Greta Thunberg told the Swedish newspaper The evening paper how she was beaten and tortured by the Israeli Army, after being kidnapped in international waters while carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip aboard the Sumud Global Flotilla.
Mexico City, October 15 (However).- The Swedish activist Greta Thunbergwho was deported from Israel after being part of the Global Sumud Flotilla with aid for Gaza, reported that she suffered physical and psychological torture by Israeli army soldiers during the days she was deprived of her freedom after her arrest.
In an interview for the Swedish newspaper The evening paper He recounted how men with their faces completely covered and carrying large automatic weapons boarded the ship, an incident that was broadcast live on the flotilla’s channels and witnessed by millions of people around the world.
The activist mentioned that the soldiers took the crew to the lower deck, where they were forced to sit in a circle without moving while the ship was driven towards land.
“It was very hot down there. We just sat there. Those who weren’t watching us were walking around the ship, destroying and throwing everything everywhere,” he said.
What happened to the food, medicine, diapers and formula that the boats brought to Gaza, she does not know. Thunberg also told how the Swedish Embassy in Tel Aviv practically left her to her fate even when she and other compatriots told them the conditions in which they found themselves.
“We were together and told them about the treatment we received. The lack of food and water, the beatings and torture. We showed the physical injuries we had: bruises and scratches. We gave everyone our contact information: I gave them my father’s number and that of our contact in the organization. We were clear: everything we say now must come to light in the media,” he said. However, the diplomatic representation of his country did not reveal any of this.
Greta indicated that after being detained in international waters by Israeli soldiers to be taken against their will to Ashdod, Israel’s largest industrial port, 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. There, a soldier pointed at the activist and told her: “You go first, come!” He mentions that he was not allowed to wear the T-shirt that said “Free Palestine” and was ordered to change. Instead, an orange one with the text “Decolonize” was put on. When she got off the boat, she said, a group of police officers were waiting for her and threw her to the ground and threw an Israeli flag at her.
Thunberg says that she was brutally taken to a corner and the police placed a flag very close to her and every time she touched it with her body she was kicked. ‘A special place, for a special woman,’ the soldiers said. There they tied her hands with zip ties, very tightly, and a group of guards lined up to take selfies with her. It was there that far-right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived and accused the members of the flotilla of being terrorists and killing Jewish babies. She revealed that she saw everything out of the corner of her eye, because every time she raised her head from the ground, the guard next to her kicked her.
Greta mentions that during her confinement she was taken to a building to be searched and stripped. There the guards continued taking selfies with her.
“The guards completely lack empathy and compassion, and they keep taking selfies with me. There are many things I don’t remember. So many things happen at once. You are in a state of shock. You get hurt, but you enter a stage where you try to stay calm,” he mentions.
Greta describes endless meetings with officials who wanted her to sign documents that, among other things, described that she had entered Israel illegally, which she refused. They tied her hands again with zip ties, blindfolded her, and put her in a small cell inside a car, where she spent a cold night with other detainees.
Subsequently, Greta, along with other people, were taken to prison where she was forced to undress again.
“There was teasing, rough treatment, and everything was filmed. Everything they do is extremely violent. They threw people’s medications in the trash right before their eyes. Heart medications, cancer medications, insulin.”
The Swedish activist mentions that they barely received food or clean water during the entire time they were imprisoned, so they were forced to drink from a tap that was next to the sink, where something brown ran from it.
Despite everything, Greta Thunberg reiterated that no member of the flotilla should be considered a victim. “We knew very well what we were getting into. They had already threatened us the first night we left Barcelona, that they would treat us like terrorists. For my part, I never felt scared or defeated.”
Asked about the peace agreement, she said: “It is something that the Palestinians must celebrate. But the rest of us must increase the pressure to guarantee a lasting ceasefire, but above all, that it does not stop there. That Palestine be free and enjoy the human rights that correspond to it under international law. Peace without justice is not the objective at all.”