Gaza flotilla: Israel forcibly expels Greta Thunberg and three of her fellow activists

After the boarding, the intimidation. More than twenty-four hours after the illegal arrest of the twelve crew members of the Madleen – the humanitarian ship of the Freedom Flotilla – in international waters, eight of them are still currently detained in Israel this Tuesday, June 10. Hijacked by the Israeli army, the ship was then taken to the port of Ashdod. Its passengers were then taken and detained at Ben Gurion International Airport (Tel Aviv). This is yet another violation of international law , in addition to the crime of genocide underway in the Gaza Strip and colonization in the occupied West Bank.

So far, four passengers from the flotilla have already been expelled: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, doctor Baptiste André and journalist Omar Faiad (Al-Jazeera), both French, as well as Spanish volunteer Sergio Toribio, according to French diplomacy and El Diario. Of the six French nationals on the Madleen , Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot indicated that four of them had refused to "sign the papers expelling them from Israeli territory."

"I didn't sign anything, that would be admitting that I had entered Israel illegally (...) we were kidnapped in international waters," Greta Thunberg said on her arrival at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris early in the afternoon. However, this signature would be the condition demanded by the Israeli authorities for her release, defended the coordinator of France Insoumise, Manuel Bompard, on his X account.

Greta Thunberg also expressed her "concern" regarding the activists still being held, of whom she has had no news. According to a statement from the team of MEP Rima Hassan (LFI), they were able to speak "briefly" with their lawyer. They were transferred to the detention center at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv: "They had the choice between signing it (the document attesting to their alleged guilt – Editor's note) – and being immediately deported – or refusing, and being brought before an Israeli judge."

Shortly after Greta Thunberg, Omar Faiad arrived at the terminal at around 4:30 p.m., awaited by his Al-Jazeera colleagues. He signed the Israeli document: "Maybe that's why I was able to get in." The journalist, who then described the arrest on board the Madleen , referred to the images of passengers wearing life jackets, circulated by Israeli authorities on social media and widely shared by supporters of far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "They were taking pictures of us as soon as they gave us food and water," he argued. Was it a set-up?

While Israel has prided itself on respecting the rights and integrity of the twelve passengers, Greta Thunberg believes that she and the group were "treated in a dehumanizing manner." According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz himself, the crew members were all forced to watch a video of the October 7 attacks upon landing. The Swedish activist, exhausted, is not giving up: "We will continue to do everything we can because that is the promise we made to the Palestinians."