Two Gaza flotilla activists still held in Israel and subjected to violence and fake terrorism allegations

Adalah (‘Justice’ in Arabic), the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, reports that lawyers were able to visit Thiago de Avila and Saif Abukeshek, the two Global Sumud Flotilla activists held in Israel after Israeli forces committed blatant acts of piracy two days ago, attacking 22 of the flotilla’s boats off Crete, over 500 miles from Gaza, and seizing everyone on board - 178 people in total.

All were subsequently released - after enduring ill-treatment during two days on an Israeli warship, leaving 34 requiring medical treatment - except for Thiago de Avila and Saif Abukeshek, who, in Shikma Prison in Ashkelon, told the lawyers of the abuse to which they have been subjected.

As Drop Site News reported on X, “De Avila told lawyers he was dragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely he lost consciousness twice. He arrived at Shikma with visible bruising around his left eye, reporting restricted movement and intense pain in his hand. He was kept blindfolded and in isolation from the moment of his capture until transfer to the Israel Prison Service, more than two days later.”

He said he was then “interrogated by the Shabak intelligence agency and told he would face further interrogation by the Mossad on suspicions of ‘affiliation with a terrorist organization.’” Adalah’s lawyers sought details of the allegations, but the Israeli authorities refused to provide any information.

Saif Abukeshek “reported being kept hand-tied, blindfolded, and forced to lie face-down on the floor from the moment of seizure until arriving at Shikma, leaving bruising on his face and hands.” He also reported that, during interrogation, he had also been accused of terrorist connections.

Both men declared a hunger strike, and are due to appear in Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, May 3, for a hearing regarding an extension to their detention.

Sadly, this is what happens when a perpetual aggressor like Israel is indulged by the west. Just as its ongoing genocide in Gaza followed on from decades of being allowed to attack Gaza repeatedly and to shamefully describe it as “mowing the lawn”, so it has been indulged in the increasing brutality of its illegal attacks on repeated flotillas, which have sought only to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Last June, after the Madleen was seized around 100 miles from Gaza, those detained before their release were subjected to repeated violence, denied food and water, and held in filthy crowded cells, while their governments did little or nothing to help them.

Where Israel is concerned, international law means nothing.