11 Harrowing Video Testimonies From Westerners Tortured and Raped by Israel
It isn’t just Palestinians – Western media is also ignoring shocking accounts of abuse from white Western activists detained by Israeli forces after an illegal raid on their aid flotilla. Zeteo isn’t.
“They wrenched my trousers and my underwear down and… I was vaginally raped by one of the male soldiers.”
“He came walking to me with a taser, saying that he was going to taser my genitals.”
“I was pricked with some sort of syringe.”
In the week since Israel released the hundreds of activists, humanitarians, and journalists it abducted from the Global Sumud Flotilla that was attempting to break its siege on Gaza, testimony after testimony has revealed only a glimpse of the abuse, including sexual violence, inflicted on participants while in Israeli detention.
But like the decades of testimony given by Palestinians, mountains of human rights reports, and physical evidence, the harrowing details described in first-hand, on-the-record accounts by those who endured it are being largely ignored by Western media. Israel, of course, denies any abuse.
Had any other country in the Middle East been accused of torturing and raping Westerners, front pages worldwide would have read, ‘Threatened to Taser My Genitals’ or ‘I Was Raped.’ The fact that they haven’t underscores the dehumanization of Palestinians and anyone who supports them.
Since Western media isn’t, Zeteo is stepping in. We’ve rounded up the 11 of the most troubling accounts of the abuse Israel inflicted on the global aid flotilla participants:
1. ‘I Was..Raped’ – Juliet Lamont (Australia)
Source: Double Down News
2. ‘Peeing Blood’ After Being Kicked in the Genitals – Hāhona Ormsby (New Zealand)
Source: NZ Stuff
3. ‘Touching My Chest’ – Meriem Hadjal (France)
Source: Middle East Eye
4. ‘Grabbing My Boobs’ – Gemma O’Toole (Australia)
Source: Free Gaza Australia
5. ‘Sexually Assaulted Me…for Days’ – Violet Coco (Australia)
Source: ABC News Australia
6. ‘I Was Pricked With Some Sort of Syringe’ – Isla Lamont (Australia)
Source: Global Movement to Gaza - Australia
7. ‘Every Soldier Could Do What He Wanted’ – Adrien Berthel (France)
Source: France 24 English
8. ‘Initiated With a Beating’ – Haitham Arafat (U.S.)
Source: Palestine Youth Movement | DMV
9. ‘They Abused Us … and Took Pictures of Us’ – Jesse Aletta Van Schaik (The Netherlands)
Source: Arab News
10. ‘I Would See Someone Else Being Marked by the Sniper’ – Antonis Vradis (Greece)
Source: Global Sumud Flotilla
11. ‘Welcomed Me with a Windpipe Crush’ - Suza Boren (U.S.)
Source: Éire Global Sumud
Shockingly, there are many more testimonies like these. For example, Zeteo contributor Alex Colston wrote in detail about his own experience being kicked and threatened here.
In total, at least 35 participants suffered broken ribs, 14 reported being sexually abused, including reports of rape, and dozens of others suffered concussions, bruises, and nerve damage from beatings or being tightly handcuffed, according to Global Sumud Flotilla participants and organizers.
And while some Western governments have condemned Israel’s actions against their citizens, and in a few cases called for investigations, there have been no signs that Israel will face any meaningful consequences from those nations, many of which continue to arm the Israeli government.
Zeteo’s Kennedy Garmong and Aaliya Haque contributed to this piece
Check out more of Zeteo’s coverage of Palestine:
What is sickening isn't just the gleeful violence inflicted on these human beings, which soldiers perpetrate daily all over the world, it's also the fact that these souls have had to shout their abuse just to be heard by anyone. The mainstream press is keeping its head down, all the while making noble noise about their own alleged oppression. I'm humbled by these folks' bravery; and impressed by Zeteo who is able to give them voice. This is an essential opportunity to press your representative to get his or her head out and stand up to Israel. Let them know that you know the truth.
There are no words adequate to this horrific set of videos. Israel clearly thinks it can get away with this. Any candidate who still takes a penny from AIPAC needs to be exposed along with these videos. This posting will help. Thanks so much for it. Courage, everyone.