The department of international relations & co-operation has met the group of South Africans who were detained by Israeli authorities on their way to Gaza, saying they were in good health and “high spirits”.
The six were among a group of activists from different countries who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian mission attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The flotilla was on a mission to deliver aid to civilians affected by the conflict there.
It was intercepted by Israeli forces, and passengers were detained before reaching their destination.
Among those who were detained are Mandla Mandela, grandson of former president Nelson Mandela; writer and cultural activist Zukiswa Wanner; and activist Reaaz Moolla.
The department said it met the SA delegation at the Negev Israeli prison facility on Sunday. “The delegation has confirmed the detainees are in good health and high spirits,” spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said. “The necessary procedures for their safe passage and return home to SA are advancing steadily.”
President pushes for release
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Israel to release the activists.
“The interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla is another grave offence by Israel against global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza and advancing peace in the region,” Ramaphosa said. “I call on Israel to immediately release the South Africans abducted in international waters and to release other nationals who have tried to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid.”
Israel has dismissed the flotilla as a publicity stunt. On Monday it said it had deported campaigner Greta Thunberg and another 170 activists, sending them to Greece and Slovakia.
Earlier, Swiss and Spanish activists from the flotilla said they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces. Monday’s expulsions brought to 341 the total number deported from 479 detained.
Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Thunberg at the airport, saying all participants’ legal rights had been upheld and the only violence involved an activist who bit a female medic at Ketziot prison.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson said Thunberg boarded a plane at Ramon airbase in the Negev Desert.
The deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the US, the foreign ministry said.
Among nine members of the flotilla who arrived home in Switzerland, some alleged sleep deprivation, and a lack of water and food, while they allege some were beaten, kicked and locked in a cage, the group representing them said.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the allegations
More allegations of mistreatment
Spanish activists also alleged mistreatment on their arrival in Spain late on Sunday after being deported. “They beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cages and insulted us,” lawyer Rafael Borrego told reporters at Madrid’s airport.
Swedish activists said on Saturday that Thunberg was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag during her detention, while others said they had clean food and water withheld and had their medication and belongings confiscated.
Israel’s foreign ministry has described widespread reports of detainees being mistreated after the flotilla was intercepted as “complete lies”.
A spokesperson told Reuters at the weekend that all detainees were given access to water, food, and restrooms, adding, “they were not denied access to legal counsel and all their legal rights were fully upheld”.
On Sunday, the Swiss embassy in Tel Aviv visited 10 Swiss nationals and said all were “in relatively good health, given the circumstances”.
Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, who was also on the flotilla, said there had been “mistreatment, but that was nothing compared to what the Palestinian people suffer every day”.
Spanish journalists Carlos de Barron and Nestor Prieto said Israeli authorities signed a statement on the deported activists’ behalf claiming they had entered Israel illegally. “They placed documents in Hebrew in front of us, denying us the right to a translator, and we did not receive consular assistance because they did not allow the [Spanish] consul to enter the port of Ashdod,” Prieto said.
Consular staff have visited activists at the prison, according to statements from several countries whose citizens were detained.
With Reuters
TimesLIVE
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