The Global Sumud Flotilla Exposed Western Hypocrisy

Judith Scheytt
Oscar Davies

Judith Scheytt joined the Global Sumud Flotilla to break Israel’s siege on Gaza. In her first interview since her release, she told Jacobin about how the mission succeeded in shaming Western governments for their complicity in genocide.

Israel brings seized Global Sumud Flotilla ships and activists to Ashdod Port

Vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, seized in Israeli military operations, being brought to the port of Ashdod, Israel, on October 2, 2025. (Saeed Qaq / Anadolu via Getty Images)


At eighteen years of age, Judith Scheytt was the youngest activist aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to break the Israeli siege on Gaza. After it was raided by Israeli forces on the night of October 1–2, she was taken to a high-security prison and held for several days before being deported along with other Sumud Flotilla activists.

Now back in Germany, in her first interview since her release she told Jacobin’s Hanno Hauenstein about intimidation in Israeli captivity, German double standards, and why she says that, despite everything, “the flotilla was a success.”


Hanno Hauenstein

What motivated you to join the Global Sumud Flotilla?

Judith Scheytt

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