Detained flotilla activists deserve long jail terms, says Israel minister
Detained activists from a flotilla of boats that tried to get past Israel’s blockade of Gaza arrived in the port city of Ashdod aboard Israeli naval ships on Wednesday, as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told them that they should remain in prison for a “long, long time.”
Video released by Ben-Gvir showed the minister walking among some of the approximately 430 detained activists flanked by police and soldiers as he waved a large Israeli flag and told them, “Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords.” One handcuffed activist shown in the video shouting “Free Palestine” as Ben-Gvir was walking past was immediately pushed to the ground by security personnel.
The video showed activists with their hands tied behind their back kneeling with their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area at Ashdod port and on the deck of a ship. In a second video, Ben-Gvir says the activists “came here all full of pride like big heroes. Look at them now,” while appealing to Israeli PM Netanyahu to grant him permission to imprison them.
“I say to Prime Minister Netanyahu, give them to me for a long, long time, give them to us for the terrorist prisons, that’s what it should look like,” Ben-Gvir said.
An Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, accused Israeli authorities of “employing a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists.”
Adalah said in a statement that this followed similar patterns of ill-treatment by Israeli authorities against activists in previous flotilla missions “for which Israel faced zero accountability.” The group said that its lawyers and other volunteers were providing legal advice to activists at Ashdod and were demanding their immediate release.
“The international community must take urgent measures to protect the flotilla members against this brutal and illegal conduct by Israeli officials,” the group said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke overnight with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, urging that Italian citizens - including a lawmaker and a journalist - be freed quickly and that their safety and rights be safeguarded.
