Starting at 2 pm on Saturday May 2, community members will gather outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa to “defend the Global Sumud Flotilla and continue the global pressure to break the illegal siege on Gaza.”
The social media promotion for this protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office highlights: “On the night of April 29-30, the zionist entity illegally intercepted 22 boats of the flotilla and kidnapped 180 civilians, among them 2 Canadians. An act of piracy, with full impunity. We denounce Canada’s silence and complicity with those violent attacks, the illegal siege on Gaza, and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
The civilians intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters were reportedly transferred by an army ship to Greek boats that then took them to Crete.
But the Flotilla says: “The nightmare isn’t over. Greek police are now trapping our battered crew on buses, denying them the freedom to leave while Saif and Thiago have been abducted and taken back to Occupied Palestine. Our participants remain unbroken: 60 participants have immediately launched a hunger strike.”
Canadian rescued by Greenpeace ship
The Canadian Press notes: “The Global Sumud Flotilla has identified the Canadians as Marie Tota, a nurse from Ontario, and Umir Tiar, a student from Quebec City. It said Luiza Noura, a third Canadian, was rescued by Greenpeace and Spanish NGO Open Arms after her boat was destroyed and she was left adrift in the sea.”
Two Flotilla members still in custody
The day before this protest, the Associated Press reported: “Israeli authorities said Friday [May 1] they were taking two high-profile activists [Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila] who led an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, and who were captured by Israel in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, to Israel for questioning. The governments of Spain and Brazil accused Israel of ‘kidnapping’ its citizens.”
Alllegations of abuse
Novara Media adds: “Global Sumud Flotilla participants say they were punched, kicked, dragged across the floor with their hands tied, and shot at with real and rubber bullets on board an Israeli warship after they were kidnapped in international waters more than 500 nautical miles from Gaza. …34 wounded participants – including two Brits – have been taken to hospital in Crete, flotilla organisers said, with broken bones and other injuries. One participant was reportedly knocked unconscious for several minutes, while another has serious injuries to their neck. Several have broken ribs and noses, and some appear to be wearing blood-stained clothes.”
The Guardian also reports: “Zack Schofield said the activists were held by Israel on a transport ship. He said the vessel had been retrofitted as a prison, with the main deck dominated by shipping containers surrounded by barbed wire. ‘They took people into the fourth shipping container and beat them with the butts of their rifles and batons, and with their fists and their feet,’ he said. ‘I saw a man shot at point-blank range with a rubber bullet in the leg and in the back.’ …Schofield alleged he witnessed a young Colombian woman being repeatedly punched in the ribs by an IDF soldier.”
The Flotilla continues
Novara Media highlights: “Flotilla organisers say the remaining boats – only 22 of 57 were intercepted – will continue to Gaza.”
Shut Down CANSEC, May 28
Al Jazeera reports: “Gur Tsabar, a spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, described Israel’s boarding of its vessels as ‘a straight-up attack on unarmed civilian boats in international waters.’”
Deutsche Welle also reports: “Israeli military boats seized 15 ships near Crete, hundreds of miles from Gaza, according to the mission organizer, Global Sumud Flotilla. ‘Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as Israeli, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,’ the organization said in a post on X.”
Tariq Ra’ouf also told Al Jazeera that drones had surrounded the Flotilla and had been flashing them with lights.
The navy vessels, military speedboats, lasers, semi-automatic assault weapons, drones and the component parts and technology that make them work are what the nearly 300 exhibitors at CANSEC will market to the 60+ delegations, including Israel, this coming Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28 in Ottawa.
We continue to follow this.
