Setting Sail for Gaza
A new Underline short documentary follows the crew of The Kate as they leave Bristol on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition voyage bound for Gaza.
On 17 August, supporters gathered at Hannover Quay in Bristol to see off The Kate, one of two boats taking part in a new Freedom Flotilla Coalition mission bound for Gaza.
The boat left Bristol Harbour at the beginning of a journey. Travelling alongside its sister vessel, Handala II, the mission intends to challenge Israel’s naval blockade and, according to its organisers and crew, carry humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in Gaza.
Underline was there to film the departure and speak with those preparing to make the journey.
Among them was Speit, a Palestinian-Irish rapper and spoken-word artist who explained why he felt a personal duty to take part. We also spoke with surgeon and author Dr Ang Swee Chai, who reflected on growing up as a Christian Zionist and the experiences that transformed her understanding of Palestine.
Dr Ang first travelled to Beirut as a volunteer surgeon in 1982, working at Gaza Hospital near the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. She later documented her experiences and political awakening in her book From Beirut to Jerusalem.
The departure drew a large crowd to the harbourside, where supporters gathered to hear speeches, share messages and wave off the crew. The atmosphere combined celebration with an awareness of the risks ahead: previous flotilla missions have been intercepted before reaching Gaza.
Since leaving Bristol, The Kate has travelled through Kinsale and onwards to France. In an update recorded aboard the boat, reporter Fionn Macarthur described difficult conditions at sea, including winds above Force 7, while documentary filmmaker Alfie Warren-Knight explained how the crew plans to document the mission from port to port.
Underline’s short documentary brings together footage from Hannover Quay and conversations with the people taking part in the voyage.
The film will be released on Underline on 18 September.
