The challenge of Bari native Tony Lapiccirella and the Freedom Flotilla: the Handala is one step away from Gaza with the One Piece flag.

The Handala, the Freedom Flotilla vessel that set sail from Gallipoli to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestine, is getting ever closer to Gaza. The crew also includes Tony Lapiccirella, a native of Bari, an activist who, after several years spent in Europe and America, returned to his homeland and joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. He is best known for the Madleen mission, which included activist Greta Thunberg.

During the long voyage to the Palestinian coast, Antonio—known as Tony—raised the flag depicting the legendary straw hat, the emblem of Monkey D. Luffy's crew from the manga One Piece. For him, that symbol is not just a reference to a cartoon, but a powerful icon of resistance, brotherhood, and the fight against injustice. Just as Luffy and his companions brave the seas and tyrants in their quest for freedom, so the Freedom Flotilla sails the Mediterranean to assert the Palestinians' right to life and dignity.

Yesterday evening, news broke that the activists aboard the Handala will soon disembark at the Israeli port of Ashdod for repatriation. However, Lapiccirella himself announced, via his social media channels, that if the crew ever arrives at the Israeli port of Ashdod, it will be because they were "seized in international waters, with Israeli army rifles pointed at them, surrounded by military vessels, in violation of international law." In the past few hours, Mayor Vito Leccese also expressed the Bari community's support for Tony Lapiccirella: "From the city of San Nicola, thank you for what you and your comrades are doing!"