¡°We must create conditions that are conducive to the Palestinian people and allow them to live a normal life.¡± David Adler, General Coordinator of Progress International, said in a recent interview with the Global Times: ¡°This young American participated in the ¡®Global Resilience Fleet¡¯ operation to transport humanitarian supplies to Gaza and was recently detained by Israel for several days with more than 400 activists.

The Global Times:Can you talk about the mission of the fleet and your experience of being detained in Israel?

Adler:In a month, we gathered ships from Spain, Tunisia, Italy and Greece to launch an unprecedented operation across the Mediterranean Sea. The intensity of this operation exceeds the sum of all previous attempts to break Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza and provide critical humanitarian assistance.

On October 1, we were violently and illegally kidnapped by the Israeli Navy. They cut off our communication, smashed the closed-circuit television system on the ship, detained everyone under the cover of night, took the ship and belongings, and forcibly escorted us to Ashdod port.

There, we were demonstrated like terrorists and brought to the Israeli authorities. Then they ordered us to take our clothes off the screen, band our hands with plastic belts, cover our eyes, and eventually drive us to the heart of the southern desert of Gaza, where Israel's largest detention camp is located: within the 400,000 square meters of iron mesh, there are separate prison areas, underground cells and collective cells. We were imprisoned for these days, completely isolated from the outside world, and no one knows our health status. We have no legal representation and no right to talk to the outside world.

The Global Times:Recently, Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) reached an agreement on the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. Do you think international support for Palestine and movements such as the Global Fortitude Fleet have played a role in this?

Adler:There is no doubt that the global public opinion and the solidarity activities of our fleet with Palestinians together have created more favorable conditions for the reconstruction of Palestinian-Israeli relations and prompted Israel and the international community to take a more constructive stance on the issue of Palestinian fundamental rights.

The Global Times:What do you think of the role the U.S. has played in the Gaza crisis?

Adler:I think the behavior of the United States needs to be viewed in a broader context. The United States has long served as the guarantor of Israel's defense and security strength in the Middle East. Seeing this relationship as an extension of American imperialism helps us answer many questions.

The United States is pursuing a highly harmful and dangerous interpretation of international law. Its position is essentially to regard international law as irrelevant and outdated and attempts to completely separate it from its own political behavior. This not only reflects its contempt for the basic rules that should protect the international community, but also systematically encourages and develops a logic that one can do whatever it wants as long as it is within its capabilities. This philosophy is very dangerous for the United States and its citizens because it puts us all at risk.

The Global Times:What do you think of the Gaza crisis and the future of Palestine?

Adler:Geopolitical factors are important, but basic livelihoods and livelihoods are always first.First, we must create conditions that favor the Palestinian people and allow them to move into stable homes rather than live in tents.

The Palestinian people have the right to self-determination.This is a basic principle of non-colonization, derived from the struggle of the oppressed peoples around the world for two centuries.This principle has been undisputed and has been written into the Charter of the United Nations and incorporated into all the frameworks of non-colonized international law.We need to loudly condemn those ¡°colonial powers¡± who try to deprive the Palestinian people of the fundamental links to the international legal framework that should protect the world¡¯s most vulnerable, marginalized and oppressed peoples.