WeeklySA_AdminMISSION: Demos by hundreds of thousands continue against Israeli forces’ capture of activists from boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza…
By Own Correspondents
Protests have been held worldwide after a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza were stopped by Israeli military kilometres from Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, a convoy of 40 boats carrying nearly 500 volunteers and activists representing 47 nationalities, aimed to break the blockade and deliver essential supplies to Palestinians after sailing for weeks.
However, the group were intercepted by the Israeli military on Thursday, detained and then taken to the notorious Ketziot Prison in the Negev desert, reports The Independent. Among those detained are six South Africans, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela.
Anticipating interception by the Israeli, Mandla had pre-recorded a video message, stating: “I’m a citizen of the Republic of South Africa. If you are receiving this video, it means that we have been intercepted and have been abducted by the state of apartheid Israel. I call you to request our government to exert pressure for my immediate release”.
Other South Africans on the humanitarian mission are Fatima Hendricks, Zaheera Soomar, Jared Sacks, Elham Mouaffak Hatfield, Zukiswa Wanner, Irshaad Ahmed Chotia, Fazel Behra, Nurian Saloojee and Reaaz Moola.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on “the Government of the State of Israel to release South Africans and other nationals abducted as part of Israeli authorities’ interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla”.
Meanwhile one boat, assumed to be part of the fleet, is said to have docked in Cyprus, the island’s government said. The last remaining vessel, named the Marinette, continued to sail towards the Strip before being stopped 42 nautical miles off the coast.
The interception prompted international backlash and a wave of condemnation and demonstrations across the world.
In South Africa, hundreds of people protested outside the United States consulate in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Friday afternoon. A protest also took place outside the Israeli embassy in Pretoria. There were also protests in Cape Town and Durban.
Protesters called for the release of the detained flotilla activists and the return of the confiscated boats, as well as an end to the war in Gaza.
In Europe, hundreds of thousands joined a new general strike across Italy, in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the Global Sumud Flotilla, on Friday. They took to the streets of Italy in response to a general strike call originally launched by the grassroots union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) and later joined by some of the country’s largest trade union confederations.
As they blocked ports, highways, and industrial zones, protesters delivered a resounding rejection of Giorgia Meloni’s government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, demanding an immediate end to the attacks and the release of activists kidnapped from the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Other reports were:
• Protests broke out in London, with clashes between police and protesters outside Downing Street on Thursday. The Metropolitan Police said that 40 people had been arrested, six for assaults on officers.
• Mass demonstrations continued for the second day consecutively, with people of more countries expressing their outrage including in Jordan, Tunisia, Libya and the occupied West Bank.
• In Spain, 15 000 demonstrators marched through Barcelona chanting “Gaza, you are not alone” and “Boycott Israel.” Protesters in Madrid, Bilbao, Seville and Valencia also took to the streets, some clashing with police.
• In France, around 1 000 protesters rallied in Paris’ Place de la Republique, while in Marseille, police arrested scores attempting to block access to a weapons manufacturer accused of supplying Israel.
• Similar protests were reported in Geneva, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Karachi, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
The humanitarian mission comprises grassroots organisers, sailors, doctors, artists, and solidarity activists, including celebrities and celebrated activists such as Greta Thunberg and Irish actor Liam Cunningham.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was seen apparently taunting volunteers, branding them “terrorists” as he said they had left a “mess” on the yachts. He later released footage of himself touring Ketziot prison, where volunteers are detained.
“We are in Ketziot Prison and as I promised, these flotilla members, supporters of terrorism are here in a security prison,” the far-right politician said as he toured the prison, in footage shared by Israel’s Channel 14.
“The games are over – they are getting conditions like terrorists for all intents and purposes. Terrorists sweatshirts, terrorists conditions.”
Colombian president Gustavo Petro called the interception an “international crime” and expelled Israeli diplomats earlier this week. He was joined by Turkey, who called the Israeli action in international waters an “act of terror”, while Malaysia and Pakistan also released statements criticising the blockade and the treatment of flotilla volunteers.
Human rights group Amnesty International has called out Israel’s interception of the Gaza aid flotilla as a “calculated act of intimidation”.
The group called the action “a brazen assault against solidarity activists carrying out an entirely peaceful humanitarian mission,” Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said.
Mandla’s wife, Nosekeni Rabia Mandela, was quoted in a report in the Citizen early Friday as saying the family was “very emotional” about his detention.
“There are a lot of nerves. We haven’t had any real credible information coming from the flotillas and since the abduction. The last time I heard from my husband was at 6pm on Wednesday evening, and that was before the interception, before they were abducted by the Israeli military, and they were taken as captives.” – Reports by People’s Despatch, The Independent, Weekly SA Mirror and GroundUp
