About twenty arrived this Saturday, around 1:30 p.m., at El Prat airport after Israel deported them on three chartered planes to Istanbul on Thursday after being intercepted in international waters when they were heading to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid. A group of about 200 people was waiting for them, among whom was the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and the Comuns MEP, Jaume Asens, with whom they shouted “Free free Palestine,” among other proclamations.
More than 430 activists were traveling on this expedition, among whom was the former mayor of Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona), Laura Campos. The Flotilla was made up of 54 vessels that, once again, tried to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. Last Monday it was intercepted by the Israeli navy in one 250 nautical miles from Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla reported on Friday that among its members detained by the Israeli authorities there have been at least 15 sexual assaults and dozens of injuries, after remaining in Israeli custody following the interception of the boats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea when trying to reach the coasts of Gaza.
“At least 15 cases of sexual assaults, including rapes. Shots with rubber bullets at point-blank range. Dozens of people with broken bones,” the initiative denounced in a message on social networks, stressing that now it is time to increase pressure against the Israeli authorities for their treatment of the Israeli population.
Global Sumud Flotilla has stated that while the world “focuses on the suffering of the participants,” these cases of violence “are but a small glimpse of the brutality that Israel imposes daily on Palestinian hostages.”
“Do not let your guard down. Statements of condemnation are not enough. People around the world must take advantage of this moment to exert the necessary pressure to put an end to this colonial violence,” the humanitarian organization stressed, insisting on increasing pressure on the political class and pursuing “boycott and divestment tactics.”
The organization is already thinking about the next steps to take and has announced legal actions in Türkiye, Poland, Morocco, Italy, Indonesia, Spain and France.
