On Saturday, March 28, a protest march in downtown Tunis marked Land Day–a commemoration of Palestinian resistance to land expropriation by Zionists. Protesters also demanded the immediate release of all members of the Global Sumud Flotilla detained by the Tunisian government. The organizers of the Tunisian-branch of the flotilla, which called itself the Joint Action for Palestine Coordination Committee in Tunisia, organized both a sea-based aid flotilla and a land-based Maghreb aid convoy in the summer 2025. Demonstrators on Saturday called the flotilla activists heroes committed to humanitarian and advocacy efforts.
“We had planned to participate in the Land Day action as the National Committee. Our activists who are currently imprisoned tried to reach Gaza and sailed for Gaza. Our presence today is a reaffirmation of our commitment to our struggle and to popular protest in support of the Palestinian cause. The detainees remain steadfast with high spirits, but the delay in their interrogation for unclear reasons is frustrating. We consider their detention, despite their identities and addresses being fully known, as a form of vindictiveness and retaliation,” Rachid Othmani, a spokesperson for the National Committee for the Defense of the Global Sumud Flotilla Activists and Palestinian Rights, told Meshkal.
Chants of “No arrests, no chains, for the heroes of Sumud” echoed through the streets of Tunis, resonating with the crowd and reinforcing the demonstrators’ call for freedom.
Arrest campaign targets the Flotilla activists
The arrest campaign began on March 6, when Wael Naouar and Jawaher Channa, members of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s executive committee, were detained without prior notice. According to the committee, police forces subsequently raided the activists’ home, reportedly frightening their children and causing damage to their property.
On the same day, Nabil Chennoufi, a member of both the Tunisian and Global executive committees of the Sumud Flotilla, along with Sana Mhayedli Msahli and Mohamed Amine Bennour, member of the Tunisian executive committee, were also arrested.
The Tunisia Flotilla committee stated that the arrests occurred amid a series of escalating restrictions targeting Global Sumud Flotilla activists and pro-Palestinian advocacy in Tunisia. These measures started when authorities rejected a request by the committee to use the port of Sidi Bou Said for the launch of a second flotilla this year.
This was followed by police forces forcibly preventing the activists from accessing the port on Wednesday, March 4 during a planned tribute event to thank the port workers for their previous help in sending off the aid flotilla. Later, the governor of Tunis banned a cultural gathering and press conference about Palestine that was scheduled to be held at the Rio theater. The committee condemned what it described as unlawful arrests and ongoing repression, calling for the immediate release of all detained activists.
The committee emphasized that the arrests, use of excessive force, and suppression of Sumud Flotilla activities violate the Tunisian people’s right to show solidarity with Palestine and breach Tunisia’s historic stance on the cause. According to them, “these actions reflect worrying political shifts with potential long-term consequences for pro-Palestinian mobilization.”
The committee reaffirmed in its statement that “popular support for Palestine in Tunisia cannot be stopped by repression, arrests, or online intimidation. Our activists, who have faced Israeli forces unarmed, will not be deterred by arrest campaigns and suppression and we will continue our work regardless of the risks.”
On March 7, Ghassan Al‑Henchiri, a member of the Tunisian executive committee of the Sumud Flotilla, was reportedly abducted by unidentified men claiming to be police officers at the end of a march organized by the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla. The demonstration had been held to denounce recent American attacks on Iran and to demand the immediate release of the detained Sumud activists.
Detention, charges and legal escalation
In a statement posted online on March 9, Ghassen Boughdiri, a member of both the Maghreb aid convoy committee and the Tunisian Flotilla committee, declared that would turn himself in the next day to the Aouina [Financial] Investigation Unit with a clear conscience, prepared to face any false charges for his work trying to break the genocidal siege of Gaza. He also claimed in his post that the current wave of repression against Palestine solidarity work in Tunisia represents “total capitulation to American pressures—and to that specific faction within the ruling authority that safeguards American interests in Tunisia.”
After initially detaining Wael Naouar, Jawaher Channa, Nabil Chennoufi, Dr. Amin Belnour, and Sana Mhayedli Msahli for five days for investigation, on March 11, Tunisian authorities extended their detention for an additional five days. The decision also maintained the detention of Ghassan Al-Henchiri and Ghassan Boughediri.
On March 16, the activists were referred to the investigating judge at the Financial Judicial Court in connection with alleged crimes of money laundering and the management of illegal accounts.
“Today, we, dozens of lawyers, attended alongside activists of the Sumud Flotilla at the Financial Judicial Court, after the public prosecutor took charge of the case and referred it to one of the investigative offices within the Financial Judicial Court,”. read a statement released by lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi that he posted on his personal Facebook account on March 16.
Lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi stated that the proceedings did not involve substantive questioning. Instead, activists were presented with charges without being interrogated on the facts of the case.
“What occurred today was not an interrogation into the substance of the case. Instead, it was limited to presenting a series of charges against the defendants, including the accusation of forming a coalition for the purpose of money laundering. The defendants were not questioned on the facts of the case; the proceedings were limited to verifying identities and presenting the list of charges. The defense was not given the opportunity to argue the merits of the case, and our advocacy was restricted to requesting that they remain free pending investigation,” Ben Ghazi’s statement continued. Ben Ghazi clarified that despite this, “detention orders were issued for all of the activists, while substantive questioning in the case itself is scheduled to begin in the coming days.”
“What happened today will not deter us from fulfilling our duty. We will continue to defend them steadfastly, without hesitation or retreat, confident that the truth will emerge and that history will vindicate them and restore their honor,” added Ben Ghazi.
Families bear the emotional toll
Beyond the legal and procedural developments, the arrests have taken a heavy toll on families. Jihen Channa, sister of activist Jawaher Channa, described the challenges she has faced caring for Jawaher’s two young children since their parents’ detention.
“On the day they were taken, thankfully, I was at home with the kids. I suddenly found myself alone in a very difficult situation, with a three-year-old and an eight-year-old to look after,” she told Meshkal.
She added that the children, especially the eldest, have been deeply affected, and that the manner of Jawaher’s arrest, without prior formal notification, was traumatic. Visits to the prison have been emotionally difficult, yet Jihen remains hopeful that with legal support and public pressure, her sister and brother-in-law, Wael Naouar, will be freed, insisting that they have done nothing wrong.
Civil society voices concern
Beyond the personal toll on families, civil society voices also joined the protest to denounce the arrests. Sarra Brahmi, a journalist and a political activist, shared her concerns with Meshkal. She explained that she did not attend the event as a journalist but to lend her voice to those demanding the release of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists. She highlighted that some of Tunisia’s most dedicated young people had been arrested: individuals who had worked tirelessly to break the siege on Gaza and to build connections with supporters worldwide, earning national and international recognition for their efforts.
“Today, we find that after being released from the prisons of the occupying entity, from the infamous Negev prison, they are now being detained in their own country. That is something deeply shameful,” Brahmi said.
She emphasized that her presence at the event was meant to remind the public, her fellow activists, and herself that the Palestinian cause is not dependent on any single individual. She described it as a “transnational struggle that transcends borders and nations.”
Sarra acknowledged that she knew some of the detained activists personally and considered them friends, making it difficult to separate the personal from the objective. Despite this, she expressed sincere hope that Tunisia, a nation that has given countless martyrs in the struggle for national liberation, where Tunisian and Palestinian blood have long been intertwined, would not succumb to external pressures or foreign agendas.
She expressed hope that Tunisia would restore justice to the young activists now facing severe charges, stressing that such accusations should never target an activist. She acknowledged that it was their first participation in an initiative of this scale and that mistakes could occur, but firmly rejected the government’s allegations, emphasizing her solidarity with them, having shared hardships, sit-ins, and struggles alongside them.
Brahmi also offered an analysis of why the Tunisian state is turning to repress activism for Palestine at the current moment. After state forces repressed political parties and then civic associations, “it is only natural that solidarity efforts for Palestine are being devalued today.”
She noted that public opinion may be fleeting, like a passing cloud, but Tunisians’ connection to the Palestinian cause is enduring and deeply rooted. “It runs in our blood and is far from a temporary trend.”As for the detained activists, two of their defense lawyers, Sami Ben Ghazi and Najet Hedrich, visited nearly the entire group of them in the Mornaguia and Manouba prisons on March 25. Ben Ghazi reported that morale among the activists remains high, and they asked him to convey their sincere greetings to everyone who has supported them and stood by their cause. The activists continue to await their fate while remaining in detention.
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