In a hearing on Sunday, May 3, an Israeli court extended the imprisonment of Global Sumud Flotilla activists Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila until Tuesday, following the illegal interception of vessels in international waters and the seizure of over 170 activists by occupation forces. “Today’s ruling reflects a broader pattern in which israeli occupation courts function to legitimize unlawful detention and state violence in cases involving Palestinians and their allies,” the Global Sumud Flotilla reacted to the decision.
Both activists are on hunger strike and held in Shikma Prison, according to communications by the Global Sumud Flotilla and Adalah Center, whose legal experts are representing Abukeshek and Ávila. “The prison is known for being used to detain Palestinian prisoners under harsh conditions, most recently being used to imprison civilians abducted from Gaza as part of israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people,” the Global Sumud Flotilla warned.
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Both their main organization and legal representatives reported that Abukeshek and Ávila have been exposed to severe abuse and torture since their seizure. “He [Thiago Ávila] was dragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice,” Adalah wrote after first meeting the activists on May 2. “From the moment he was taken by the Israeli military until his transfer to the Israel Prison Service more than two days later, he was kept in isolation and blindfolded.”
“Saif Abukeshek reported being kept hand-tied and blindfolded,” the center added, “and being forced to lie face-down on the floor from the moment of his seizure until this morning, resulting in bruising to his face and hands.”
In an update issued on Monday, Adalah attorneys emphasized their concern about the abuse endured by the two activists, warning they are being held in total isolation, under constant high-intensity lighting, and blindfolded whenever they are moved outside their cells. “Thiago Ávila reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours,” the legal center reported. “Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be ‘killed’ or ‘spend 100 years in jail.'”
Israel allowed to “patrol European waters, seize boats, kidnap people”
The Global Sumud Flotilla is part of a new global civil flotilla to the Gaza Strip aiming to break Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver essential supplies, including food and medicines, to the Palestinian population enduring genocide for the past two and a half years.
On the night of April 29-30, armed Israeli vessels and drones attacked the flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea, 60 nautical miles from Greek waters and 600 miles from Gaza. They proceeded to kidnap the crew of 21 ships and left one more crew stranded on a damaged boat, while the rest of the flotilla managed to find temporary shelter in Greek territorial waters.
The remaining more than 170 activists were transferred by Israel to Greek authorities later that week, with 36 requiring medical attention, including hospitalization, due to injuries inflicted during detention. Numerous reports of abuse, as well as European countries’ silence over Israeli armed vessels operating so close to their territorial waters – and inside Greece’s search and rescue area – have led to sharp condemnation.
“It is an abomination that Apartheid Israel, while continuing its genocide undisturbed, is allowed to patrol European waters, seize boats, kidnap people,” UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese wrote of the event.
While Brazilian and Spanish authorities signed statements denouncing Israel’s actions and issued a joint communiqué demanding the release of Ávila and Abukeshek, their respective citizens, EU members whose responsibility has been identified in this case, have been evasive at best. There has yet to be a more substantial reaction from Italian authorities, under whose flag the boat Abukeshek and Ávila were seized from was apparently sailing.
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In turn, the Greek government has been called out for essentially cooperating with Israeli authorities and failing to abide by its obligations under international law. “The Greek government is cooperating fully in Israel’s criminal behavior, effectively surrendering its search and rescue obligations and conniving with Israel to victimize the brave crews of the Sumud Flotilla who are steadfastly, through their activism, defending international law as well as the verdict of the International Court of Justice which has clearly and unequivocally declared Israel’s continued naval blockade of Gaza and its occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal,” former minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis wrote on social media.
The failure by Greek authorities to prevent the detention of Abukeshek and Ávila, the Global Sumud Flotilla wrote, “represents a profound failure by European authorities to uphold international law and prevent the unlawful transfer of civilians to the custody of a military power credibly accused of ongoing war crimes.”
A small part of the call for liberation of all Palestinian political prisoners
Through reactions that poured in over the weekend, several organizations insisted on the relevance of the flotilla’s mission as part of the broader solidarity movement with Palestine. This included references to a US State Department statement that described the Global Sumud Flotilla’s mission as linked to terrorism and demanding ports deny its ships the right to dock and refuel.
“Rather than justify Israeli piracy, kidnapping, and global terrorism, the US should demand Israel release the two activists,” the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and Thousand Madleens to Gaza wrote. “The flotillas are not and have never been about delivering humanitarian aid. Palestinians are capable of thriving on their own. Israel has manufactured the need for aid by isolating Gaza from the world and destroying the foundation of Palestinian life.”
“The flotilla is about confronting the root cause of the crisis: Israel’s unlawful blockade and broader system of colonization and domination that has created, and continues to sustain, a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” the organizations added. “The flotilla movement is committed to ending Israel’s illegal occupation and supporting the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to freedom.”
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“As we demand the liberation of Abu Keshek and Ávila, we emphasize that this is just a small part of the call for the liberation of all of the 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners held by the Zionist occupation, who are routinely subjected to severe torture and abuse, including assassination, murder, and sexual assault, and who the Zionist regime openly boasts about its plans to kill through the new Prisoners’ Execution Law,” the Palestinian prisoners’ solidarity group Samidoun wrote.
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