Sunday, May 24, 2026. Occupied Lenapehoking (New York City) – 15 U.S. humanitarians of the Global Sumud Flotilla arrived at the John F. Kennedy airport in Queens, New York City, on May 24, 2026.
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Pro-Palestine, anti-genocide New Yorkers went to the airport to welcome the 15 Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) activists.
I interviewed Sara Flounders, a member of the Workers World Party.
Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarians held a press conference at the airport. The statement was read by journalist Alex Colston.
Israel has approximately 10 thousand Indigenous Palestinian HOSTAGES in concentration camps where zionists torture and kill Palestinians.
A petition by the Palestinian Youth Movement says, in part, “While Israel has waged a genocide on Gaza – a parallel escalation has unfolded in the West Bank through violent laws, courts, and bureaucracies designed to make life unlivable. Amongst the most severe policies has been a brutal escalation of violence against Palestinian prisoners. As Israel moves forward in legalizing the execution of political prisoners, it is clear that Israel not only uses prisons as an instrument of control to instill fear in the collective Palestinian psyche— Israel is turning prisons into specialized death camps.” Click here to read the full petition and sign it.
On Saturday, May 23, 2026, Alex Colston said on X, “Request for Support. 15 U.S. delegates of the Global Sumud Flotilla will be returning to the United States at JFK airport on Sunday morning.”
Alex Colston added, “We are asking people to show up in support, as some participants have been detained for questioning, because of the groundless criminalization of the flotilla movement by the state department and federal authorities.”
On May 24, 2026, 6 activists were detained and questioned by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents upon arrival to the JFK airport. After they were released by CBP, the 15 humanitarians held a press conference.
While peaceful New Yorkers were waiting for the Global Sumud Flotilla activists, they were chanting. People were so happy when humanitarians arrived.
Some of the chants before and after activists arrived were: “Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Gaza, Gaza, Gaza,” “We will free Palestine, within our lifetime,” etc.
Workers World Party, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), etc. gathered at JFK to welcome the returned participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
On May 24, 2026, the Palestinian Youth Movement said, “TODAY: The PYM joined dozens of people at JFK International Airport to meet the members of the Global Sumud Flotilla arriving back in New York after their days-long detention in IOF prisons.
Here Alex Colston details the conditions Flotilla members faced. Colston has described violence abuse that have left his hands still scarred and numb. The key, he emphasizes here, is that the conditions they faced are a fraction of what tens of thousands of Palestinians face daily. Their message is united and simple: Israeli prisons must be eradicated immediately.
We will continue to support the Flotilla members in their courageous attempt to break the siege on Gaza and, heeding their call, will remain fixed on Gaza.”
Israel KIDNAPPED 428 Global Sumud Flotilla activists, including these 15 humanitarians, in International waters on May 18, 2026.
On May 19, 2026, the Global Sumud Flotilla said on its website globalsumudflotilla.org, “…hundreds of civilian participants abducted during yesterday’s illegal high-seas israeli naval assault are currently being forcibly transported by israeli occupying forces to a port in occupied Palestine.”
GSF added, “The naval vessel carrying our kidnapped participants—including doctors, journalists, and human rights defenders from over 40 nations.”
“The Global Sumud Flotilla demands the immediate, unconditional release of all our participants, alongside the more than 9,000 unjustly detained Palestinian political prisoners facing a codified regime of state-sanctioned terror. GSF also calls on world leaders to demand the release of the flotilla participants, release of the Palestinian political prisoners and hostages and an end to the genocide and blockade on Gaza,” said GSF on a press release.
The GSF added, “Given testimonies from the April 29th (2026) illegal abduction of GSF participants in international waters, detailing patterns of torture, severe physical abuse, and invasive sexual violence perpetrated by israeli occupation forces, we hold grave and immediate concerns for the physical safety and well-being of everyone illegally detained.”
On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, Israeli Minister of National Security, zionist, terrorist, war criminal Itamar Ben Gvir shared a video on social media with some of the KIDNAPPED humanitarians from the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were mistreated, held in a grueling stress position, and forced to listen to the zionist’s national anthem.
“This crime of abducting humanitarian activists from international waters, and torturing and humiliating them, activists who have been trying to break a cruel, terrorist siege imposed by an occupying and terrorist power and tolerated by the majority of the world’s governments, is a dark stain on the face of humanity,” said Pulitzer Prize winner, author of Forest of Noise, founder of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha, on May 20, 2026.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the Global Sumud Flotilla said, “Netanyahu’s performative outrage over Ben Gvir’s treatment of flotilla activists exposes the regime’s desperate attempt to control its own narrative while maintaining the same brutal system.” They added, “This isn’t about one minister — it’s about the entire colonial machine.”
What zionists did to the members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were KIDNAPPED by Israel, pales in comparison to what zionists have done to Indigenous Palestinians for over 78 years.
People in Gaza marched in support of the kidnapped humanitarians from the Global Sumud Flotilla, on May 20, 2026.
On Thursday, May 21, 2026, Alex Colston said on X, “Hi, thankfully, all of the people who sailed with GSF, myself included, were released this morning after extremely severe abuse and mistreatment by the Israelis, from the container ship prison boat to Ashdod port to Kitziot.
There is much more to report and say about our detainment, but I can say it’s worse than ive experienced across my times in Israeli custody.
If they can do these heinous things to us, just imagine what they can and been documented doing to Palestinians—every day and without accountability.
GSF participants spent the whole day giving legal testimony, getting full physicals and blood and urine testing, and receiving medical care. More soon. Will be taking and reporting testimonies and sharing more of my experience.”
Alex Colston is an independent journalist from Brooklyn, New York City. Rosa Martinez and Alex Colston were at least two of the humanitarians from New York City who were among the 428 activists Israel kidnapped from the Global Sumud Flotilla that was sailing to Gaza, Palestine.
Alex Colston said journalists should interview members of the Global Sumud Flotilla. I asked Rosa Martínez twice for an interview in Spanish, but Rosa refused.
Flights arriving at JFK Airport from Turkey—predominantly operated by Turkish Airlines—arrive at Terminal 1.
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Updated on May 26, 2026.
