😱 Israel Just ATTACKED the Collective West | Eugene Doyle

## Introduction The seizure and brutal interdiction of the Sumud Flotilla has exposed more than a violent episode on the high seas; it has illuminated an emerging architecture of impunity in which state violence can be projected far beyond borders with little consequence — and, crucially, with the tacit cooperation or willful silence of allied governments. The conversation about this event, featuring the views of Eugene Doyle and other participants, frames the raid not as an isolated military action but as a deliberate political message: if a state’s foreign policy is prioritized above the basic protections owed to citizens, then the social contract frays. That message matters because it reframes recent events in the Mediterranean as a test case for how Western democracies — from EU capitals to distant Commonwealth governments — will respond when their citizens, unarmed and participating in nonviolent protest, are treated as legitimate targets by a foreign military. ## Western backing and Greek role A striking element that emerges from the discussion is the degree to which Western institutions and specific states appear to have been complicit in or at least permissive of the operation. The Sumud Flotilla was intercepted roughly 1,000 kilometers from its destination, well outside the territorial waters of any state, yet it was boarded by multiple warships, escorted to a makeshift “prison” ship, and in several instances transferred into Greek custody. The conversation places special emphasis on Greece’s conduct: when the flotilla sent out distress signals, those pleas were reportedly ignored; once detainees were handed over, Greek forces treated them as criminals, with guns trained and strict controls on movement. This chain of events implies coordination. It is difficult to imagine four warships, a prison ship, drones and aircraft operating in the Mediterranean without the attention, awareness, and likely cooperation of regional maritime authorities, NATO-affiliated surveillance, or the European coast guard mechanisms that patrol migration routes. The conversation voices the suspicion that such an operation could not have unfolded without at least implicit clearance from relevant Western actors — an interpretation consistent with the observation that the incident proceeds as if checked by a multilateral pass. Whether that pass was political, institutional, or merely a reflexive silence, the practical effect is the same: Israel projected force into a maritime area traditionally under European oversight and met with little resistance from the very states whose citizens were affected. Eugene Doyle frames this not simply as a logistical coordination but as a political decision: Western governments, by acquiescing or by silence, effectively endorsed a precedent that normalizes aggressive interdiction of civil society actors on the high seas. That precedent has consequences beyond this single episode; it suggests that allied militaries can act extraterritorially with reduced diplomatic cost when the target is a protest aligned with causes inconvenient to prevailing strategic commitments. ## Citizens abandoned by their states One of the most troubling themes of the conversation is the extent to which detained activists — including nationals of New Zealand, Australia, and countries across Europe and the Anglosphere — were left without consular protection or support. The flotilla included representatives from some 60 countries; when activists were offloaded to Crete or, in a small number of cases, taken to Israel, their accounts describe being stripped of possessions, denied basic care, and in several instances physically assaulted. According to those who were on board and to coverage summarized in the dialogue, some were left barely clothed, without money, phones, or meaningful consular access. The New Zealand experience is presented as especially stark. The Prime Minister’s office released formulaic statements about citizens’ safety being a priority, yet consular action was minimal and immediate humanitarian support came largely from local activists and other states, such as Turkey, rather than from Wellington. That disconnect between rhetoric and action is framed as a betrayal of the fundamental obligations of the state: if citizenship is to mean anything beyond tax liabilities and voting rights, it must include protection against foreign aggression. The conversation invokes classic political theory — the social contract and the duty of the sovereign to avenge or repair wrongs against citizens — to underline how political legitimacy is eroded when governments fail to carry out that responsibility. This abandonment has practical implications. First, it sends a chilling signal to domestic activists: dissent that transgresses certain geopolitical red lines may place citizens at risk without the guarantee of protection. Second, it encourages escalation by the intercepting power; if governments treat abuses against their nationals as minor incidents, the aggressor gains reassurance that future operations can be repeated with impunity. Finally, perceived abandonment corrodes the moral authority of the state at home and abroad, weakening institutions that rely on popular trust. ## Piracy double standards and silence The conversation repeatedly labels the operation a contemporary act of piracy. That term is intentionally provocative but analytically potent. Under international law, piracy is a crime of universal jurisdiction when conducted on the high seas; boarding, seizure, and violent mistreatment of civilian vessels in international waters are textbook elements of piratical activity. Yet the actors, methods, and legal outcomes of the Sumud incident reveal a double standard. When irregular actors or states outside favored alliances seize vessels or detain migrants, they are accused of criminality and sanctioned. When a close ally — itself a major security partner — executes a far-reaching interdiction against a civilian flotilla, the reaction is often muted, framed as a security operation, or justified on national-interest grounds. This selective outrage is what the participants in the discussion find most galling. The silence of mainstream Western media compared with the broad attention devoted to other maritime incidents is not merely a journalistic failing; it is part of an ecosystem that normalizes exceptional measures by certain states while amplifying violations by others. The result is a normative erosion in which governing practices are normalized when practiced by some actors and condemned when practiced by others — a binary that corrodes international law’s universality. Moreover, when allied states treat the incident as a non-event or offer perfunctory concern rather than investigation and diplomacy, they entrench the very asymmetries that feed geopolitical resentment and delegitimize legal norms. The conversation underscores that this double standard is not abstract: it has human consequences. The sabotage of civilian vessels — cutting fuel lines, slashing sails, smashing navigation and communications gear — and the transfer of detainees into cramped shipping containers are details that should, under a rules-based order, have triggered rapid inquiries, consular access, and demands for redress. Instead, the response was uneven and, for many observers, cowardly. ## Crackdown on dissent and rule of law Beyond the specifics of the flotilla lies a broader trend the conversation highlights: the criminalization and externalization of dissent, combined with erosion of legal protections at home. The participants argue that the same techniques used to police and deny rights to migrants — offshore interception, indefinite detention, denial of legal access — are now being turned inward against citizens who challenge dominant policy narratives. That inversion is politically consequential. When the tools of border control and extraterritorial coer

Israel Just ATTACKED the Collective West | Eugene Doyle The attack on the global Sumud Flotilla was a deliberate attack on the citizens of western countries, including the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The most shameful part of this is of course the implicit cooperation of those very governments—especially Greece but the EU more generally— silently nodding off on Israel committing piracy and acts of war in international waters. This marks the first time that Israel projects its military power deep into the waters off the cost of Europe and it sets a most dangerous precedent for all citizens of Europe: If Israel wills it, you are going to be beaten and abducted, wherever you are, and your governments are going to help us do so. I'm joined today by Eugene Doyle of Solidarity to discuss the Sumud Flotilla outrage—or the lack thereof in western media. Links: Solidarity: https://www.solidarity.co.nz Neutrality Studies substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com (Opt in for Academic Section from your profile settings: https://pascallottaz.substack.com/s/academic) Merch: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourthwall.com Donation: https://neutralitystudies.com/donate Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:15 Sumud flotilla raid and abuse 00:06:06 Western backing and Greek role 00:09:13 Fate of the detained activists 00:12:53 Citizens abandoned by their states 00:20:44 Rainbow Warrior and lost sovereignty 00:31:05 Piracy double standards and silence 00:33:18 Public opinion and wider fallout 00:37:12 Crackdown on dissent and rule of law 00:45:33 Activists courage and closing #Pascal Welcome back, everybody, to Neutrology Studies. My name is Pascal Lottaz, and I am joined today again by my friend and colleague, Eugene Doyle, the host of solidarity.co.nz. Eugene, welcome back. #Eugene Doyle Hey, great to be back, Pascal. #Pascal Great having you. And we want to actually discuss this very sad topic of the Gaza genocide. And the thing that happened recently, that we've had the Samoud Flotilla trying to go and reach Gaza, but then they were kidnapped on the high seas right outside of Greece. And all of these, I think it was about 170 activists, were killed. But you will give me the details now. They were taken away and beaten and whatnot. And it's all of this done by Israel in international waters, far, far away from Israel or Gaza. And you wrote several articles about this. -- 1 of 15 -- And I just want to say this at the beginning. Everybody, Eugene has this wonderful page where you can find this article. You wrote several articles, the latest one coming out today: “Did the New Zealand Prime Minister Just Commit Treason by Ignoring the Terrorist Attack on His Own Citizens?” There were New Zealand citizens on there, and you are, of course, also a New Zealand citizen. Can you give us the rundown of what actually occurred, how this is now going down, and your perspective on it? #Eugene Doyle Sure. Well, okay, so the Global Samoud Flotilla is an international movement, and there’s, gosh, at least 60 countries represented on it and over 60 vessels. And what they’re trying to do—absolute heroes of our time—they’re sailing to Gaza to open a humanitarian corridor to bring aid and support to the besieged Palestinian people who are undergoing this terrible genocide. So that was the mission. And they were heading towards Gaza. They knew that the Israelis at some point would intercept them, but they were really shocked when, 1,000 kilometers out in international waters— and I’d encourage people to look at things like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, etc.— It was an absolute act of piracy. He had this major assault on this peace flotilla. So he had about four warships, a prison ship, planes, drones, and all these Israeli stormtroopers who raided the ships on the night of the 29th of April. Over 20 of the ships were actually intercepted and boarded, and others got away. But what actually happened was quite extraordinary, where they stormed aboard, took the activists off the ships, put them on a prison ship. And then, shockingly, what they did was they sabotaged the ships of the peace flotilla that they got a hold of. So they slashed sails, they cut fuel lines, they smashed up all the navigation equipment and the comms equipment, stole a whole bunch of stuff, as the Israelis always do. And then they took these activists who were on board the prison ship, which had four shipping containers that they used as a prison, but they had so many prisoners that they actually put about a third of them on the deck. And then over the next three days, dozens of them had the hell beaten out of them. And if you look at the images on my site, some of these beatings were, you know, really very, very savage. That guy there, Jay O'Connor, he's a New Zealander. And, you know, as you can see, he was kicked in the head. He was savagely kicked in the ribs and the kidneys and all of this. This, you know, this was an absolute terrorist attack. And what I thought was interesting was that our Prime Minister, that bald chap on the right there, Christopher Luxon, actually did nothing about it. It was quite extraordinary. You know, like, you have the most serious state terrorist attack on New Zealand citizens since the 1985 French bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour, and our Prime Minister does -- 2 of 15 -- absolutely nothing. Our government, these New Zealand citizens, when they were dumped onto Crete after the Israelis had finished with them, the New Zealand government told them they had to fend for themselves. All the government did was put out a press release saying the safety of New Zealanders is of paramount importance. But having spoken to the Samud activists themselves, the government did nothing. These people arrived, some of them had barely any clothes because they'd been ripped out of their beds at night. They didn't have money, they didn't have phones. And if it wasn't for the kindness of strangers, they would have been in an even worse state because our government abandoned them. And I just thought, that in itself is just such an incredible story because you think, how can this be? #Pascal It is. Eugene, I'm also so glad that you're covering this so closely because it shows how the genocide actually works. You know, we are led to believe that the genocide is the work of Israel and maybe, you know, Mr. Netanyahu, you know, two, three really bad and evil men, right? And if it wasn't for them, then we would have a paradise on earth. No, no. The genocide is a deliberate civilizational project of what we call the collective West or the political West. And it works by all of our governments being in cahoots with the people who pull the trigger. You give them the trigger, you give them the weapons, you give them everything, you give them the political support. And when somebody tries to do something about it, you collectively make sure it never happens. And the Samud Flotilla is, of course, a citizen initiative, a non-violent citizen initiative. And we now see how all the way to New Zealand, the New Zealand government is giving its thumbs up to this being dismantled by silence on the one hand. And I just cannot imagine, I cannot imagine that a foreign service of a Western country would not by default intervene. They would try to give consular help because that's the whole point. Like the consulate, the New Zealand consulate and diplomatic, the embassy in Athens, where this happens, should, of course, be highly alarmed and try to immediately start doing something. If they don't, I can only imagine that the word was out not to do that because that was their job. #Eugene Doyle You're absolutely right, because the Samud flotilla, when they were intercepted, were just outside Greek territorial waters. So they were in international waters. They put out an SOS to the Greek Navy, who ignored them. So it was very clear that the Greeks, who have this terrible government, were coordinating with the Israelis. And in fact, when the Israelis transferred the Samud people to Greek ships to bring them to Crete, the Greek Navy treated them like criminals. You know, there were guns trained on them. They were put on buses and weren't allowed to get off the buses. There were people who needed to be urgently taken to hospital because of the terrible beatings that they had received. And it all happened incredibly slowly. And if it wasn't for the help of activists, Greek -- 3 of 15 -- activists on the island of Crete, it would have been far worse. So, yes, you're entirely right there, Pascal, that genocide is a collective effort of Western countries. And to my enormous shame, my country is one of them. #Pascal Hey, very brief intermission because I was recently banned from YouTube. And although I'm back, this can happen anytime again. So please consider subscribing not only here, but to my mailing list on Substack. That's pascallottaz.substack.com. The link's going to be in the description below. And now back to the video. How is this now developing, actually? I mean, the last two, I think, that were actually then kidnapped to Israel, right? They were brought illegally to Israel, where they were put on some form of show trial. And, you know, the majority of people were put on a march of shame in Greece, where Israel somehow managed to tell the Greek authorities to put shame on them and whatnot, and to mistreat them, as you just described. But then two of them, the two leaders, they were kidnapped to Israel itself. Where do we stand right now? Where are the individuals who took part in the Samud flotilla? How are they doing? #Eugene Doyle Right. Well, fortunately, the two who were kidnapped and taken to Israel have now been released. So that's one good piece of news. And I must say, in contrast to the woeful, shameful treatment our people received at the hands of the New Zealand government, at least the Turkish government put on an aircraft, had planes, food, clothing, medical assistance, counseling, support for these people who had been tortured and, you know, subjected to horrible things. I'll give you an example of what the Israelis did. They did things like, for the people on the deck, when the nights were cold, they flooded the decks with salt water so that the people couldn't sleep at night. And they were inside these containers, shipping containers. They were letting off these flash bangs, and they were getting people to line up and putting them in stress positions. And then they'd grab someone and beat the hell out of them. You know, this is the Israeli army, this disgusting Israeli occupation force. And these, our leaders tell us, are our friends and allies. #Pascal Obviously not. And what we are seeing here is also how Western governments are now using the forces that had been unleashed already on migrants, right? How you then treat your own people — European citizens and New Zealand citizens and Australians. And not that it makes a difference. Everybody should, of course, be treated with dignity and equally, whether they are Europeans or not, whether they are North Africans or not, whether they're Palestinians or not. But you just see how now we are getting to the point where this empire of genocide is starting to use the weapons of genocide against its own people. And the methods are slowly being turned inward. -- 4 of 15 -- And this is clearly an escalation of what happened last time. Half a year ago, I want to say, or almost a year ago, when the last Zimut flotilla tried to reach Gaza, they intercepted them on the high sea, way, way closer to Gaza. And they did a similar—well, they didn't do anything as horrible as that. Actually, last time when they intercepted, they tried to broadcast everything on TV, saying like, oh, look, we are giving Greta Thunberg a sandwich. This is, you know, because we're the IDF, we are the good guys. We're giving people sandwiches. And they called it the