Kenyan blogger James Murua seeks help after wife abducted by Israeli military

On Thursday, October 2, at 4:00 am, the Israeli military intercepted over 40 boats on the Global Sumud Flotilla that was carrying aid to Gaza, taking captive of more than 450 foreign activists. 

In a statement, Murua said his wife, who is of South African descent, had joined a delegation from South Africa to deliver food and medicine to war-torn Gaza.

However, the Flotilla was intercepted by the Israelis, with the activists on board detained and taken to Israel. 

"In any other situation, I wouldn’t be worried about the safety of my partner, but the Israelis have shown singular cruelty to anyone who stands in the way of their mission to eradicate Palestinians from the face of the earth," he stated.

"I appeal directly to the government of Kenya, where she has been resident for the last fourteen years, and the African Union, to do everything in its power to get her and others who have been kidnapped by the Israeli regime."

Murua described his wife as an advocate for the Palestinian struggle from childhood, with her roots in the African National Congress while in exile in Lusaka, where she was born in 1976, and in Harare, where she grew up.

He painted a picture of how strong her conviction is, recalling how, in 2024, she returned the Goethe Medal, an honour given to her by the German government for her work in culture, in protest of their role in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as well as their silencing of dissenting artistic voices against Israel.

The journalist appealed to other activists to raise their voices to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine. 

"There is an ongoing genocide – this is the time for all of us to stand up for Palestine. And our son, Jama, needs his mother back home."

The history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine dates back to control over Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, territories whose borders remain contested. 

In October 2023, the Islamist group Hamas launched a large-scale attack into southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking hostages, triggering a full-scale war. 

In response, Israel fired extensive airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza, citing self-defence. 

The conflict has led to tens of thousands of civilian fatalities, the destruction of infrastructure, and the displacement of millions, prompting severe shortages of food, water, medicines and shelter.