My name is James Murua, and my wife, Zukiswa Wanner, was kidnapped by the Israeli regime on the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off the coast of Gaza on the night of October 1, 2025.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international, civil society-led maritime initiative aiming to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The flotilla comprises over 50 vessels with thousands of participants, with involvement from activists, doctors, and artists from more than 44 countries.
On the night of October 1, several boats on the flotilla were boarded by the Israeli regime, and she, along with others, was kidnapped. The Flotilla’s main purpose was to deliver food and medical supplies to the people of Gaza.
Zukiswa has long been an advocate Palestinian struggle from childhood, with her roots in the African National Congress while in exile in Lusaka, where she was born in 1976, and in Harare, where she grew up.
In 2023, she attended the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest), where she saw the apartheid regime in action. She was moved to write the book, Vignettes of People in an Apartheid State, reflecting on her experiences of settler-colonialism there, drawing parallels to her experience with South Africa’s historical apartheid system.
In 2024, she returned the Goethe Medal, an honour given to her by the German government for her work in culture, in protest of their role in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as well as their silencing of dissenting artistic voices against Israel.
In late September, she joined the South African delegation in the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver food and medicine to the suffering people. After many mishaps, which included sabotage of boats from unknown people, they set off to deliver the aid to Gaza.
On the night of October 1, I had been tracking the flotilla on the official tracker and the livestream until 1 am, when I slept. When I woke up at 4 am, I noticed that the Flotilla had been intercepted, and I broke down in tears. Al Jazeera has now reported that the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces late on Wednesday, with activists on board detained and taken to Israel. In any other situation, I wouldn’t be worried about the safety of my partner, but the Israelis have shown singular cruelty to anyone who stands in the way of their mission to eradicate Palestinians from the face of the earth.
I appeal directly to the government of Kenya, where she has been resident for the last fourteen years, and the African Union, to do everything in its power to get her and others who have been kidnapped by the Israeli regime.
I also appeal to black writers and activists, and anyone of good conscience to raise their voices both for the Global Sumud Flotilla and the people of Gaza who are going through almost unimaginable horrors to survive a power trying to end their existence.
There is an ongoing genocide – this is the time for all of us to stand up for Palestine. And our son, Jama, needs his mother back home.
James Murua
October 2, 2025.
For more information;
Email: Kibara@gmail.com
Website: www.writingafrica.com
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