Activists and parliamentarians gathered in Brussels on Wednesday for the inaugural Global Sumud Parliamentary Congress, culminating in participants signing the Brussels Declaration, which calls for the establishment of a humanitarian maritime corridor verified by the United Nations and in line with international law, as access to Gaza by land and sea remains constrained by the Israeli blockade.

The gathering is preceded by flotilla of at least 40 boats that set sail from Barcelona, Spain on April 15, heading to Gaza, with participants from multiple countries including Indonesia.

Activists have been trying to send flotillas carrying aid to Gaza trying to break the Israeli blockade since 2010, but have also been raided by Israeli forces before reaching the territory. A flotilla last year carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg among others that was launched in response to reports of famine in Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces, with the crew members were later deported from Israel.

Maimon Herawati, an Indonesian activist and member of the Global Peace Convoy Indonesia currently sailing in the Mediterranean Sea toward Gaza, said the flotilla was a civil society effort as governments around the world had failed to restrain Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“When those in power remain silent, it would have failed to stop genocide. And when those in power became silent, it becomes a moral responsibility for ordinary people to act,” Maimon said for the gathering in Brussels on Wednesday, while on a flotilla boat in the Mediterranean Sea.

Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) chairman for foreign relations, said the Brussels gathering should serve as a momentum to strengthen global resolve to stop Israeli aggression in Gaza, hand in hand with diplomatic efforts by governments.

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