A woman onboard an aid flotilla intercepted by the Israeli military en route to Gaza has called on the UK government to intervene to allow the safe passage of the boat to the war-torn territory.
Ewa Jasiewicz was aboard one of 44 boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is delivering aid to the war-torn territory. She was sailing the treacherous journey 15 years after witnessing Israeli forces kill nine of her fellow activists during a raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010.
The flotilla was confronted by Israeli warships overnight and detained hundreds of activists onboard. Ms Jasiewicz, a British-Polish national who lives in London, ‘All In’ vessel has been intercepted and she was detained by Israeli forces.
“I'm stunned that [prime minister Sir Keir Starmer] can be this morally and ethically bankrupt, is this what being in power does to somebody? I'm not just baffled, I'm disgusted as well,” Ms Jasiewicz, one of Sir Keir’s constituents, told The Independent, calling on the UK to fulfill its “moral duty” to “prevent genocide” in Gaza.
“I fully expect my MP to intervene on my behalf and to support civilian efforts to break the siege on Gaza. I expect full diplomatic and state efforts to to lift this genocidal siege on Gaza.”
In London, Camden Friends of Palestine has written to Sir Keir to demand that he guarantee Ms Jasiewicz’s safety. A protest will take place at Parliament Square on Thursday afternoon, with campaigners demanding UK diplomatic protection for British people on the flotilla.
Around 500 people from more than 40 countries – including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg – were on board the fleet. The Gaza flotilla tracker shows one boat is still travelling towards Gaza and has not yet been intercepted.
Israeli authorities characterised the Global Sumud Flotilla as a publicity stunt, with the Foreign Ministry describing it as a “jihadist initiative serving the terror group’s [Hamas] agenda”. Activists have rejected these claims.
As the Israeli interception began, Ms Jasiewicz said military vessels without lights were shining a beam onto the boats, targeting larger boats first.
“Everyone on the flotilla is fully informed, fully aware of the risks that they're taking. But it’s worth it. I think solidarity and prevention of genocide, and the freedom of the Palestinian people, and collective liberation, demand this kind of action,” she said.
Turning again to Sir Keir, she added: “I don't understand why Starmer, and others who claim to represent values of decency and humanity, have a complete disregard for it when it comes to Palestinians.
“We've got a very serious problem in terms of a moral compass when it comes to public obligations towards prevention of genocide.”
One of the flotilla’s aims is to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where famine has gripped areas of the strip following repeated Israeli blockades which have drawn international condemnation.
Israel says the blockades have been necessary in order to prevent Hamas from seizing aid and argues that they are legal under international law. It previously said it would use any means necessary to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza’s coast.
Last week, the Global Sumud Flotilla said several of its boats were targeted by Israeli drones while near the Greek island of Crete. Activists said they heard 13 explosions and the sound of up to 16 drones. Their vessels were also allegedly sprayed with unidentified chemicals, sound bombs and explosive flares while their communications were jammed. Israel did not respond to the allegations.
“I want to see the same legal and moral standards that states including the UK and Poland, my countries, rightly apply to the ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine,” Ms Jasiewicz added.
“These double standards amount to racist hypocrisy and dehumanisation of Palestinian lives.”
Ms Jasiewicz claims to has previously witnessed IDF violence at the hands of Israeli forces. “I've witnessed loads of violence from the IDF [Israeli military] before, so I'm not too worried about PTSD, because I’ve already got it. Really, how much worse can it get?”
In 2010, she was part of a fleet of six civilian ships which Israeli troops raided in deadly scenes on 31 May, with nine activists killed, 30 injured and 10 Israeli troops wounded. Ms Jasiewicz heard the Israeli gunfire with her colleagues on a different vessel. A 10th activist later died of his injuries in hospital.
The exact sequence of events was heavily disputed afterwards. The Israeli military said it had been attacked by armed activists, before the Israeli Supreme Court found that the actions of the Navy in the raid were legal under international law.
Ms Jasiewicz said her boat, the Sumud, was confronted by “balaclava-wearing, gun-toting, hyped up commandos” who “took us over in a very violent way”. Activists were “attempting to repel [the navy] with throwing rubbish and hosing them”, she said, but this was “nothing can be seen as a risk to the life of heavily armed commandos”.
“They sprayed the boat and us with rubber bullets, and one of our team was hit in the face and was bleeding. They tasered an Australian journalist. They shouted at us, one of them said to me, ‘shut the f*** up you f***ing b**** or I’ll kill you’.
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“Two activists had bags put over their heads,” Ms Jasiewicz continued. “I had my arms tied behind my back. It was not a good experience, it was scary, being on a vessel that was moving.”
Once placed in prison, she alleged they were “treated in quite a humiliating way at all times, laughing at us, soldiers filming us on their phones”.
A report by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) found that at least six of the deaths were “in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution”.
But the mood on the Global Sumud Flotilla remained resilient, despite horror stories from the past, said Ms Jasiewicz, who was travelling alongside six others from the UK, Algeria, France, Switzerland and Italy.
The UK Foreign Office has said it is “very concerned about the situation with the Sumud Flotilla”, adding that it is in contact with the families of British nationals involved. The Independent has followed up to ask what action they will take to ensure their safety.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment by The Independent.
