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For immediate release September 12, 2025
Photos follow release
TOLEDOAN ON GAZA AID FLOTILLA ISRAELIS HAVE STRUCK TWICE
Responding to the firebomb attacks by Israel on two boats in the Gaza aid flotilla now in port at Tunis, Toledoan and Marine Corps veteran, Philip Tottenham said, “Nothing Israel does anymore is surprising. The total deprivation of humanity the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank continue to endure at the hands of Israel and the U.S. is unparalleled in modern history. Our governments are failures and so we must do what they won’t: STAND UP TO THE AXIS OF EVIL FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY. AMERICANS ARE IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST AND DESPERATELY NEED TO WAKE UP AND ACT FAST.”
So far, no one has been injured in the attacks.
Tottenham is aboard the 46-foot “Veterans Boat,” Ohwayla. The ketch is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF)*, the largest civilian maritime attempt to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza. The Veterans Boat and other craft left Barcelona August 31. They are now in Tunis meeting other contingents, preparing to depart on or about September 12. More boats will join them en route to Sicily.
The GSF is independent of any government or political party, building on decades of Palestinian resistance and international solidarity like the Freedom Flotilla Coalition which has attempted to break Israel’s siege on Gaza nine times since 2008, sending a total of 37 boats. Five boats successfully ran the blockade in 2008, but none have since. Today’s GSF consists of over 50 boats from 40 countries.
Tottenham, 47, is a member of Veterans For Peace and a descendant of the “Old 300” original Texas settlers. This summer, he originated the 40-day Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza in which over 800 people participated.
Explaining his motivation for going to Gaza, he said, “Nobody’s life is more or less important than anyone’s. My ancestors were white settler colonizers and I vowed to do whatever I can to prevent another ethnic cleansing of indigenous people by white settler colonizers. We have to usher in a better world where cooperation and compassion lead the way.”
Raised a conservative Christian, Tottenham’s beliefs began to change in 2010, but it wasn’t until Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2014 that he began to understand the human toll of the Israeli occupation and illegal blockade of Gaza. In Spring 2023, he followed a calling to the West Bank and what he witnessed “broke my heart so much, I took a sledgehammer to the apartheid wall in Bethlehem.”
Other crew members on the veterans’ boat and their former branches of service are Greg Stoker, Army, from Texas; Jessica Clotfelter, USMC, Illinois; Zuleyka Rivera, USMC, New York; McCall Nichols, Army, California; Edward Doogan, Air Force, Pennsylvania; Zue Jernstedt, Army, West Virginia. Some are members of Veterans For Peace and some are members of About Face.
* “Sumud” represents a Palestinian cultural value and political strategy that emphasizes resilience against oppression.
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