Stuck For A Month In Sicily, Wanda Hamidah Faces Intimidation, Theft, And Threats Of Burned Ships

Wanda Hamidah (Instagram @wandahamidahbsa)

JAKARTA - Wanda Hamidah shared the gripping experience she experienced over the past month in order to provide assistance to war victims in Palestine by sea.

Stuck in the port of Sicily, Italy, he and his colleagues from various countries must face a series of intimidation, theft, and the threat of life-threatening violence.

Through an upload on her personal Instagram account, Wanda told how the journey that was supposed to continue was now completely stopped, making her forget the time they had been stranded for so long.

"Already forgot the day, date and month have been 2 weeks in Tunisia, 2 weeks in Portopalo, Sicilia," Wanda Hamidah wrote as quoted by VOI from Instagram @wandahamidahbsa, Monday, September 29.

Wanda's journey, which seems to be part of a mission with several other ships, had to be stalled due to various technical problems and betrayal from the captain of the ship. This makes them vulnerable to threats at the port.

"7 ships (X1, Yemen, Keisar, Alla dinenne, Tico, Essia, Room, no longer continue their journey due to damage / unpreparedness of the ship and due to the ship's captain problem (which fled / wanted to take the ship away, and others)," Wanda continued.

The conditions are increasingly precarious because they are not only trapped, but also face pressure and threats from unknown parties who are suspected of wanting to take over their ships.

"Every day the intimidation and pressure on us to leave the ship, they hope we leave, so they can take the ship, take it away/sell the ships that docked at Portopalo," he said.

The threat is not a figment. Wanda said that Portopalo ports are very unsafe and thefts have often occurred.

The peak of the terror they experienced was when one of the ships was deliberately smeared with gasoline, an act that was clearly a threat of arson.

"To note that Portopalo is a very, very unsafe port, almost all ships have experienced theft of valuables such as laptops, monitors, GPS, and others," he said.

"Even today the Chamber ship was poured with ship gas by an unknown person," Wanda continued.

In the midst of a dangerous situation, Wanda and her colleagues finally found a glimmer of hope by successfully moving the main ship to a safer port.

"Today's condition, we are all on the Sumud Nusantara Ship at the port of Marzamemi, a much safer port from Portopalo, Sicilia," explained Wanda Hamidah.

Not only surrendering, Wanda shows her proactive role in finding a way out. He tried to defend the remaining ship while recruiting a new, more trustworthy crew.

"In recent days I have been trying to defend the Nusantara ship owned by Sumud Nusantara (Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives, Pakistan), while making repairs and selecting the new captain / co-captain / mechanical on our ship today," he said.

Now, with the spirit of unity, dozens of people from seven different countries who were previously stranded on different ships, will join one ship to continue their journey.

"14 people from various stranded ships, namely Kamar, Essia, Allo Dienne, Keisar, from 7 countries will unite on the Nusantara ship, the roots will sail tonight, no later than tomorrow, InshaAllah," he hoped.

With thorough preparation and new enthusiasm, Wanda Hamidah closed her story with a prayer request so that her journey and her colleagues across the Mediterranean Sea could run smoothly and safely.

"Pray that we have successfully sailed over the Mediterranean Sea," said Wanda Hamidah.

For information, Wanda Hamidah is the only representative from Indonesia who can sail with Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza.

Global Sumud Flotilla itself is a global humanitarian action that seeks to sail to bring aid to Gaza. The voyage, which is also fronted by global activists such as Greta Thurnberg, has ambitions to penetrate the Israeli military blockade (IDF) in order to reach Gaza.

The voyage was attended by humanitarian activists from various fields such as doctors, artists, scholars, lawyers, health workers, and others.