Vegans For Palestine Podcast

Vegans for Palestine Podcast - Episode 25 - Sailing on board the Sumud Flotilla

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In this episode of the Vegans for Palestine podcast, Dalal speaks with Mi Hao Lee while she is aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian humanitarian mission attempting to break the blockade on Gaza Strip. Their conversation explores the connections between Palestinian liberation, veganism, anti-racism, anti-capitalism, and anti-speciesism, with Mi Hao Lee arguing that all systems of oppression are interconnected and must be challenged together. The episode also reflects on the realities of activism at sea, the symbolism of sumud (steadfastness), and the role of international solidarity in confronting violence and humanitarian crisis.

This episode is captioned for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Viewers here.

Follow Mi Hoa Lee here https://www.instagram.com/mihoalee/

Music in this episode: Sol Band is a Palestinian folk-pop band formed in Gaza in 2012, known for blending contemporary music with Palestinian cultural and resistance themes. Their music gained international attention during the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, as members continued creating songs and performing for displaced children while documenting life under bombardment. The band has also been recognised for preserving and reinterpreting Palestinian folk music and for establishing music education initiatives for young people in Gaza. 

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REPORTER #1: From the port of Barcelona, a fleet of civilian boats is preparing to set sail towards Gaza in what organizers describe as the largest mission yet to challenge Israel's blockade.

REPORTER #2: The group of 39 boats, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, is sailing from Barcelona to deliver aid to Gaza.

SAID: This mission aims to break the siege and open a humanitarian corridor.

RAYAN: This is episode 25 of the Vegans for Palestine podcast. Mi Hao Lee is a Spanish-Korean actress, audiovisual producer, and activist known for her anti-racist advocacy, her support for Palestinian solidarity movements, and her intersectional approaches linking social justice, decolonization, and veganism. At the moment of recording, Mi Hao Lee was actually speaking to Dalal on board the Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to break the apartheid colonial siege upon the Gaza Strip. In their conversation, the two connect Palestinian liberation with veganism, anti-racism, and anti-speciesism, arguing that all forms of oppression are interconnected and that justice must extend to both human and non-human animals.

DALAL: In this episode, you will notice the conversation ends a little earlier than expected. Our recording was cut short because Mi Hao Lee had to leave suddenly to continue filming for her documentary while on board. Because there was so much more we wanted to discuss, we will be releasing part two of this conversation very soon. Stay tuned.

RAYAN: The quality of this recording isn't the best, considering that it was taken on board a humanitarian flotilla that happened to be in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. But we hope that you nonetheless enjoy listening to this episode and that it prompts you to think about how we can collectively support the Sumud Flotilla and other humanitarian initiatives. Enjoy this one.

DALAL: Yeah, I was saying that it's been a long time since we spoke last. So yeah, it was in June last year. Yeah, it's been a while. How have you been?

MI HAO LEE: Well, many things happened in between: personal, professional, political, and geopolitical. And so we're still here. Sadly, the genocide continues in Palestine, the annexation of new land as well, the war in Lebanon, and the many things around. And me, I'm in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on a mission, doing one more thing to fight against imperialism and this system that oppresses not only Palestinians, but the entire world, even if the world thinks so. I don't know, let's begin. Let's... you choose a theme and let's go ahead and let's see what happens in this conversation between two... sounds weird. We just saw a cow floating in the Mediterranean Sea, and I'm a bit shocked, I have to say, because people were surprised: “Oh, poor cow, poor cow.” And the first thing I thought was not “poor cow,” it was, “[ __ ] humans.” No, the cow didn't arrive in the Mediterranean Sea alone. It's like, what are humans doing? What are we doing? A cow in the middle of the sea. And it happens with the genocide as well, and with many other important things, like Palestinians. No, no, no, no, no. What is right in any case? So, I think, I really believe, everything happens for a reason. And I don't know how, before our first time meeting face to face, I saw a cow floating in the Mediterranean Sea before a vegan podcast. It's crazy, but take it. No, let's take it, yeah.

DALAL: That's... yeah, the first thing we started off this conversation with is you telling me about a cow floating, and my jaw is dropping. I can't even believe what I'm hearing. In the middle of the sea, in the middle of this vast open water. And yeah, I have so many questions in my head, but do people actually think anything about it other than really just saying, “Oh, poor cow”? They don't even think for themselves: what really, as you just said, is the cow even doing here? What really brought the cow to this place?

MI HAO LEE: When she comes out, yeah, comes out, a couple of theories come up. Like, “Oh, maybe she was sick with something contagious in a cargo ship and they decided to throw...” or I don't know what else can I say thinking about this result. I only saw humans doing [ __ ], as always.

Yeah, that's...

Can I say [ __ ] in your podcast? I'm sorry.

DALAL: You can say whatever you want. Honestly, if there is, you know, whatever you say, we only take out the parts that you say you don't want in the podcast, okay? So yeah. But yeah, honestly, unless it's something that you don't think you would be comfortable saying. So let's give some context to you being in the middle of the sea right now. I have a lot of questions to ask you, but I understand that maybe you would want to share certain parts of this journey you're doing, so whatever you're comfortable with, you can share. Can you tell me more about the mission you're on right now, and how that is really an act of activism that aligns with your veganism and what you advocate for all the time? So if you could tell me more about that.

MI HAO LEE: Okay. So, I'm in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere between Barcelona and Gaza, and very close now to Greece, the Greek waters. We just left three days ago from the Sicilian port of Augusta, where we were stopped for a couple of days to join with the Italian delegation of this mission I'm going to talk about. Also because we are in a humanitarian, nonviolent, solidarity collective mission to break the siege in Gaza that has been happening for almost 18 or 19 years already. It's the second edition of this mission called the Global Spring 2026.

What am I doing here? Well, I don't like to use the word “activist” for myself, but obviously I'm doing activism. But I'm here because I'm a human being. I understand the things that happen around me, as each of us does, and I decided to speak out and advocate for the liberation of Palestine since the so-called beginning of the genocide on October 7. Before October 7, I was maybe more low-profile on social media or in the media in general. I'm kind of a public figure, not a very famous person, but I work in audiovisual. So my social media was mostly to share some personal and professional things, but not to advocate, for example, for anti-racism. That was maybe my principal theme around the things I do.

I am half Korean, half Spanish, and I was born in Spain. I was the only immigrant in the place where I was born, so obviously I suffered racism from ignorant people around me. I suppose I've been advocating for anti-racism since I was a kid because it's the thing you have to do if you want to survive and fight injustice. Then I started to study audiovisuals later in my 30s, and I continued the fight through my career, which is basically writing or developing projects. Now I'm an executive producer in a very good company in Barcelona, and I have a mission there as well.

Once you realize all the oppression against minorities, the Global South, or people who are different because of colour, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, or philosophy is the same, you connect the dots. And you don't fight only for one reason. Even if you fight with love, it's still a fight. You fight for all of them: anti-speciesism, anti-racism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-Zionism. The liberation of everyone is going to be the real liberation, not only for humans. People talk a lot nowadays about white supremacy, but they don't talk a lot about speciesism, and it's all connected. It's all connected because we cannot support oppression in other humans, and maybe some of us don't care about animals, but this is not fair. This is not fair.

So I suppose now I'm just doing all of it together, as best as I can, in my humble position in the world, which is now without shoes and on a boat, a regular passenger boat, not a big humanitarian mission boat, trying to break the siege in Gaza. I'm very proud of that, very proud of being part of this mission, which is the next step of a mission I was on before. I was in the March to Gaza in 2025 last June, and after the government of Egypt blocked us and we had to stop the mission, the organization started preparing a new one because they realized they mobilized thousands of people to fly to Cairo with our own resources, to then walk for 20 days minimum until we reached the border of Rafah in Palestine.

And they saw we were there, ready to break the siege, to open the borders, to bring in all the trucks with tons of humanitarian aid — the so-called humanitarian aid that includes food, medicine, and basic needs. The organization started thinking about something bigger. At the same time, the March to Gaza was happening alongside the Handala mission. And when Handala was intercepted, Ban Oda said in a video, “You guys have to send not one boat — you have to send hundreds of boats.” So this was the fire that made this mission happen.

BISAN: Why don't we have 20 flotillas? Twenty boats in a flotilla, with at least one or two weekly? The Israelis can stop one, can stop two. Yes, they can arrest the third boat crew. Yes, they can prevent the fourth. Yes, they can try to switch the cards and call their governments for the fifth. But they can't stop 10, 20, 30. And just imagine if these are happening at the same time as other convoys by land, like what is moving now from Tunisia and Algeria through Egypt and North Africa. Maybe they won't be able to completely break the siege, but they will be so loud and they will open a new horizon for everyone to do something new. I mean, it's been 20 months of doing the same thing without any other results. Now it's the real time to do something new and expect new results. So yeah, we are just waiting.

MI HAO LEE: So we are here, trying to listen to Palestinian voices, or some Palestinian voices that are calling us for action, for escalation. It's not enough to go to the streets now and scream, “Free Palestine.” We do it already. We did, we do it also, but we need to escalate. So this is one of the actions we do to escalate.

So now we are more than 600 people in 60 boats, more or less, and we are going to connect with the Greek delegation now. We don't know yet if they are going to reach us sailing, and then also with the Turkish delegation. So we are going to be more or less 100 boats with more than a thousand people trying to break the siege. And not only that, it's a call for action, for mobilizing people all around the world, because there are people here from more than 70 countries. That means that we can mobilize the entire world with 100 boats.

So the mission is important, of course, but we are only the finger that points to the moon. The moon is Gaza, and the people have to follow everything we mobilize for Palestine against Israel.

DALAL: And you're also vegan as well, and you're an artist, and you have different things that you do outside of what you're doing right now. Are there other vegans like yourself on the flotillas? And if not, how is this different from the other missions that you did before? I mean, with reference to last year's Gaza mission that was supposed to be heading from Egypt... how is this one today, and these days, different from the previous one and the other ones that you did before? And how important is that for you as a vegan as well?

MI HAO LEE: The scenario has changed a bit. The media coverage as well, because it's more performative. More people are curious about this mission because it never happened before. The maximum number of boats sailing towards Gaza last year were three, and normally only one in different missions. A mobilization on land — it's normal to have thousands of people mobilizing for a cause anywhere in the world — but at sea, it's weird.

And also, I have to say, a couple of days ago we did an action at sea trying to change the course of a big cargo ship with materials towards Israel, with iron and pieces for the war machine. It was the first action like that ever to happen at sea. So first of all, the difference is that it's at sea and it unites people from all around the world, and it's very spectacular. But in terms of the message and the core of the mission, it's more or less the same as what I knew in the March to Gaza.

In relation to veganism, I have to say I'm so happy to witness that all the food we carry on the boats for us is vegan. Everybody here eats vegan. Maybe some individuals bought some eggs or some cheese on land personally, but the organization gave everybody vegan food.

DALAL: Is there a certain reason for that?

MI HAO LEE: Yes, it's because of inclusivity, because everybody can eat vegan meals and not everybody can eat non-vegan meals. So this is a step in these kinds of missions. They are opening these doors within the organization because there are many voices who are vegan and who are Palestinian. I think... I'm super proud of this decision. And people understand like, “Oh no, I cannot stay without eating meat,” and then they realize they can. They learn they don't need to eat meat, fish, or animal protein every day, three times per day, during a month, and they are going to survive.

DALAL: And I honestly also understand that it's not just about the food. I think, for me, it would make a lot of sense that when people are eating vegan and they are on a mission, being active and vocal and advocating for a just cause and speaking up for justice and liberation for people, it makes sense that an event with such importance around justice, solidarity, liberation, and care for other humans... yeah, when you serve food, it's also a message. At least, this is how I interpret it. It really shows the values that you stand by. So it's not just random, that you say things and you don't really show them in practice. So yeah, that's amazing. That's one step towards inclusivity and also towards justice and liberation.

MI HAO LEE: Yeah, you said that... I didn't. I took it for granted, but thank you. Of course, you cannot advocate for liberation and fight against oppression and then accept other kinds of oppression, like speciesism. So I think because of that, the decisions from the organization... even if many times this is a horizontal chain of decisions, obviously in huge things like that there must be a steering committee. And I'm super happy with the values of the steering committee.

As you mentioned, you can't fight for the liberation of some groups of humans and not for others, or for other species. So yes, absolutely.

TIKTOKER: You've probably come across the Arabic word “sumud” these days on your feed. It is joining other words such as “intifada” and “keffiyeh” that have made their way into dictionaries and literature across the globe from within the Palestinian struggle.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is the biggest grassroots humanitarian fleet ever — an initiative to break the siege of Gaza with more than 60 boats sailing and hundreds of volunteers from 44 countries carrying food and medicine, risking their lives to reach besieged Palestinians.

“Sumud” in classical Arabic means steadfastness, continuous perseverance. In the Palestinian context, however, it doesn't really have a fixed definition. It is rather a dynamic concept that represents the daily struggle to continue living under impossible conditions. It can be an act of nonviolent resistance that may seem invisible and silent, but it is a deep resilience rooted in love for life in the face of oppression and dispossession. It signifies the commitment to remain on one's own land and not be erased.

It can range from seemingly simple acts, such as going to work or school every day despite checkpoints and harassment, to replanting an olive tree — such a symbolic connection with the land — because the trees are being ripped out by illegal foreign settlers, all the way to surviving an asymmetric battle with the colonizer without necessarily winning it in the military sense.

“Shield your wheat from the hurricane with a nailed chest. Bring the fence from the chests. From the chests. How can it be broken?” That's Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine's most famous poet, evoking a biblical reference: “Grab the necks of the ears of wheat just like you embrace a dagger. The earth, the farmer, and the persistence — tell me, how can they be conquered? How could these three ever be conquered?”

DALAL: And you mentioned something about how the media shifted the narrative around Palestine, and I'm only thinking about the very first time we had our call, and you were saying something about how there are words that are taboo, or there is stigma around certain “magic words,” as you expressed before, and how there is a label around people who say they're vegan, pro-Palestine, pro-solidarity, or pro-liberation, and how these words often trigger reactions before substantive engagement. How has this shifted or changed for you since then?

MI HAO LEE: This is a good question. In this year, I have to say yes, there was a lack of information at that moment last year. Because of that, the March to Gaza mission was so important. The media was scared to use... not scared, they had interests. It's not clear. They had interests. And until it became popular, they didn't say words like “genocide,” “extermination,” “ethnic cleansing,” and... yes.

There was a point last year, in May for example, one year ago, when the media started to wake up. Not because they wanted to, but because of the mobilizations. I think after the March to Gaza, the scenario changed a lot in the world. There were huge mobilizations all around the world, from Asia to the States. It reminded me of 2024 with the encampments, for example. Since October 7, the narrative has gone up and down because they control the narrative.

When they try to calm things down, then something has to happen to put Gaza back in the centre again. Then they start to talk because they cannot avoid it. They are representing us also. In the specific case of Spain, my prime minister took a position this year, recognizing Palestine and doing some actions during a Eurovision music contest, where they put the TV screen black with a message saying, “We don't support genocide,” while the Israeli participant was singing. They also tried to take some steps to ban arms trading with Israel. All these things came up last year, so this is important.

But again, after the first mission of the Global Flotilla, when all the boats were intercepted around October 1st more or less, everyone except one person was released by October 6th. Then on October 8th, when everybody was speaking out for Palestine, they announced the peace plan — the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar... I don't know. They said, “We have peace.” And then everybody thought, “Oh, it's done.” But they broke the ceasefire the day after they announced it, and nobody knew.

I had conversations with people asking, “Why are you still protesting? Why are you still sharing all the time on Instagram? There's peace already.” And I had to explain — me and all the comrades out there — “No, no, no. There is no peace plan.” This was a strategy to calm down the mobilizations after the first flotilla.

So this second mission is not just another edition of the previous one. First of all, there are more boats and more people, but also the boats are filled with important figures: medical workers, eco-builders, professors, journalists, film workers...

What are they saying? What are you looking at? What's that? Dolphins? Yes. Put videos on. Yeah, I'm on a podcast with Dalal. Let's see these dolphins.

REPORTER #3: Is every boat on the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid?

Every boat is carrying humanitarian aid.

REPORTER #1: Activists make final preparations, loading supplies, checking equipment, and saying their final goodbyes before departure.

REPORTER #4: Named after a Gazan fisherman, the Global Sumud Flotilla will be comprised of about a hundred vessels seeking to break the Israeli blockade.

FLOTILLA PARTICIPANT #1: We're here to remind people that this is not a game. These people are fully aware they're risking their lives. They're not reckless. They're doing this because they can no longer bear to live in a world where we don't condemn, punish, or do anything to put an end to a genocide and hold the Israeli government to account.

REPORTER #1: Many have travelled from across the world to be here, and for them this is more than just a protest.

FLOTILLA PARTICIPANT #2: In Aboriginal culture, we believe that all children, all babies, are sacred. We believe that we have a responsibility to look after those babies, babies that don't have their basic needs met — not through any fault of their own, but because Israel does not let aid come in, does not protect these babies, and actively kills and bombs these babies. That is a simple reason, but a strong reason, why I'm joining the flotilla.

REPORTER #2: Organizers say more vessels are expected to join along the route, making it their largest mission so far.

FLOTILLA PARTICIPANT #3: For months and months now, we have been faced with an absolutely horrific situation, and it feels as though nothing is being done, including by those in political power, to respond to this situation. So citizens' initiatives are being organized, such as these flotillas, that aim to break the blockade of Gaza.

FLOTILLA PARTICIPANT #4: This time we have over 70 boats leaving — 39 of them from Barcelona — and we are mobilizing more boats on the journey, trying to get them ready for the sailing. So what we are doing right now is bringing more boats than all the boats combined that ever tried to cross the Mediterranean to break the illegal siege of Gaza.

FLOTILLA PARTICIPANT #5: While we are cognizant of the risks that come with a mission like this, we're willing to accept them to draw the eyes of the world back to the people of Gaza and to ensure that people back home know they have a role to play and real power in holding our governments to account while we sail across the Mediterranean in an attempt to hold Israel to account.

REPORTER #5: According to the organizers, the flotilla's intended aim is to break the siege so that Palestinians can receive humanitarian aid.

COMEDY NARRATION: This is a message from the government of Israel. The Global Sumud Flotilla — 50 boats with hundreds of people from 44 countries — is heading to Gaza carrying terrorist items such as baby formula, medicines, and flour. Crew members include Greta, European MPs, doctors, and lawyers. Clearly all anti-Semites. And there's literally no other explanation for wanting to feed starving children.

We ask you to ignore this historic moment of international solidarity, which proves some of us are still [ __ ] human. Do not find them on Instagram or follow their journey on the flotilla tracker. Because how are we meant to take a huge [ __ ] on international law by intercepting the flotilla in international waters, preventing it from delivering humanitarian aid in accordance with the Geneva Convention, and murdering its crew like we did in the past, if the world is watching? And if we attempt that, do not be ready to shut [ __ ] down worldwide.

Sure, genocide scholars — even our own organizations — are saying deliberate starvation, targeting doctors and hospitals, displacing millions, destroying 90% of houses, preventing people's return, killing entire families, multiple generations, and thousands of children legally constitutes genocide. But remember: past genocides, bad. Genocides in your own lifetime? Complicated.

Thanks to all the governments who are leaving it to civilians to uphold international law, especially our pedo-loving sugar daddy [ __ ] bag who lets us do what we want, even bomb Qatar. And props to Australia for selling us weapons — I mean parts of weapons. Thank you for your complicity. Now send us more money and ammo, you pieces of [ __ ].

(SOUL BAND MUSIC)