(Image via TT News Agency)
Staff Editor: Gwen Pichette
Email: gpichette@umassd.edu
On October 6th, 170 activists were deported from Israel after naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla and most of its vessels.
Swedish longtime climate activist Greta Thunberg, 22, was among one of the many activists detained.
Between 2008 and 2018, humanitarian-aid ships organized by activists from around the world attempted to reach Gaza by sea more than 30 times. Only the first five missions were successful.
This flotilla had a total of 42 ships and 462 activists from over 44 different countries, being one of the largest to ever make the attempt to deliver aid.
The Gaza-bound ships were carrying essential supplies like rice, lentils, baby formula, and medication. “That this mission has to exist, it’s a shame! It is a shame!” Thunberg told journalists and protestors.
Thunberg and others claimed to have been tortured by Israeli forces after being detained, but Thunberg avoided details, saying that she wanted the focus to solely be on suffering Palestinians: “I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story.”
While Thunberg herself refused to go into detail, Swedish activists allege that Thunberg had her hands bound and was forced to wear the Israeli flag as a form of humiliation.
Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi claimed that Israeli soldiers withheld medicines and treated prisoners “like monkeys” saying, “this is called torture. It’s called torture, a denial of human rights, even the most basic ones.”
Another Italian journalist, Lorenzo D’Agostino, claimed that detainees used sleep deprivation tactics on them, and that Israeli soldiers were intentionally pointing the lasers of their guns at detainees to frighten them.
The arrests and alleged mistreatment of activists led to criticism from several governments, including Turkey, Colombia, and Pakistan. Greece, which had 27 of its citizens taken by Israeli forces, issued a “strong written protest” to Israel over the “unacceptable and inappropriate behavior of an Israeli minister.”
David Adler, an American activist, described the experience leading up to capture: ‘“When we were entering the red zone, the feeling was who knows what’s going to happen? Maybe we’re going to really overwhelm the Israeli Navy and draw them in and sail our way to the shores of Gaza and deliver this aid.’”
Adler later called his and other activists’ detainment “kidnapping.”
Activists aboard the ship were sent to Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev Desert and alleged that they were left without charges, access to a phone, or a lawyer for several days.
Israel swiftly denied all allegations, a foreign ministry spokesperson telling the outlet Reuters that “All detainees … were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld.”
Thunberg has continued to push the spotlight on Palestinian and has emphasized moral and legal obligations towards Palestinians. “No-one has the privilege to say we are not aware of what is happening. No-one in the future will be able to say we did not know,” she said.
“Under international law, states have a legal obligation to prevent and to stop a genocide from happening,” she added. “That means ending complicity, applying real pressure and ending arms transfers. We are not seeing that, we are not even seeing the bare minimum from our governments.”
The U.N. and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20% of the aid needed to address the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, according to U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, as stated on AP News.
Israeli government officials tell a different story. David Mencer, government spokesperson, said that “This wasn’t humanitarian aid. It’s Instagram activism,” before alleging that Israel has delivered over 1,200 truckloads of aid.
This was all before Israel and Hamas signed a tentative cease-fire agreement on October 9th—almost exactly two years after the 2023 Hamas attack on October 7th that killed 1,200 people, who were primarily Israeli citizens. Since then, 64,000 Palestinians have been killed.
However, the cease-fire has not stopped all violence. As of October 20th, more than 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, and the ceasefire remains unsteady.