Madleen: Release All Arrested for Solidarity With Palestine, Say Disability Groups, Individuals

Disability rights organisations, and other rights organisations and individuals have issued a joint statement calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and demanding “disability justice.” Referring to the interception and arrest of activists, such as Greta Thunberg, Rima Hassan, Liam Cunningham among others, carrying aid for Gaza aboard the ‘Freedom Flotilla” called Madleen, the joint statement demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners detained for solidarity with Palestine.  It called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, an end to the genocidal blockade on Gaza, and full international accountability for war crimes, including those violating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, among others.

Read the full statement below:

Joint statement by disability rights organisations/individuals and other organisations/individuals demanding an end to the Genocide in Gaza.

Stop the Genocide in Gaza: 

Solidarity with Palestinians and the Fight for Disability Justice

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, express our unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian people enduring genocide — and with all those across the world who act in resistance and solidarity, including Greta Thunberg, Rima Hassan, Liam Cunningham, Ann Wright, and others intercepted and detained by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. On June 1, 2025, twelve international activists began their journey aboard the Madleen, a British-flagged sailboat organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, carrying essential aid — baby formula, flour, medical supplies, and desalination equipment — to Gaza’s besieged population. The vessel was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters on June 8, the aid seized, and the activists kidnapped. This blatant act of piracy is part of a broader strategy: to starve, isolate, and eliminate Palestinian resistance through siege and destruction.

What is happening in Gaza is not a war — it is a genocide. Backed by Western imperial powers, Israel is carrying out the calculated destruction of an entire people through relentless bombardment, blockade, deprivation and starvation. Palestinians with disabilities are at the epicenter of this violence. Over 15% of Gaza’s population lived with disabilities before this current wave of genocide. That number is rising rapidly due to Israel’s use of high-impact explosives, chemical weapons, and systematic destruction of infrastructure — leaving behind mass trauma, injury, and the highest rate of child amputees in the world. This my no stretch of imagination can be categorised as collateral damage.  

Food systems have been destroyed. Hospitals have been bombed. Clean water and medicine are cut off. Disease is rampant. Mobility aids are destroyed, and medical care is denied. The physical and psychological toll is immeasurable — and disabled Palestinians suffer it most.  Meanwhile, those who stand up in solidarity including the likes of Greta Thunberg, an autistic and neurodivergent activist are met with arrest and repression. Their detention is meant as a threat: to silence dissent and punish resistance. We reject that threat entirely.

As a disability justice movement, we declare:

• There is no disability justice without decolonization.

• There is no accessibility under apartheid.

• There is no liberation in systems built to destroy.

We Demand:

• The immediate release of all political prisoners detained for solidarity with Palestine.

• An immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

• An end to the genocidal blockade on Gaza.

• Full international accountability for war crimes, including those violating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

• The dismantling of settler-colonial and imperialist systems that uphold this violence.

Disability justice demands nothing less than the complete end of apartheid, genocide, and settler-colonial violence.  For over 75 years, Palestinians have resisted with unwavering courage. Our liberation is inseparable from theirs. We reject all reformist calls to "improve" or "include" within structures of death and oppression.   

We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and all oppressed communities resisting imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism.

From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free

Prepared by: National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD)

Endorsements from Disability Rights Organisations & Individuals:

1. 1. Paschimbanga Rajya Pratibandhi Sammilani

   2. Vikalangalu Hakkulu Jatiya Vedike, Telangana

   3. Differently Abled Welfare Federation, Kerala

   4. Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers

   5. Haryana Viklang Adhikar Manch

   6. Madhya Pradesh Viklang Adhikar Manch

   7. Delhi Viklang Adhikar Manch

   8. Tripura Pratibandhi Adhikar Mancha

   9. Karnataka State Disabled & Caregivers Federation

   10. Vikalangalu Hakkulu Jatiya Vedike, Andhra Pradesh

   11. Shampa Sengupta, Sruti Disability Rights Centre

   12. Shashank Pandey, Politics and Disability Forum

   13. Abhirupa Kar, Civilian Welfare Foundation 

   14. Danish Mahajan, Udaan Empowerment Trust

   15. Amita Dhanda, Professor Emerita, Head Centre for Disability Studies and Centre for Legal Philosophy and Justice Education NALSAR

   16. Vijay Tiwari, West Bengal National University of Juridicial Studies

   17. Ravi  Ganesan, Disability Rights Activist, Bengaluru

   18. Nilesh Singit, Disability Rights Activist

   19. Srinidhi, Educator & Researcher, India

   20. Advocate Anchal Bhatheja, New Delhi

   21. Rashmi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

   22. Lina Pegu,  Doctoral candidate, TISS, Maharashtra

   23. Amar Pawar, Disability Studies Scholar, India 

   24. Ekramul Haque

Endorsements from Other Organisations & Individuals:

1. All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA)

2. Nisha Siddhu, Gen. Secy, National Federation of Indian Women

3. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)

4. Meera Sanghamitra (National Alliance of People's Movements - NAPM), Hyderabad

5. Sudhanya Roy Chowdhury 

6. Mahasweta Samajdar Dipanwita

7. Hanoz Master, Head Sales Vibescapes, Thane, Maharashtra

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