GSF reported that the crews of the ships attacked by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were released in Greece. However, the coordinators of the Flotilla, Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek, remain kidnapped, are prevented from disembarking and want to be sent to Israel for interrogation. The Greek authorities are mistreating the activists, making it difficult for them to leave the country, about which there is still uncertainty. It is necessary to deepen the solidarity actions for the freedom of all the activists, for the Flotilla and for Palestine. The International Socialist League (ISL) reaffirms its militant commitment at sea and on land.
By Ruben Tzanoff
Incomplete release of activists
On the morning of May 1, most of the activists who had been kidnapped on April 29 by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while sailing in international waters near the southwestern Greek territorial waters were released. The release, and the fact that most of the comrades were not locked up in an Israeli prison for several days – as was the case last year – is good news on this special day, International Workers’ Day. However, the release comes with a bitter taste, since at this moment it has not been completed due to the continued kidnapping of the comrades Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek and the arbitrariness that the Greek authorities are trying to impose.
Greece complicates final release
A publication of the Israel Foreign Ministry, considers Thiago “suspected of illegal activity” and Saif “suspected of affiliation to a terrorist organization”, for which it intends to transfer them to Israel for interrogation. They are counting on the complicity of the Greek authorities who allowed the Zionist operation on their coasts, did not respond to the SOS of the drifting boats, are currently preventing Thiago and Saif from joining all the released comrades and want the departures from the country to be under the figure of deported and not voluntary.
Below we share a post from GSF, 12:14 hours explaining the situation: ” IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT: According to the latest information received from the Global Sumud Flotilla team in Greece: After refusing to allow Thiago Avila and Saif Ebu Keshek to board the bus under the pretext that they would be taken to Israel, the 175 participants on the buses refuse to depart. The team staged a protest, refusing to leave their location until all passengers are present.We have received information that the Spanish Foreign Ministry is exerting pressure on Israel to prevent Saif Ebu Keshek, who is also a Spanish citizen, from being taken to Israel and to secure his immediate release. Meanwhile, the Greek authorities did not allow the Sumud team access to the area where the buses transporting the activists are located. RELEASE THE ACTIVISTS IMMEDIATELY!”
Reprehensible mistreatment
The Greek authorities are mistreating activists who committed no crime, as the GSF is denouncing: “URGENT: GSF PARTICIPANTS BRUTALIZED BY IOF AFTER 40 HOURS AT SEA. Global Flotilla Sumud participants have just survived 40 hours of premeditated cruelty aboard an IOF Navy vessel in Greek waters. They were denied sufficient food and water. They were forced to sleep on floors that were deliberately and repeatedly flooded. When the military attempted to kidnap two participants, Saif Abukeshek (Spain/Palestinian origin) and Thiago Avila (Brazil), our crew resisted peacefully and the response was extreme violence. The participants were beaten, kicked and dragged around the deck with their hands tied behind their backs. They suffered broken noses, broken ribs and bloody beatings. They were even shot at in the midst of the chaos. The nightmare is not over yet. The Greek police keep our team, battered, trapped in buses, preventing them the freedom to leave, while Saif and Thiago have been kidnapped and taken back to occupied Palestine. Our participants remain steadfast: 60 of them have started a hunger strike. This is a brutal attack on peaceful civilians. We will not stand idly by. We demand their freedom and that the international community be held accountable NOW.”
Some activists were transported to the hospital and others it is not known where they are being taken to in buses or whether they will be prosecuted. The situation is unclear and continues to generate uncertainty.
Lying and cynical Zionism
The State of Israel attempts to misrepresent the humanitarian purpose of the Flotilla, stating, “As the Peace Board and the US State Department have published, humanitarian activity in the Gaza Strip is managed by the BoP, and this Hamas-led flotilla is another provocation designed to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to serve the public relations interests of professional provocateurs.” The cynicism of Netanyahu and the Zionist regime knows no bounds. Netanyahu publicly assumed his political responsibility for the state terror operation. This was denounced by the coordinator of the LIS, Alejandro Bodart:
The governments of the European Union must take action now
The genocide against the Palestinian people, Netanyahu’s threats and this provocation should be more than enough reason for governments to immediately break with Israel and stop their strategic support for the Zionist regime of apartheid, cleansing and territorial occupation. Diplomatic delegations of governments have an obligation to defend activists in their countries, which includes taking charge of Greece’s exit without legal consequences and in complete safety.
It is necessary to maintain and deepen the actions
As soon as the 22 ships of the Flotilla were rendered unfit for navigation and the activists kidnapped, the demand for the freedom of the comrades was activated with solidarity mobilizations in different countries.
It is necessary to continue to promote mobilizations and actions, demanding that governments also intervene decisively. And to support the demands of the Flotilla in Crete and in any point of Greece that is necessary.
As the situation becomes clearer and gets back on track, contact is re-established with the Flotilla, particularly with our comrades Cele Fierro and Raul Laguna, the activists leave the port towards Heraklion International Airport and establish contact with consular officials; we will share direct testimonies of the events. In the meantime the LIS reaffirms its commitment to the Flotilla and Palestine, promoting the broadest unity of actions in the streets and in all areas, for the complete freedom of the activists and for a Free Palestine from the river to the sea.
Solidarity of Gruppe ArbeiterInnenmacht and Revolution (Germany).
You can follow the Flotilla information and the videos of Cele and Raul in this link:
Heading for Gaza: GSF in real time
