The first people from the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza deported from Israel, an M5S deputy and a journalist, have testified upon their arrival in Rome that they have treated activists illegally detained in international waters. “They hit and kicked us, but less than the others: I heard the screams of the activists, and someone no doubt broke some ribs“, declared journalist Alessandro Mantovani.
Both Mantovani and the M5S deputy, Dario Carotenuto, landed at Fiumicino airport still wearing the numbered red bracelets that the Israeli Army put on each of the activists. thus erasing their names and surnames and addressing them only by number. “At one point, my partner and I were called by number 147 and They pointed machine guns at us. We had our hands up outside the bins and were asked to move forward with our hands up and then turn around. They were the longest seconds of my life. I thought about my son, whom I feared I would never see again. Afterwards, they grabbed us by the neck and separated us, and from that moment on I had no contact with my traveling companions,” said Carotenuto.
Mantovani and Carotenuto were not sent, like the rest, to the Israeli port of Ashdod, but that did not spare them from the blows. The journalist showed the media his swollen face and commented that he had also been hit “on the leg and back.” “There was a dark container – says the deputy – and as soon as you entered, they beat you savagely. They hit me in the eye and I thought I was going to lose my sight. They beat us and all the time they said ‘welcome to Israel’ (the same phrase that Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote to accompany it).
Despite the mistreatment they suffered, both have indicated that they have been luckier than the rest of the activists. According to his statements, some people had broken arms and ribs and four had to be hospitalized. The medical care, they have said, was not provided by Israeli health personnel but by other activists from the flotilla, such as the sister of the president of Ireland, Margaret Connolly.
The words of the Italians correspond to the complaints issued yesterday by the flotilla’s team of lawyers, Adalah. The organization, as reported last night, “received a large number of reports of extreme violence, revealing a pattern of physical abuse deliberately used by Israeli authorities“This violence caused serious and widespread injuries,” they reported.
As Adalah revealed, “dozens of participants” may have suffered “rib fractures and subsequent difficulty breathing.” “Reports also indicated the frequent use of Tasers against participants, as well as injuries sustained from the use of rubber bullets during the interception of the flotilla ships and on the military ship to which they were transferred. The detained activists were subjected to extreme violence, […] serious humiliation, sexual harassment and humiliation“, they denounced.
