Israel intercepts diverted Gaza aid boat with Greta Thunberg

0:02Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show, exclusive data from the London Standard reveals the cost of protests against China's super embassy. If built, it is thought that this embassy would be the largest embassy in Britain and would be China's largest diplomatic mission in Europe.

0:45But first, a boat of 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg, headed for Gaza, has been diverted to Israel. Those on board claim to have been kidnapped. Here's what Greta had to say. My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters. by the Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel. I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible. The British flagged yacht Modline, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the FFC, set sail from Italy on 1 May with an aim to break Israel's sea blockade and deliver urgent aid to people in Gaza.

1:39In a statement, the FFC accused Israel of forcibly intercepting the Maudlin and acting with total impunity. Joining us now is Asad Raymond, Executive Director of War on Want, a UK-based human rights organisation that has worked for decades in the occupied Palestinian territory. Asad, can you remind us why this ship set sail to Gaza in the first place? Well, as your listeners will know, Gaza is currently under a blockade, one of the most overcrowded strips of land in the world, which hosts 2.3 million Palestinians. We've seen Israel's war on Gaza, which has, of course, led to tens of thousands of deaths.

2:21And in recent weeks, millions of people are on the brink of starvation. Many international NGOs and the United Nations have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and blockaded all humanitarian food, water, medicine from entering the Gaza Strip. Despite countless calls by international NGOs, the International Red Cross, the United Nations institutions, the UN's human rights experts, and statements made by countless governments, Israel has refused to allow humanitarian aid to come into Gaza. That has resulted in Palestinians being killed. So it's been a complete disaster. And in the face of that, I think people of conscience all around the world have been asking, why is it that this could take place in this time and era when we had said never again and had put this kind of tactics well behind us?

3:20And so a small boat set sail with some life-saving aid and medicine on board that included a number of citizens from countries all around the world, including most notably, I suppose, for many listeners, Greta Thunberg, who's a renowned climate justice activist and, of course, a citizen of Sweden. But we've also have members of the European Parliament from France, citizens from Brazil and countless other country. So it's an international crew set in sail to Gaza, bringing a symbolic, but a much necessary sort of attention of the world on the need for aid to be allowed into Gaza. And this wasn't the first Freedom Floatia, was it?

4:03There have been a number of actually attempts over the years to highlight the fact that there is an illegal blockade of Gaza. Israel is, for the last 18 years, has literally decided what will enter and what won't enter Gaza. So from every single piece of food, to every material, to every pen, to every nappy, Israel decides what goes in and comes out of Gaza. If people are allowed to go fishing off the coast of Gaza or whether they're killed, it decides whether people can cross the border to seek medical treatment. It literally decides every single thing, including how much water, electricity and energy is being used in Gaza.

4:45Now, that has led to a number of attempts for various freedom fertilizers to try and break the blockade. Years ago, eight ships set sail and the Israeli troops at that time violently seized those boats. A number of the people who were on that boat were killed by the Israeli troops. And so there's been a pattern of Israel really acting with impunity. I mean, these are international waters and of course, and subsequently the waters of Gaza, not that this is a land which has been illegally occupied under international law, recognised by the United Nations. So again, not the right of Israel to decide who can and who can't enter Gaza.

5:29But there's a pattern of these kind of breaches of international law and attempts to stop aid boats from arriving in Gaza. So what happened overnight? In the last few days, we have seen some outrageous statements being made by politicians from around the world, hoping that the boat would be sunk and even that threats of violence against this crew. And then the Israeli government announced that it would take all measures to stop this boat and had ordered the Israeli forces to prevent this boat from being able to land in Gaza. And last night, many of us saw the footage from the boat as Israeli drones hovered overhead, first releasing some kind of liquid, so people were not quite clear what was being released onto the boat.

6:17And then late last night, communications was cut as the boat was boarded by Israeli troops. The crew was illegally seized in international water and has now been taken to an Israeli port. And the UK is responsible for this vessel, is that right? Many people would find it quite remarkable that the UK government, which has mobilized the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to protect the UK shipping in the Gulf, has mobilized the UK military assets in support of Israel's hunt for its hostages, has not lifted a finger or spoken out or condemned this action against a UK registered vessel. This is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.

7:05We would expect the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary to be condemning this action by Israel and of course, calling for the immediate release of its crew. Has there been any response so far from political leaders? I think for many people, the last 20 months have shown how out of touch many of our political leaders are. The British public overwhelmingly want the UK to stop arming Israel to be complicit in crimes against humanity, violations of international human rights, humanitarian law. And of course, as we know, that the world's highest court has accused Israel of a plausible case of genocide, a statement that has been verified by pretty much every international human rights organization and institution, including many within Israel, including former Israeli prime ministers who have also accused Israel of crimes and war crimes.

7:59Yet the UK government continues to arm Israel. The UK government has not taken any forcible action. And of course, we know that the Israeli leadership have got two arrest warrants, international arrest warrants for war crimes currently. But the UK government continues to, I think, show a very different response to Israel than the one it's showing to the actions of Russia and Putin, who also, of course, has been accused of committing war crimes. Do you have anything else to add? I think people in future years will look back at this moment as one of the greatest moral stains on humanity in recent times.

8:37And we'll ask, how is it that the world stood silently by whilst thousands of people were killed? Every school, every hospital, every infrastructure destroyed. Gaza turned into rubble, children being killed. We've heard the testimonies of British doctors, of surgeons, of children being deliberately targeted and killed. The list goes on. And I think it's quite incredible that we are in a moment of history when the call never again, that the world would never allow such gross human rights violations to take place, is taking place live on our television screens, live on our phones, live all around us.

9:23And yet our governments are still unable, unwilling to act. There will be a reckoning. People will study this and history will not be kind on those people who stayed silent and who were complicit in this genocide.

9:41Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, the controversy surrounding the proposed new Chinese embassy in London. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

10:03Welcome back. Plans to establish a mega Chinese embassy in London are continuing to cause concern. A Freedom of Information request by the London Standard revealed how much money the Met Police has spent on two large protests against the site, which is between the financial hubs in the system of the United States. of London and Canary Wharf. It comes amid pressure on the UK's public finances and local governments cutting community spending and welfare budgets. Joining us is The Standard's news reporter, Megan Howe. Megan, can you tell me more about this Chinese super embassy? China basically bought Royal Mint Court, which is based near the Tower of London, in 2018 for 255 million, but it has so far failed to gain planning permission to build a new embassy there.

10:54So the plans have proved controversial due to China's stance on human rights, as well as concerns around national security and espionage as well. Given obviously that it's a huge embassy in a prime location in London, it's obviously not sat well with many people. Met police has also raised objections that the site was bounded by many roads and therefore or protests could be unsafe or lead to road closures. They withdrew their objections, but have continued to reiterate their concerns surrounding public safety. Similar plans were rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022, on similar grounds that the development would bring adverse impacts on safety and security, which would face increased strain on local police resources.

11:38A revised plan was submitted two years later and was rejected again in December 2024. However, the current government appears to be in favour of proceeding with the plans. Foreign and Home Secretaries David Lammy and Yvette Cooper have publicly supported the construction of the embassy. And Deputy PM Angela Rayner actually called in the decision in 2024. And she has the power to overrule Tower Hamlets if she thinks that the project should go ahead. It's been quite a controversial and divisive topic. What did this Freedom of Information request reveal? A recent FOI request found that two protests which took place on February the 8th and March the 15th this year have cost police almost£350 ,000 for just those two days of protests.

12:28So an estimated 3 ,000 to 5 ,000 people attended the events, with police stating that a protest of this scale anywhere in London would obviously have a significant impact on net resources. 101 officers were deployed on February the 8th at a cost of£58 ,317 which covered overtime and vehicle expenses. A significantly larger operation took place on March the 15th with 485 officers deployed at a cost of£284 ,236. So in total, the two protests cost the force£342 ,553. So a great deal of money for just two days, two days worth of protests. And what has the response been? How have campaign groups reacted?

13:19So the group Nauticum Stands with Hong Kong has raised serious concerns about human rights and obviously potential national security risks linked to obviously the proposed embassy. They've also warned that deploying obviously a sort of heavy police presence at peaceful protests would incur significant public funding costs. Funds that they argue would be better spent on sort of essential services, especially amid obviously ongoing cuts to local welfare and community support. If obviously the Chinese embassy is approved, obviously there's potential to see more protests. If we're basing it on the FOI costs that we already know, for example, if plans for the Chinese embassy are approved and around sort of 10 protests continue to take place each year, policing costs could reach sort of around£3 million annually or£15 million over five years, which again is obviously a huge, a huge number in police spending.

14:13It also could potentially cause fractures in sort of diplomatic relationships. So it's understood that the situation has already threatened to derail negotiations on a US-UK trade deal. Mail on Sunday previously reported that Washington has asked for a China lock as part of the talks, which would guarantee the development will obviously not present a security threat to the US. So yeah, concerns around ongoing costs and potential for it to cause sort of fractures in diplomatic relationships. It's obviously understood that US President Donald Trump has warned Prime Minister Sakiya Starmer against giving the project the go-ahead.

14:52The matter is believed to have been discussed during trade talks with American diplomats, obviously apprehensive about sharing intelligence with British allies if the embassy went ahead. So those sorts of national security espionage concerns are really at the sort of forefront of this project, really.

15:12And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk and if you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. We'll be back here tomorrow at 4pm. We'll see you then.