Nurain Saloojee comes from a family that opposed apartheid in South Africa. Photo: Hasina Kathrada
At 22, Nurain Saloojee is one of the youngest people on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian fleet of more than fifty boats attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
For her, the journey is not a sudden act of conscience but the outcome of years of steady involvement.
“Palestine has been part of my life my whole life,” Saloojee says. “It didn’t just happen overnight. Even as a child, when the last flotilla sailed, I remember making paper boats and floating them in water. That image imprinted in my mind, and I still remember how significant it was. Everything I’ve done, from pamphlets and fundraising to social media, has led to this moment.”
Her activism is deeply rooted in family.
“My grand uncles, my aunts, all of them were part of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance [PSA]. They fought apartheid in South Africa, so it’s our duty to fight against oppression everywhere. Even when they got older, they would take their chairs to protests and sit on the roadside. That commitment was just part of our lives.”
Saloojee formally joined the PSA five years ago, running its Instagram account.
“I started behind the scenes, doing social media, and slowly got more involved,” she says. “Social media has changed the world’s narrative about Palestine. A pamphlet reaches one person but a post can reach thousands and thousands. It has opened so many hearts to the cause.”
But with that reach comes responsibility. “On social media, follow people who are responsible with what they are posting. Influencers have such an impact, and a lot of our youth follow them. If those influencers are not posting responsibly, it affects society. And even as an individual, you cannot be posting about food when there is starvation. Does it correlate? You need to take that responsibility on yourself.”
Although Saloojee was born after the end of apartheid, her politics is also shaped by her upbringing in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, a product of the racial system.
“Indian people were moved to Lenasia under the Group Areas Act. We didn’t have the same facilities or standards of living. Later, when we moved out, I saw what others always had access to. That awareness shaped how I understood inequality,” she said.
That experience informs her understanding of solidarity.
“We cannot isolate struggles. Whether it is Congo, the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo], Sudan, or unemployment and sanitation here in South Africa, it is all connected. When we fight for liberation in one place, we fight for liberation everywhere,” Saloojee said.
“Everyone has a responsibility, everyone has the capability to create change. Even your voice matters. People look at us as youth to see where our minds are at. We have to set the tone for generations to come.”
A newly qualified graduate, Saloojee is completing her community service as an audiologist. But for now, she sails with a South African delegation of 10, alongside figures such as Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela.
“I want to inspire as many young people as I can to be more involved and more active,” she says. “There are too few youth voices at the forefront. It is our future, and we need to fight for what we believe in. Change will come from that,” she said.
For the South African government, the flotilla extends its genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from the courtroom into lived action. Saloojee says symbolism is not enough. “Yes, we took Israel to the ICJ, which was fantastic. But why are we still trading with Israel? Why are we exporting coal when our own country faces shortages? Sanctions are what we need. That is the kind of action that can bring real change.”
The dangers are real. Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has threatened to classify flotilla activists as “terrorists” and seize their boats. The organisers have dismissed the threat as baseless and a violation of international humanitarian law.
“It is heartbreaking to watch a live genocide on your phone every day,” Salooojee says. “Fear cannot be the thing that decides whether you act or not.”
She recalls visiting Palestine a few years ago and seeing apartheid walls cutting villages in half.
“Imagine your cousin lives opposite you, and suddenly a big wall goes up and your whole life changes. Even the checkpoints that make every single day a struggle. It should not be normal, and yet it has become normalised. Palestinians I met told me they had never even seen what Al-Aqsa looks like, even though it is five kilometres away. That reality is shocking. And it is why I cannot turn away.”
Before she sets sail on the historic mission, she turns again to her generation.
“Everyone asks me, ‘what can I do to help?’ Boycott. Protest. Hold your politicians accountable. Everyone has power. You have to act. And you cannot stop. You have to continue doing as much as you can.”
Her presence on the flotilla reflects both continuity and change: the continuity of solidarity rooted in anti-apartheid struggle, and the change of a generation stepping up at 22, willing to face down intimidation on open water.
That sense of duty is echoed in a message from home. In a video message to her, shared on social media, her mother Maleeha Ahmed said: “We are incredibly proud of you. Your name means light, and you have always brought light to our home and our family. And I know for sure that you will bring light to the people of Gaza.
“You are carrying the hopes and dreams and duas [prayers of supplication] from people in South Africa and around the world that they have not been forgotten, that we will stand by them until they are free.”