cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6351799
cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/74406
Human rights and climate activist Greta Thunberg has spoken publicly for the first time after her kidnapping, detention, and abuse at the hands of the Israeli government:
Greta Thunberg released
As the Canary previously reported, on Saturday 4 October the Israeli occupation authorities deported 137 of the kidnapped international solidarity activists who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the humanitarian siege on Gaza, in the second deportation operation in a matter of days, after returning four Italians to their country on Friday 3 October.
One of the deported activists who arrived at Istanbul airport on Saturday recounted shocking details of what he described as ‘brutal assaults’ on some activists during their detention, telling reporters:
They dragged little Greta (Thunberg) by her hair in front of our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her as a warning to others.
She’s still a little kid. They made her suffer.
Separately, the Guardian reported that an email to Swedish authorities said Greta Thunberg was suffering from:
dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.
Meanwhile, other released activists spoke of similar degrading treatment.
Turkish activist Samanur Sonmaz Yaman, a member of the flotilla, recounts details of the occupation’s oppression and abuse of veiled women from the boats:
Occupation soldiers ripped off our headscarves during our arrest and took them from us, and our non-veiled friends gave us their shirts to cover our heads.
Ongoing Israeli violence
Adalah, the legal centre that monitors the cases of detainees, said that detention conditions at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert are ‘deteriorating alarmingly,’ amid reports of ill-treatment and violence against some detainees.
A spokesperson for the organisation said that it is difficult at this stage to provide a comprehensive assessment, but confirmed that the mistreatment primarily affects non-European detainees, especially those whose countries do not have diplomatic missions in Israel.
This incident is the latest chapter in the confrontation between Israel and the international solidarity flotillas that recently set sail in an attempt to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 18 years, amid growing international warnings about targeting solidarity activists and civil society activists, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip, which is suffering from famine and shortages of medicine and fuel.
Israel intercepted 40 ships in the Global Solidarity Flotilla that set sail to reach Gaza to break the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid amid the ongoing war of extermination on Gaza, which is now entering its third year.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
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This comment feels like it misrepresents what parent comment said.
Just like the citizens of the United States do not support the actions of the United States government. The government is different from the people.
We are skirting around stating actual facts of genocide and slaughter because we know that we will be accused of somehow being antisemitic, but that argument at the moment is a joke. Full stop
Jewish is a religion. Citizens of Israel are not “Jews” in the same way citizens of the US are “american.”
Being pro israel or pro zionism is not compatible with being jewish.
If a statement you are replying to mentions israel, an easy tip in formatting your reply for the least confusion possible is that your reply should NOT mention the Jewish faith. They are not the same.
They do. Period.
If they didn’t, they’d complain. Louder and louder with each passing day, until the cause went away.
However, that’s not what’s happening.
Minding your own business means you support the current power structures and those in them. Silent support is still - support.
Italy is doing good on the complaining front: they disrupt the economy. Not enough so anything changes in essence, but just enough so some lines go down and alarm bells start ringing.
Most people, unfortunately, eat up the “antisemitic” and “Everyone I don’t like is Khamas” arguments. A good chunk not because they’re stupid amd can’t differentiate, but because it gives them an easy way of coping with what they’re seeing: truly bad stuff happening. Bad stuff they like.