Welcome to the calculated, systematic barbarism inflicted on Palestinians for decades. There are 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli torture camps, a third held without charges or trial. Nearly 500 are children - Save the Children reports 69% of them have been subjected to sexual violence. Palestinian's have no release dates, often not even lawyers let alone consular help and don't even get the half-hearted international condemnation afforded to the Flotilla victims of abuse.
At least 67 people were taken to hospital, 12 were hospitalized, a few are still in hospital due to severe injuries. There are 15 reports of severe sexual abuse, including rape and forcible penetration with an object.
From one of the Sumud Flotilla Press releases:
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New Testimonies: Terror Inside the Shipping Containers
As survivors begin speaking to the press upon arrival in their home nations, a shared experience of calculated barbarism—and profound solidarity—is emerging:
- The French Delegation: In a chilling personal testimony, French delegate Meriem Hadjal described being dragged toward a dark shipping container by soldiers multiple times her size. "I take the first blow. Slaps that knock you out… Everything happens at the level of the head." Terrified of being raped, she resisted as a soldier repeatedly touched her, while a second soldier pulled at her chest and pants. Inside the container, she witnessed a third soldier torturing another volunteer on the ground with a taser. Another soldier grabbed her by the hair, beating her head while demanding she show her face. When the container door briefly opened, she recounted, "what I mainly see on the ground, because I don't look up, are bloodstains." Meriem noted she, along with other detainees, were stripped naked, removing any warm clothes and crammed into splintered containers where they could hear their "comrades, one by one, screaming, because they were being beaten to a pulp."
- The Polish Delegation: Karim Awad, a medic holding dual Polish and UK citizenship, recounted being choked with a torn Palestinian flag by an iOF soldier. Awad was subsequently subjected to continuous stompings to the head by six soldiers. Because he had written "Free Palestine" on his body, he was singled out for multiple strip searches, severe beatings with a hand-held metal detector, and having his hair ripped out. He further revealed that the iOF systematically flooded the floors of the dark shipping containers with cold water every few hours to prevent detainees from sleeping.
- The Greek Delegation: Delegates recounted the boarding of the Kiriakos X, where soldiers used electric shocks and brutal beatings on the crew to force them to identify their captain. To halt the torture of her crew, the female captain courageously stepped forward to claim responsibility for the boat and volunteers; the iOF responded by shooting her directly in the leg with a rubber bullet. She was wounded and denied proper medical care for days.
- The South African Delegation: Two South African delegates, Ebrahim Peters and Qutb Hendricks, provided powerful testimony detailing how iOF soldiers explicitly used geopolitical retaliation as a pretext for torture. Upon discovering the participants’ nationality, soldiers dragged them into an isolated room and launched a targeted physical assault. While beating the volunteers, soldiers explicitly referenced international accountability mechanisms, stating, "You guys want to take us to court? We'll show you," referencing South Africa's genocide case against israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Belgian & Australian Delegations: 77-year-old Belgian delegate Olimpia Dìez Perlines expressed total shock at the sadism of the forces. Julien Cabral, another Belgian participant noted that soldiers could be heard explicitly saying, "let's have fun," as they initiated the violent attacks. And Australian delegate Juliet Lamont provided further harrowing details, confirming she was sexually assaulted “in this
kind of torture chamber as five men were bashing me and smashing my face.”
- The Canadian Delegation: Ehab Lotayef, sailing aboard the Canadian Boat to Gaza, was directly asked by iOF personnel to assist them with translation, only to be stabbed in the hand by soldiers the moment he attempted to provide that help.
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https://globalsumudflotilla.org/press/global-sumud-flotilla-releases-horrific-newly-emerging-testimonies-as-survivors-return-home/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/anita-anand-canadians-flotilla-israel-abuse-9.7208369
Israel says it operated within "the law". They meant of the Old Testament, surely...
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