Bangla Press Desk: The Global Sumud Flotilla consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 people, among them parliamentarians, lawyers, and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. It is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war, to deliver food and medicine.
Shahidul Alam, Bangladesh’s distinguished photographer, educator, and human-rights activist, has stepped into history as the first Bangladeshi to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Global Media / Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza.
Leaving Dhaka for Italy in late September 2025, Alam set forth on a mission not merely to bear witness, but to break the information and media blackout surrounding Gaza and to challenge the longstanding Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.
In public statements and at a press conference at DrikPath Bhaban, he made it clear that the cause he is joining is deeply moral: “A genocide is happening right now,” he said, denouncing the killing of civilians and the complicity of Western powers. He declared that though he may be the first from Bangladesh, he carries “the love of all the people of Bangladesh with me,” and warned that if “we are defeated in this struggle, humanity itself will be defeated.”
In his recent Facebook post, he said, “This is Shahidul Alam from the upper deck of ‘Conscience Flotilla’, the largest of this wave of flotillas and the last one to sail. Storm warnings are coming in from the Greek authorities. We went through a storm last night. The captain increased speed so we could stay ahead of the storm. The storm and the lightning have gone. It has also stopped raining. We are further behind the rest of the flotilla. The ones in the front have already been attacked. We continue on our path to Gaza, undeterred by this intimidation. We will break the siege. Palestine will be free.”
Through this, Shahidul Alam has turned from observer into participant in a bold civil society effort. His journey embodies the idea that solidarity is not just expressed in thought or words, but in presence, action, and bearing witness, even where danger looms.
BP/ZE
.jpg)
