Boat naming: Handala

Media Advisory   April 17, 2023

Freedom Flotilla: ‘Handala’ Boat Naming and Launch – Tuesday 18/5/23, 17h00 CEST Bryggen Harbour, Bergen, Norway

Freedom Flotilla sails again For the Children of Gaza

What: Naming ceremony for  Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s new boat ‘Handala’, and the formal launch of its voyage to challenge and end the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Who: Fauzia Hussain-Wiik, Bergen head of Landsorganisasjonen i Norge (LO), the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions;  Arne Birger Heli, Captain and representative of Ship to Gaza Norway; participants from on board the Al Awda/Kårstein, Freedom Flotilla 2018 vessel; a representative of fishers and farmers in Gaza.

When: April 18, 2023, 17:00 CEST.

Where: Bryggen Harbour, Bergen, Norway.

Why: Most of the West’s governments and many international corporations continue to be complicit in Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and so in response to calls from partners in Gaza the Freedom Flotilla sails again to challenge and end the blockade, calling for full freedom of movement for all Palestinians.

Our 2023 voyage focuses on the children of Gaza and we have chosen to name this boat Handala after the iconic 10-year-old Palestinian refugee child created by Naji Al-Ali in his cartoons about Palestinians’ longing for return to a free homeland (please see for more).

For additional information, please see or please contact us here.

A report about the naming ceremony from Kia Ora Gaza.