Eleven Irish citizens who were detained by Israeli soldiers after their flotilla was intercepted and boarded in international waters have arrived back home.
A loud cheer went up as the eleven made their way through the arrivals gates at Dublin Airport Terminal 1, after their flight from Istanbul touched down at lunchtime, reports RTE.
A crowd of more than 400 supporters, some singing pro-Palestinian chants and waving flags and banners, along with family, friends and the waiting media were there to meet them.
The Irish citizens were among 430 detained members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory and deliver aid to Gazans. They were deported from Israel to Turkey the previous day, reports RTE.
Thomas Deasy, from Cork, told RTÉ News: “The idea was to bring humanitarian aid to a starving nation caused by the illegal blockade of Israel for almost 20 years. Unfortunately, we were met by force by the IDF.”
He said the activists had known there was a good chance this would happen, but that the force used by the Israeli forces was “more than we ever, ever imagined,” reports RTE.
Louise McCormack, a student from Galway, said she had briefly lost consciousness during the ordeal.
She said: “They pointed guns at us. We looked them in the eye, and for no reason other than looking at them without fear, they beat us. I was taken off the high-speed ship directly onto a war prison ship. I was grabbed and tied with my hands behind my back. I was choked,” reports RTE.
Referring to Dr Margaret Connolly, the President’s sister and a GP from Sligo, Ms McCormack said that the doctor had thought she had already lost consciousness by the time her head struck the ground at full force.
“But I remember the crack and the speed of my body being launched, landing my full body on my forehead. I lost consciousness, and I walked, waking to everyone gone. I threw up,” reports RTE.
She added: “Israel believes that if they punish people enough, people will give up. They believe if they punish the Palestinians enough, the Palestinians will give up. I think at this stage it has been proven that they will not give up. As a country raised on songs and stories of our own occupation, we feel that resistance.”
Dr Connolly said she had promised her children she would return safely and that the care the activists had shown for one another had carried them through. She called for the current Israeli regime to be disbanded, reports RTE.
“They wanted us to suffer,” she said, adding: “None of them could look us in the eye. What a dehumanising thing to do to men and women from aged 22 up to 75.”
Dr Connolly said the current “Israeli regime has to be disbanded” as she called for land to be “given back to the Palestinian people,” reports RTE.
“They cannot, cannot, cannot continue with this genocide.”
Another activist, Adam Fitzhenry from Wexford said: “What the Israelis have done to us, knowing that this would be coming back out into the world — every injury, every bit of abuse, every bit of torture, they knew would be reported back to our government. They knew we would be able to talk to all these cameras, so just imagine what is happening to the Palestinians every day,” reports RTE.
Footage of the Israeli authorities’ treatment of flotilla protesters was posted online by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who appeared to be mocking those detained. It showed people kneeling on the ground in tightly packed groups with their hands tied behind their backs.
The video and the detention of the flotilla participants was condemned by senior Irish Government figures and across the European Union. France announced it had banned Ben-Gvir from entering its territory, reports RTE.
Aileen Weinmann, a sister of flotilla member Colm Byrne, said: “It was a tough week, I have to say. Just when we saw the clips that were coming out, absolutely horrified. When I did get to speak to Colm, he had a short phone call, and he just said it was tough. It was very, very tough. I think he said he had a lump on the back of his head, but he didn’t say any more. I suppose he didn’t want to worry me or whatever, and he just said ‘All is good, all is good’,” reports RTE.
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