Trevor Clotfelter is four years younger than his sister, Jessica Clotfelter. He followed her footsteps when she choose to join the U.S. Marine Corps, and she joined him in Arizona to complete her master’s when he went to school there.
Now, he’s worrying for her safety from Windsor, Illinois, unable to reach her since 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night.
“We have both been in the military, so we have both been in austere places, but to sit here and play the waiting game on the other side of the fence is different for me,” Trevor Clotfelter said.
Jessica Clotfelter volunteered to be one of around 500 people aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza. On Wednesday night, Israeli forces boarded the boats.
The Israel Foreign Ministry posted on X that the boat passengers, including activist Greta Thunberg, are safe.
Clotfelter said he believes his sister will be okay, but he is waiting to hear how she is being treated while detained and how long the detention will last.
Sharon Monday lives in Urbana. Her cousin’s son, Paul Reid, was a volunteer on the flotilla. The family lost contact with him Wednesday as the Israeli military boarded the boats.
Monday said she is feeling a mixture of emotions from anger at the treatment Palestinians to gratitude for the way people in different countries are showing solidarity to the flotilla’s mission.
Italian dock workers have participated in pro-Palestinian protests across the country and are threatening to block trade with Israel.
Greece, Turkey and Spain have provided supplies to the volunteers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sought to provide food and medicine to starving people in Gaza.
Israel called the flotilla a “provocation” on social media that failed to breach its “lawful naval blockade.”
United Nation officials say Israel is causing famine in Gaza — and that using starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.