I Was Beaten and Kidnapped by Israeli Soldiers When They Illegally Intercepted the Gaza Flotilla

Zeteo's Alex Colston gives a terrifying account of the night Israel abducted 180 activists, humanitarians, and journalists, and he explains what's next for the mission to break Israel's siege of Gaza.

“Alex, now, it’s happening now. They’re approaching. Get up here.”

That was the captain of the boat I was sailing on with the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) as Israeli forces approached last Wednesday evening.

We had anticipated Israel would try to attack or intimidate the boats to deter the flotilla from continuing its journey. It had deployed drones against GSF boats around the same area during the last mission. But more than 600 miles away from Gaza and in international waters, we did not expect that Israel would board the boats and abduct crew members so far outside of their self-designated “security” perimeter 172 miles from Gaza’s shores. In any event, there’s no justifiable security concern that should stop civilian-led efforts to help support reconstruction and to provide a protective presence in Gaza, where massacres, famine, and catastrophic health conditions continue to kill Palestinians every day and where no foreign and independent journalists are permitted to enter and document conditions on the ground.

By the end of the night, Israel had intercepted 22 boats and kidnapped around 180 activists, humanitarians, and journalists, like myself on board, while beating a number of us – with limited global reaction to Israel’s aggression against the flotilla, the ongoing imprisonment of Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila by Israeli authorities, and the daily horrific violence inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Violent Interception

The surprise Israeli interception happened within minutes.