. The following day and a half on the prison ship was deeply dehumanizing, marked by naked violence and brutality. I was dragged across the deck, kicked and slammed headfirst against a container, causing me to lose consciousness.

What we experienced is heavy to bear – and yet it is only a fraction of what the people in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon endure every single day. The army could not stop all the ships that night. The remaining flotilla regrouped, but was attacked with even more violence in May. Reports from comrades document broken bones, torture and systematic sexual violence in Israeli military prisons. The silence of the international community turns these crimes into a “terrifying new normalcy.”

According to the International Court of Justice, there is a plausible case that Israel is committing genocide. This system is militarily and diplomatically shielded by the US, China and also by Germany, which confuses historical responsibility with the unconditional covering of war crimes. Under international law (ARSIWA), these states are guilty of complicity.

Yet a system based on industrial oppression eventually consumes itself. Today, we are witnessing the internal collapse of this apparatus: a historic wave of trauma and suicide among Israeli soldiers (“moral injury”), a massive brain drain of over 100,000 highly educated citizens leaving the country and an imploding economy. The system is no longer self-sustaining. What stands against this dying apparatus of violence is the indestructible power of human connection.

When I was able to make my first phone call from the hospital after my arrest, I called my beloved community in Tamera. I heard that at that exact moment, the community had gathered for a Political Café to inform one another about what had happened with the Freedom Flotilla and to hold a prayer for me. This touched me deeply and gave me strength.

Solidarity does not exhaust itself in pity – it becomes tangible where we organize for one another and act unmistakably. I call for four pillars of nonviolent resistance:

• Nonviolent direct action: blockades outside arms factories and corporations that profit from the occupation.
• Public disruption of consensus: mass demonstrations against media and political silence.
• Consistent boycott: no money for companies that support apartheid.
• Institutional divestment: withdrawal of funds and pension funds from the war machine.
• And beyond all kinds of political activity, let us work on alternatives where we explore how decentralized communities can become role models for a nonviolent future.

I do not return with bitterness, but with more hope – even though the physical and psychological scars of this attack will take time to heal. The dominant narrative is fracturing. More and more people are opening their eyes and hearts to the Network of Life. In the end, it is our reconnection with the sacred unity of life that will bring about change.

“O povo unido, jamais será vencido.” – The people united will never be defeated.

In solidarity,

Daniel Müller