An activist who participated in the Gaza Sumud Flotilla admitted in an interview that the flotilla wasn’t primarily about bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Instead, the purpose was to engage the IDF and draw the world’s attention to Gaza.

Rosa Martinez, an anti-Israel activist from New York City and co-organizer of the vessel Adalah, said in a Palestinian Youth Movement NYC Instagram video that the mission of the flotilla had been distorted in the media as a humanitarian mission.

“I think that’s kind of flattening what it is that we’re doing,” he explained. “Yes, there is aid. The aid that we have isn’t sufficient to the structural issues in a post quote-on-quote ceasefire Gaza … I feel like directly confronting the Israeli occupation forces at sea as we try to break this 20-year genocidal siege … is a historic responsibility.”

The goals, according to Martinez, were “engaging with the IOF directly, putting the spotlight back on Gaza, because it has fallen off the headlines.”

Anti-Israel activists frequently refer to the IDF as the IOF, with the “O” standing for “occupation.”

Martinez was arrested by the IDF a week ago when his boat was intercepted. He said he was held for four days, which was a “waking nightmare” but “a fraction of a fraction” of what he said Gazans had to endure.

In a confrontation with pro-Israel activist Rachel Herman in December 2023, Martinez said that Oct. 7 was “one of the greatest days of my life” and “one of the greatest days in the history of decolonization.” At the time, he was wearing a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine pin. The PFLP is a designated terrorist organization.