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<\/a><\/p>\nAn aerial view shows boats sailing on the sea during a march organized by the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and the Palestine Support Platform, in Istanbul, Turkiye, in support of the Freedom Flotilla, (Oguz Yeter\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Wilder set sail from Italy last week aboard The Conscious, one of dozens of boats that aimed to reach Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.<\/p>\n
But that effort was cut short when Wilder, along with the other journalists and aid workers on her voyage, was intercepted by the Israeli military and detained. The military has intercepted, detained and deported activists sailing to Gaza multiple times in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Jewish Currents has been staunchly against the war in Gaza, calling Israel\u2019s campaign there a genocide and advocating for the Palestinian cause. In an email to subscribers, publisher Daniel May said the publication sent Wilder on a flotilla because of the value of the reporting she could produce.<\/p>\n
\u201cJewish Currents commissioned Emily\u2019s reporting because we know that Israel\u2019s unprecedented restrictions on journalists have facilitated the war crimes perpetrated in Gaza,\u201d May wrote. \u201cWe also know that the flotillas are an important story in themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilder was a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, both anti-Zionist groups, as a student at Stanford University, from which she graduated in 2020. The next year, she was fired from the Associated Press in 2021 due to her social media posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since then, according to her LinkedIn, she has worked as a freelancer and a human rights researcher.<\/p>\n
Wilder was also documenting the voyage on her Instagram account, which has not posted an update since she and her crew were detained.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the @gazafreedomflotilla\u2019s Conscience sets sail from the boot of Italy, with hopes of bringing ~70 media and medical workers across the Mediterranean to Gaza\u2019s shores amid Israel\u2019s blockade on international press and killing of doctors and journalists,\u201d wrote Wilder last week in a post.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s foreign ministry blasted the flotilla participants in a post on X Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing,\u201d the post read. \u201cThe vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health. The passengers are expected to be deported promptly.\u2019<\/p>\n
In the email, May directed readers to sign a Change.org petition calling for her release and to urge the California native\u2019s representatives, including Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, to advocate for her.<\/p>\n
Last week, dozens of other boats that were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla were also intercepted, and hundreds of participants were detained and later deported, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who alleged that she had been \u201ckidnapped and tortured\u201d by the Israeli military. (Another flotilla effort including Thunberg was intercepted by the Israeli military in June.)<\/p>\n
\u201cMy office has now confirmed that a second flotilla carrying vital humanitarian aid \u2026 has been intercepted, and nearly 145 passengers and crew detained,\u201d wrote California Democratic Rep. Jimmy Comez in a statement. \u201cAmong the detained is my constituent Emily Wilder, a member of the press, who was reporting on the flotilla\u2019s attempt to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n