As Aussie activists are brutalised, “No one left behind” is just a slogan for Albanese

The news of the capture of 11 Australians in international waters by the state of Israel was barely mentioned in the Australian press. Detained hundreds of kilometres from Gaza while attempting to break the blockade, these citizens were largely ignored — until dramatic footage emerged of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Nation Security Minister, debasing and abusing the activists. 

Overnight, news of the release of the Sumud Flotilla prisoners broke. Spokespeople report that many experienced abuse, torture, and rape at the hands of the IDF. The Shot will check in with our contacts and provide updates on their status in the coming days and weeks. 

DFAT’s initial messaging urged people not to join the flotilla, and stated that they “risked death” for doing so, before pivoting to claiming the government was “urgently seeking the status” of the 11 Australians Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israel. 

If you call DFAT about the 6 Aussies kidnapped near Crete, you get a message that says, "the Israeli Navy is patrolling territorial waters" (Greece's!?), and, "Don't join others seeking to break the blockade. Previous attempts have resulted in death…" and then it hangs up.

— David Milner (@DaveMilbo) May 1, 2026

Other than that, the government wasn’t making much noise throughout the duration of the flotilla’s journey. It wasn’t until Ben-Gvir decked a female Irish protester while carrying an Israeli flag that Penny Wong issued her concerns [gravely? – Ed.] and condemnations to Israel. A common sight in the last couple of years.

While the foreign press was using words like “illegal interception in international waters,” “kidnapping,” and “brutality,” the Australian press, led by the ABC, used more passive language, such as “intercepted” and “detained.” Amnesty International made a statement reflecting the concern: “There are grave concerns for the safety of the around 175 activists arbitrarily detained and being transported to Israel.” Yet the ABC reminded readers that DFAT had “repeatedly warned Australians against joining efforts to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.”

“No one left behind” has become an axiom for Anthony Albanese and his government. It was the blueprint used to launch their 2022 election campaign, it was the phrase bellowed on election victory night, and it’s the catchphrase that suits his projected story. The bloke loves saying it. In fact, he said it again only a couple of weeks ago – on the day the 11 Australians along with hundreds of international activists were launching the Global Sumud Flotilla from Greece to break the illegal blockade of Gaza and deliver aid to the Palestinians. Four days later they were apprehended.

125 years ago, the Federal Labor Party held our first caucus before the opening of our Federal Parliament.

We’ve come a long way since 1901, but we’ve always held true to our values.

No one held back and no one left behind.

And our newest Federal Labor Members who make up… pic.twitter.com/vsFL6KipkF

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 13, 2026

No one left behind. Putting aside the one in six children who live in poverty, of course. Or the 10,000 per month that go homeless. And Australia’s Aboriginal people, now further from closing the gap than ever. Disregarding, also, the neoliberal hellscape that sees Australians languish on the edge of destitution after pandemic, bushfire, flood, continental war, and genocide. The government, habitually, appears to leave behind its concerns for Australians – those captured by the Israeli entity most definitely included – until enough pressure finally builds in the eleventh hour, if at all.

It wasn’t until Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted footage taunting zip-tied detainees, with Irish activist Catriona Graham visibly shouting “Free Palestine,” that the media and government finally fired up. The sight of Ben-Gvir standing over a bound and ridiculed Western white woman detained in international waters near Cyprus, holding an Israeli flag in one hand while striking Graham with the other, is something that makes the mind boggle in a world we were told isn’t meant to be.

They say that Ben-Gvir’s behaviour doesn’t reflect Israel’s, but his popularity is rising, and his depraved activity is the reason for it. Ben-Gvir has been slapping blindfolded and cuffed prisoners with noose lapel pins (a campaign for the death penalty for Arab prisoners) on his blazer, his Loki-like grin stirring the worst demons that dance in the minds of what Norman Finkelstein calls a psychopathic state, for years. 

So what the fuck is our government doing still throwing concern at Tel Aviv, and letting its President have secret briefings with ASIO, while allowing it to maintain an embassy after the deliberate targeting death of Australian hero Zomi Frankcom, and the destruction of the children of Gaza, after the breaches of international law and the live streamed carnage?

Caitlin Johnstone points out the absurdity, that after witnessing this act by Ben-Gvir, we are told it doesn’t represent Israel’s values, “after we just spent days consuming mountains of evidence that Israel tortures prisoners using trained rape dogs.” The crimes of Israel are too macabre to consolidate, each so individually inhumane and uniquely depraved: the deliberate sniping of children, the destruction of water treatment plants and maternity wards, the dumb bombing of entire university complexes and tent encampments in declared safe zones, the celebrated rape of prisoners (with dogs also), the deliberate starvation of infants and children; genocide. For two and a half years straight.

The brave Australians kidnapped in international waters 600km from Gaza join the brave activists captured in missions that span over a decade, including the deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, where 9 activists were shot a total of 30 times by Israeli commandos in international waters outside Israel’s declared blockade zone. Every flotilla has stretched Israeli resources, and each flotilla has multiplied support for Palestine. All the people that commit to the missions do so representing countries run by captured governments who still decide to support Israel.

The people that leave their loved ones behind to challenge this horror, like the captured activists from the flotilla, like murdered Zomi Frankcom, are the bravest among us. The only reason these people are needing to risk their lives to sail to the most depraved country on the planet to give food to children is because their governments have failed them. The sacrifice of the activists pales in comparison to the sacrifice of the victims of Israel in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran, but it towers over their cowardly politicians at home who run cover for this madness and impose restrictions on public freedoms for all who scream enough.

All who do anything but completely repudiate this with all their heart and soul — through diplomatic, economic and military reprisal — fail the test of basic humanity. The brave Australians who were kidnapped in international waters now join a long line of activists who have risked everything for Palestine. In the memory of Zomi Frankcom and the thousands of children deliberately destroyed in Gaza, Anthony Albanese must be held to his own words. If “no one left behind” is to mean anything, Australia should immediately cut all military ties, close the Israeli embassy, and impose real sanctions on a state that treats our citizens and international law with contempt. Australian voters should remember this betrayal at the next election. The time for quiet diplomacy is over.