Photo by Park Han-sol
“Beyond the blockade, toward solidarity and connection!”
“I’ve learned that crossing the borderless sea can break blockades and forge solidarity and connection. Meeting across barriers, shattering blockades—that is the purpose of this voyage.” (From a letter by Haecho, ahead of her Gaza voyage).
On Wed., Oct. 8, at 11:40 AM, Haecho’s boat, the ‘Alaa Al-Najjar’ was seized. Around the same time, all nine ships of the ‘Thousand Madleens to Gaza’ humanitarian flotilla were seized by Israeli forces. All activists, journalists, and medical personnel aboard the flotilla were arrested and detained in an Israeli desert security prison. Two days later, on Oct. 10, Haecho was released under voluntary deportation and, as she said, she is returning to us. However, our demand has been not only Haecho’s release but also the safe and swift release of all activists from the flotilla.
The Lee Jae-myung administration has worked to secure the release of their citizen Haecho. But that alone is not enough. South Korea remains among the 35 countries out of 193 worldwide that still do not recognize Palestine as a state. Korean companies like Hanwha, Samsung, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), and HD Hyundai are collaborating with Israeli firms and contributing to the genocide of Palestine. Korea National Oil Corporation is also involved in securing exploration rights for Gaza Strip gas fields. The Lee Jae-myung administration must not only strongly condemn the Israeli government’s blatant disregard of international law and the illegal abduction of its own citizen, but also signal the possibility of halting cooperation with Israel. The Colombian government has ordered the expulsion of Israeli diplomats and terminated its free trade agreement with Israel. The Turkish prosecutor’s office has expressed its intent to investigate whether Israel violated international law by arresting over 20 Turkish citizens, specifically regarding deprivation of liberty and seizure of means of transport. The UN has already defined Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip as genocide on Sept. 16.
According to accounts from activists released from Israeli prisons, including those aboard the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla,’ they were denied water and food, subjected to beatings, sexual harassment, psychological terror, threats, and other forms of abuse and torture. Their testimonies demand that we, the international community, finally heed Palestine’s long-neglected suffering and its yearning for independence, liberation, and peace. Even before this, over 11,100 Palestinians have been detained by Israel under the pretext of ‘security,’ and they have suffered abuse and torture. During their decades of imprisonment, they would have had to endure the noise of fighter jets bombing Gaza. Those whom the Israeli government labels ‘terrorists’ are those fighting for Palestine’s independence and liberation. They are people who stand against imperialist siege, blockade, and extermination policies. They are people who stand for the survival of non-humans who don’t have a voice.
Jeju was no different. After liberation in 1945, independence and liberation were thwarted by the US military government. Branded a ‘Red Island,’ it became a target of imperialist massacre. Young people died under detention and torture, and 84 villages were ‘erased’ in scorched-earth operations. Those who survived the massacres became bereaved families, yet even speaking was ‘blocked’ and ‘blockaded,’ leaving them unable to dream of ‘connection.’ Jeju was another Palestine, and Palestine is another Jeju.
Yet Jeju is becoming an island that exacerbates the threat of war due to the naval base and aerospace facilities. Warships depart from the Jeju Naval Base in Gangjeong Village to conduct war exercises on the high seas, while American strategic bombers fly over the high seas south of Jeju. There has been talk of building runways usable by U.S. strategic bombers if the Jeju Second Airport is built. Hanwha Systems, which collaborates with Israeli arms companies, is nearing completion of a space center in Jeju’s special groundwater management zone in the central mountain area, where it will produce satellites that will become eyes and ears for war.
In this situation, a peace activist departed from Gangjeong to “break through the blockade imposed by capital and military might through the solidarity of countless people.” And she is now returning to us, her final destination. Hundreds of peace activists from around the world sailed to Gaza carrying humanity’s collective yearning for peace, seeking solidarity and connection, and they exposed the reality there. Now it is our turn to respond.
_ The United States and Israel must immediately and completely cease the occupation and massacre of Palestine!
_ Israel must lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip and cease the illegal seizure of civilian vessels and unlawful arrests!
_ The South Korean government must strongly protest Israel’s illegal abductions, arrests, and mass killings!
_ South Korean government agencies and corporations such as Hanwha, Samsung, KAI, HD Hyundai, and Korea National Oil Corporation must immediately cease all cooperation with Israeli government entities and companies complicit in the genocide of Palestine!
_ Jeju politicians and Governor Oh Young-hoon must not remain silent on Israel’s genocide and the illegal abduction of a Gangjeong peace activist!
_ Hanwha, which collaborates with Israeli war weapons companies and contributes to the massacre of Palestinians, must leave Jeju!
_ Gaza’s liberation is everyone’s liberation! Palestine’s liberation is everyone’s liberation!
_ Free Free Palestine!
Oct. 11, 2025
From the Edges, Gangjeong Mission Station, Gangjeong Friends, Association of Gangjeong Villagers Against Jeju Naval Base, Gangjeong Peace Network, The Frontiers, Labor Party Jeju Provincial Party, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Jeju Branch,Byeopssi School, People Making Jeju a Demilitarized Peace Island, St. Francis Peace Center, Songaksan Alddreu People, Civic Exercise Gathering, People Opposing Space Militarization and Rocket Launches, Justice Party Jeju Provincial Party, Jeju Gachi, Jeju Green Party, Jeju Dark Tours, Jeju Women’s Association, Jeju Association for Women’s Rights, Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-government and Environmental Preservation, Jeju Queer Pride Organizing Committee, Progressive Party Jeju Provincial Party, Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea, Hot Pink Dolphins, Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center
(Translation by Kaia ‘Curry’ Vereide)
A photo by Licky Rooney (Lee Gil-hoon)
For the original Korean text and more photos, go to https://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/UvsW/172
