Molokai resident will be participating in an International Freedom Flotilla

Jayson Mizula, U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard veteran who resides on Molokai, is currently in the Mediterranean preparing for the International Freedom Flotilla, according to a press release.

The International Freedom Flotilla is a civilian aid flotilla with the aim of breaking the blockade in Gaza. This civilian aid mission will sail in late April to challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza to bring in aid.

The flotilla consists of multiple ships carrying over 5500 tons of urgently needed food and medicine for the Palestinian people being deliberately starved and diseased in Gaza. Mizula will be a part of several hundred participants in this non-violent mission.

Mizula lives on the island of Molokai with his wife, Bahar Yaghoubi, their two young boys, Omid Soleil Handala Mizubi. Aside from being a father, Mizula is also a farmer and a poet and helps run Seed of Love Hawaii (SOL), a small, all volunteer non-profit focused on making the world a brighter place for people, animals, and the planet. SOL is currently co-hosting the ongoing ‘Eyes on Palestine’ film series at the Molokai Public Library. Mizula and his family sell Canaan Palestine fair trade organic olive oil at the local farmers market as a way to help humanize Palestinians and to raise money to help farmers in Palestine plant more olive trees.

“In the summer of 2011, I promised the Mitwali family, whom I lived with for a month at Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, that I would never forget them and never forget Palestine,” Mizula said of his mission to Gaza. “I promised I’d do everything in my power to help. They took me in and welcomed me as a part of their family. They happily shared what little they had with me and helped me find my own humanity once again. I am going on the Gaza flotilla as a part of my promise. It’s unfathomable that we’ve been watching this genocide live-streamed for six months and all our government does is send more weapons, cut the funding for the only people actually helping (UNRWA), and ignore the countless voices that have been demanding a permanent ceasefire since day one.”