Dutch activists who signed on to the so-called Global Sumud Flotilla — a Gaza “aid” mission that managed to launch with little more than a symbolic stash of supplies — are now fuming that their own government dared to charge them for the trip home after Israel detained and deported them.
The activists, who framed their effort as resistance against “genocide,” insist they “risk[ed] their lives,” were “kidnapped,” and therefore shouldn’t have to pay for the flights arranged by their own embassy.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry says it made a “rare exception” in booking their tickets and made clear from the start that, like every other citizen who receives consular assistance, they’d have to reimburse the costs. One activist, Roos Ykema, was billed €526 (approximately $610) for a flight routed through Madrid, which she says she won’t pay because she was “forcibly deported” by Israel. Invoices show that several activists told Dutch officials they wanted to go home “as soon as possible.”
They weren’t alone. Nineteen Swiss participants have also refused to pay, appealing bills ranging from 300 to 1,047 Swiss francs ($375-$1300) for prison visits, interventions with Israeli authorities, and travel home.
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Meanwhile, the flotilla itself — marketed as a brave civilian push to “break the siege” on Gaza — collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. Israeli naval forces intercepted 50 boats in early October, many owned or financed by what Israeli officials say is a Hamas front company. Documents recovered in Gaza tie senior flotilla organizers directly to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, a group Israel designated a terrorist organization in 2021 for acting as Hamas’s de facto foreign operations arm.
Among those organizers: figures overseeing Hamas-linked sectors in Europe, including a UK-based operator responsible for recruiting flotilla crews and a Spain-based executive running Cyber Neptune, the company controlling dozens of boats in Greta Thunberg’s flotilla, Israel’s foreign ministry stated bluntly: “These ships are secretly owned by Hamas.”
Despite the flotilla carrying less aid than a single truck — while more than 1,200 trucks a week have entered Gaza through approved crossings — activists rejected proposals from Italy and Israel to deliver their cargo safely. Israel said the refusal revealed the flotilla’s real purpose: not relief, but provocation.
Thunberg herself was intercepted in June, filmed reacting for cameras, and was later accused of mimicking being handcuffed — a pattern critics note mirrors earlier staged detentions. The IDF described the voyage as a “selfie flotilla,” noting that passengers were given water and sandwiches before being returned home.
Israel’s stance remains unchanged: the naval blockade is legal, and attempts to breach it — especially aboard Hamas-owned boats — will be stopped.
