Israel detains all-female crew of Gaza Freedom Flotilla in Givon prison

Israël va expulser les passagères du « bateau des femmes », dérouté de Gaza
afp, le 06/10/2016 à 12h10
▻http://www.la-croix.com/Monde/Israel-expulser-passageres-bateau-femmes-deroute-Gaza-2016-10-06-130079420

Les passagères, notamment la Nord-Irlandaise Mairead Maguire, prix Nobel de la Paix, sont détenues depuis 03H00 à la prison de Ramlé (centre d’Israël), a indiqué à l’AFP une porte-parole de l’administration pénitentiaire. « Elles y sont en attente d’expulsion ».

Deux d’entre elles, des journalistes, « sont parties à l’aéroport », a pour sa part déclaré Sabin Haddad, porte-parole de l’Autorité de la population et de l’immigration. Les autres seront gardées en détention 96 heures avant d’être expulsées, sauf si elles décidaient de partir avant, a-t-elle dit à l’AFP.

Zaytouna-Oliva Women Deported/ Details Emerge about the Capture
▻https://wbg.freedomflotilla.org/news/zaytouna-oliva-women-deported-details-emerge-about-the-capture

All 13 of the women on the Women’s Boat to Gaza are currently in the process of deportation after being captured by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and detained in a prison at Ashdod. Wendy Goldsmith, a member of the land team working to secure the release of the women stated that, “the deportation was much quicker than in prior flotillas. While we had a great legal team assisting the women, we suspect that the reason for the quick release was because of all the negative media attention Israel has been receiving for its illegal interception.”

According to early reports from the women released, the Zaytouna-Oliva was surrounded by two warships along with four to five smaller naval boats. The IDF gave warning to the Zaytouna-Oliva to stop their course towards Gaza. When the warning was refused, at least 7 IDF members, both male and female, boarded the Zaytouna-Oliva and commandeered the sailboat. This happened in international waters.

In the course of their capture, the women persisted in telling the IDF that Israel’s interception of their boat was illegal and that they were being taken against their will to Israel.

The Women’s Boat to Gaza campaign asserts that while the captivity of the women on board Zaytouna-Oliva is over, the captivity of 1. 9 million Palestinians in Gaza remains. The Campaign also asserts that the term “peaceful” which has been used in some media to describe the capture is incorrect. Peace is more than merely the absence of physical violence. Oppression, occupation, denial of human rights and taking a boat filled with nonviolent women against their will are not peaceful activities. The Women’s Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will continue to sail until Palestine is free.

Israel Deports Detainees From Women’s Gaza Flotilla
Haaretz Oct 07, 2016 5:52 PM
▻http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.746388

The 13 women, including a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, were detained on Wednesday after their boat was prevented from reaching the Gaza Strip.

All but one of the 13 women activists detained on Wednesday for trying to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip have been deported from Israel, according to the French news agency AFP on Friday.

The report quoted Interior Ministry spokesperson Sabin Haddad as saying: “All the boat’s passengers have left Israel except a woman who will fly to Oslo this afternoon.”

The women, who included Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland and a number of parliamentarians, were detained after their sailboat, the Zaytouna-Oliva, was intercepted in international waters about 35 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.

It’s not the flotilla, it’s Gaza
Op-ed: The women’s boat to Gaza is another unpleasant and inconvenient reminder that we cannot keep talking about tunnels and rockets as if that’s the entire deal while starving a population and preventing a way out of the strip.
Ariela Ringel Hoffman|Published: 06.10.16 , 23:47
▻http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4863513,00.html

Stories from returning #WomenToGaza; Struggle to end illegal blockade continues
08/10/2016
▻https://wbg.freedomflotilla.org/news/20161008

As we write, the last of our wonderfully brave participants from the Women’s Boat to Gaza are either home with their loved ones and supporters, or on their journey home. They have been greeted with signs (see above) and in some case with singing and dancing: ▻http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/te-kaea ; ▻https://www.facebook.com/TeKaea/videos/vb.133906693412887/878992222237660/?type=2&theater. Since being released from Israeli detention, they have begun to tell us about their their experiences on board and in detention. They report hours spent on the Zaytouna-Oliva sharing and caring for each other, singing, making meals together and deep discussions about politics and life experiences, before being suddenly and illegally boarded in international waters by Israeli commandos on the afternoon of 5 October.