London activist, tied to Hamas, linked to Thunberg’s Gaza aid boat

Zaher Birawi, called a Hamas operative by Israeli and UK officials, helped organize the aid boat intercepted by Israel with Greta Thunberg on board.

David Brummer, World Israel News

A London-based Palestinian activist with alleged ties to Hamas played a central role in organizing the Gaza-bound aid boat intercepted by Israeli forces on Sunday, which was carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the UK Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday.

Zaher Birawi, who was described in the UK Parliament as a Hamas operative and has been designated as such by Israeli authorities, is a self-declared founding member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition — the group behind the mission of the vessel Madleen.

Israel Navy commandos boarded the boat early on Sunday morning as it attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza.

Thunberg and 11 others were detained; she was deported and put on an El Al flight to Paris.

Birawi, 63, was present at the launch of the Madleen from Sicily last week and streamed the event live.

The boat was meant to deliver what organizers called a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including baby formula, food, and medical supplies.

Israeli forces said the vessel was intercepted in international waters, about 150 nautical miles from Gaza.

The activists were reportedly shown a video of the Hamas October 7 attacks before deportation, with Thunberg, who refused the offer, publicly calling the Hamas-filmed atrocities “propaganda.”

Footage released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry showed soldiers handing out water and sandwiches to the activists, some of whom wore orange life jackets.

Birawi, a London-based “journalist” and chairman of the UK-registered EuroPal Forum, has long been a controversial figure.

In 2013, Israel designated him a Hamas operative in Europe.

In 2021, Israel listed the EuroPal Forum as a terrorist organization, though Birawi and the group deny any links to terrorism.

That same year, Birawi received compensation after suing a financial database he said had wrongly listed him on a terrorism watchlist.

In a statement on Facebook after Sunday’s interception, Birawi condemned what he called an “act of piracy in international waters.”

He also described the Madleen as “an affirmation of the Palestinians’ fundamental right to communicate with the world by sea.”

Hamas has been fully proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK since 2021.

A photo from 2012 shows Birawi with former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last year in the bombing in his hotel room in an Islamic Republic Guard Corps-run facility in central Tehran, attributed to Israeli intelligence.

Birawi has participated in multiple London protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

He recently delivered a letter to the UK government accusing Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition accused Israel of unlawfully boarding the Madleen, calling the action an “abduction” of peaceful activists.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the mission as a media stunt, calling it the “selfie yacht of the celebrities.”

Greta Thunberg, 22, was joined on board by European Parliament member Rima Hassan.

Israel said the confiscated aid would be delivered through established humanitarian channels.