[Wen/Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] At the beginning of this month, Greta Thunberg, an "environmental girl" who boarded the international Gaza aid flotilla, was arrested and detained by the Israeli army. Since then, it has even been reported that she was abused by the Israeli army.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on October 6, local time, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that day that Thunberg and 170 other activists had been deported from the country. They had flown from Ramon International Airport in southern Israel to Greece and Slovakia. This is the second time Thunberg has been expelled from Israel after unsuccessful attempts to reach Gaza by sea.
Photos shared by the Israeli Foreign Ministry showed Tumberg and other deportees appearing at the airport wearing gray tracksuits and white T-shirts. Israel claimed that the 171 people were citizens from Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia and the United States.
On August 31, this year, the Global Summit Fleet (GSF) departed from Spain, carrying humanitarian aid to “break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza.”
"Sumoud" means "unswerving" in Arabic, so the flotilla is also known as the "Global Determined" Gaza rescue flotilla. According to the GSF, the mission involved more than 40 ships and more than 450 activists from more than 44 countries, and simultaneously carried out demonstrations, camping and other protests during the voyage. Swedish climate activist Tonberg, known as the "Green Girl", was also on board.
On October 1 local time, the Israeli army intercepted all the ships and subsequently arrested all members of the flotilla. Most of them are reportedly being held in the high-security Keziot prison in the desert. The prison was previously mainly used to detain Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were accused by Israel of engaging in radical or terrorist activities.
Since then, protests have erupted in several European cities such as Geneva and Paris.On October 3, hundreds of thousands of Italians, in response to trade union calls, marched on the streets to hold a national general strike, expressing their support for the Gaza aid fleet arrested by the Israeli army.
On October 4, local time, a total of 137 released activists arrived in Istanbul, Turkey. As soon as they landed, they exposed the "violent abuse" against them by the Israeli army to international media such as Turkey's Anadolu Agency, TRT, and CNN.
“They grabbed her with little Greta’s hair and beat her, forcing her to crawl and kiss the Israeli flag”; “Tombay was publicly humiliated and forced to wrap the Israeli flag and show up like a cup.”
The Guardian also on the same day that Tumberi, who was being detained by the Israeli army, told Swedish officials that she had been treated harshly "in a cage filled with dirt, food and water were lacking."A Swedish foreign ministry official told his friends in an email that other detainees had confirmed that they had seen Tumberi "forced to take a photo of the Israeli flag."
On October 5, local time, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement through the social media X platform refuting the statement that "Thunberg and other detained members of the fleet were abused by the Israeli army" as "shameless lies." It insisted that the legal rights of all detainees were "fully guaranteed".
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also claimed at the time that Tumberg could not be released because she herself refused to be deported.
The statement reads, "It is quite interesting that Greta herself and other detainees refused to speed up the deportation procedures and instead insisted on extending their stay in detention. Regarding these absurd and groundless allegations, Greta has never filed any complaints with the Israeli authorities, because these things never happened in the first place."