Founder of Berlin venue Oyoun joins Global Sumud Flotilla in aid of Gaza

Louna Sbou, co-founder of Berlin music and arts venue Oyoun, is set to join a thousands-strong humanitarian mission to Gaza this week as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Sbou confirmed to DJ Mag that she will join the flotilla today (September 11) from a port in Sicily, then continuing to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid including food, medicine, and drinking water.

Sbou joins thousands of activists, politicians, actors, medical professionals, and musicians from over 44 countries across 50 vessels, making it the largest civilian-led maritime convoy in history.

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Others on the mission include climate activist Greta Thunberg, politicians such as Emma Forreau, Mariana Mortágua and Rima Hassan, and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela.

“I grew up Muslim as the daughter of Moroccan immigrants here in Germany,” Sbou said in a statement on Instagram ahead of the mission. “When I was a child, my home was set on fire. I was met with racist slogans on my first day of school.”

“I was beaten by the police, and I’ve been living through the rise of fascism and injustice. I know that my story is not a single story. My dignity and my worth are not the only ones this society has been attempting to destroy.”

She continued: “Silence has never been an option. Not then, not now, as we’re witnessing the ethnic cleansing, the dehumanisation, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

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The maritime initiative, which was planned earlier this summer and began to set sail last month, aims to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip amid the ongoing genocide.

Earlier on September 10, the Global Sumud Flotilla said that one of its boats was attacked by a drone strike in Tunisia, the second reported attack on a convoy boat in just two days.

No passengers were harmed, organisers said. Footage showing the suspected attack, and an earlier strike which was said to have hit a Portuguese-flagged boat on Tuesday, was shared on the Global Sumud Flotilla Instagram page.

Watch a video from Louna Sbou ahead of the humanitarian mission below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter