Four Humboldt County residents join Gaza flotilla, one detained and freed

Four Humboldt County residents joined a spring Gaza-bound flotilla that drew international scrutiny, and one of them, Windfield Beaver of Orleans, was detained by Israeli forces and later released. His brother, Silas Beaver, along with Sacha Marini of Eureka and Greg Terry, remained with the Global Sumud Flotilla as the mission moved through the Mediterranean.

The flotilla departed from Siracusa, Sicily, on April 25 with organizers describing more than 70 boats, about 3,000 participants and delegations from 39 countries. They called it the largest civilian maritime mission in history. The stated aims were to answer a direct call from Palestinians in Gaza, establish a sustained civilian maritime corridor, support reconstruction and challenge what organizers described as international complicity in Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise and the humanitarian ship Open Arms sailed with the fleet, while a parallel Global Sumud Parliamentary Congress convened in Brussels with parliamentarians, legal experts and civil society groups.

Marini, a longtime Eureka resident who is originally from Santa Barbara, said she joined because of “escalating repression, genocide, and destruction worldwide” and wanted to stand in solidarity and meet the moment with “collective people power.” Her decision linked a global protest movement to Humboldt County, where family, friends and fellow activists have been following the voyage from the North Coast.

Beaver’s role carried added weight in Orleans and Eureka because he had already sailed with last fall’s flotilla and was detained by Israeli forces then. That earlier mission was intercepted on October 2, 2025, about 50 miles off the Gaza coast, and Beaver was flown to Turkey before being confirmed free. He had been aboard the Awhalya, a boat crewed by U.S. military veterans and aid workers, and was later described as the first American released after that seizure. This spring, he sailed again, this time with his brother Silas.

The 2026 operation became part of a wider dispute over the treatment of activists at sea. Amnesty International said Israeli forces intercepted 22 vessels and detained around 175 crew members after boarding the boats in international waters near Greece and jamming communications. The U.S. State Department condemned the flotilla on April 30 as a pro-Hamas initiative and urged allies to deny port access, docking, departure and refueling. Amnesty and flotilla organizers rejected that framing, casting the mission as peaceful solidarity and humanitarian action. As the voyage continued, Humboldt County’s link to the flotilla stayed centered on the Beaver brothers, Marini and Terry, and on a war over aid, access and accountability far beyond the North Coast.