Peter Riley
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/12/saif_abukeshek
#Gaza #globalSamudFlotilla #Palestine #SaifAbukeshek #Solidarity
I Was Kidnapped by Israel in Int’l Waters, Jailed for 10 Days: Gaza Flotilla Activist Saif Abukeshek
“We were hearing, every day, the screams of other Palestinians who were being tortured inside this investigation center.” Spanish citizen Saif Abukeshek, an activist of Palestinian origin, speaks with Democracy Now! about spending 10 days in Israeli detention after he was abducted in international waters. He was among 175 international activists sailing to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has for years tried to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Abukeshek and Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila were the only flotilla members detained for “questioning” inside Israel, where they say they faced severe physical abuse in detention. Abukeshek, speaking from Turkey, says being dual nationals provided them some protection because of international attention. “Imagine how Palestinians are being treated. Imagine the violations that people from Palestine are receiving,” he says.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/12/saif_abukeshek
#Gaza #GlobalSamudFlotilla #Palestine #SaifAbukeshek #solidarity
I Was Kidnapped by Israel in Int’l Waters, Jailed for 10 Days: Gaza Flotilla Activist Saif Abukeshek
“We were hearing, every day, the screams of other Palestinians who were being tortured inside this investigation center.” Spanish citizen Saif Abukeshek, an activist of Palestinian origin, speaks with Democracy Now! about spending 10 days in Israeli detention after he was abducted in international waters. He was among 175 international activists sailing to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has for years tried to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Abukeshek and Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila were the only flotilla members detained for “questioning” inside Israel, where they say they faced severe physical abuse in detention. Abukeshek, speaking from Turkey, says being dual nationals provided them some protection because of international attention. “Imagine how Palestinians are being treated. Imagine the violations that people from Palestine are receiving,” he says.
"Warsaw, Tulsa, Wounded Knee,
They buried us, but we were seeds,
And singing from the grave we rise,
To keep that little flame alive!"
- (2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeAzP9lJwkE
#CarsieBlanton #Gaza #GlobalSamudFlotilla #Palestine #solidarity
Keeping the little flame alive on our way to Gaza with @GlobalSumudFlotilla
(Interview) #SaifAbukeshek of Spain and #ThiagoÁvila of Brazil, are still being held without charges in an Israeli prison
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/4/global_sumud_flotilla_intercepted
Gaza Flotilla Participant Details “Cruelty” of Israeli Abduction at Sea; Two Activists Still Detained
We get a firsthand account of the violent raid, arrest and detention of members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, after Israeli forces intercepted the humanitarian mission in international waters Thursday. “We were held in a makeshift prison with shipping containers and barbed wire. Many people were subject to aggressive physical force. Of the 56 aid-carrying vessels attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, more than a third were seized by the Israeli military,” recounts flotilla member Hannah Smith. Some flotilla members had to be rescued after one boat was “left sinking,” Smith reports. Two members, Saif Abukeshek of Spain and Thiago Ávila of Brazil, are now being held without charges in an Israeli prison. “It is a favorite tactic of the Israeli regime to try to bully people into silence and submission, to threaten people, and they’ve gotten away with it for decades,” says Rania Batrice, a Palestinian American member of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s communications team. Abukeshek’s wife, Sally Issa, says her husband “started a hunger strike, and he was treated very bad, so bad that all the activists on the boat could hear him screaming.” The Spanish and Brazilian governments have denounced the arrests as “flagrantly illegal” and are demanding their citizens’ release.