FIFTY-FIVE hours that shocked the world! As some of the activists on Gaza Aid Flotilla were felled by Israeli gunfire and some suffered injuries, the world reacted to Israeli aggression as never before. Hear a blow-by-blow account of what exactly happened on that imperiled journey from Wael Al Jader, a Kuwaiti activist who was on board the Flotilla.
Q: What made you take the decision to join the Gaza Aid Flotilla?
A: It is important for a person to have a purpose in life. A lot of people just spend their life just doing the basic routine of eating, sleeping and going to work. That’s not how I wanted to spend my life. I always tried to raise my children in a way that made them always wanting to achieve something unique and special in life; they never accepted the ordinary life, they always wanted to do something worthwhile. When they evaluate themselves one day, I want them to feel a sense of satisfaction of having done something of value for others.
My decision came out from this kind of belief and intention. Actually my decision to become a volunteer in Flotilla came after I saw my young daughter’s enthusiasm. My daughter Sondos came up to me one day and told me that there was a ship going to Gaza carrying aid to the people there, and she really wanted to be part of this humane mission. Later on, I found out that she was encouraged by her friend Haya Al-Shatti who was also one of the volunteers onboard the Flotilla.
A short while before the fleet took off we made up our minds to leave for Turkey. I was moved by my daughter’s concern for the people of Gaza and her belief that it is our duty to help the Palestinians who have been suffering for so long. She inspired me. I was excited.
The unique thing about this mission was that it was not bound by religious or national sentiments; it was an international sentiment driven by the need to respect human rights. There were 50 countries participating in the mission. Unlike what the Israeli media said, this was not an act of terrorism. It was a mission to protect human rights.
Therefore, my daughter and I left for Turkey, where the opening ceremony took place on the May 22. We reached Antalia on May 24, from where we set sailed for our final destination. The voyage began on May 27 due to the delay of some ships in joining the fleet.
Q: How did you feel when Flotilla began the voyage? Did you fear there would be attacks from the Israeli navy? I think activists did expect to have some kind of a showdown with the Israeli navy, isn’t it?
A: Our feeling was indescribable. We were very excited and happy with the mission that we were undertaking. The cause that we were going for kept us in high spirits and motivated. We knew we were going to help people who have been unjustly isolated though a sanctions regime, and who have been deprived of basic amenities for a long time.
The people in Gaza have been reduced to living in miserably subhuman conditions. The sense of purpose and righteousness in each of us was much stronger than any fear. We have been hearing and seeing so much about the struggle of Palestinians for justice. This has been sort of ingrained in all us. We were highly motivated and were determined to face any challenge, however big or daunting.
Q: When did you first see the Israeli navy?
A: By Sunday morning, May 30, we started seeing the Israeli navy which entered the international waters. We expected the confrontation to take place Monday morning but the Israeli navy was biding time. We saw them approaching the Flotilla slowly. By Sunday 11 pm we saw that the main navy vessel was getting closer to us.
During that time everyone was ordered to wear a life jacket as a safety measure because we were prepared for the worst from the Israeli navy. During that time no one wanted to rest. Everyone wanted to stay alert for anything that could possibly happen.
It is also important to give credit to humongous efforts by the Turkish officers who were on the ship. These experienced officers made it clear that no one was allowed to keep or hold anything that might be misunderstood as weapons by the Israeli navy. We were going for a human rights mission and we were not intended to confront the navy.
The Turkish officers even ordered one of the Yemeni MPs to take out the knife which they usually have as part of their traditional dress. All of us obeyed the orders to the last word. We did not have anything with us that could be termed as weapon or that could be mistaken for a weapon.
Until 3 or 4 in the morning on May 31, we saw a navy ship moving close to us. At 4 am, while we were performing the morning prayers under the protection of the Turkish officers, about 6 to 8 navy boats with 20 to 30 Israeli marines began to encircle Marmara Gaza Aid Flotilla.
After completing the morning prayer we began regrouping with our fellow countrymen. The Kuwaiti activists gathered, the Jordanians did like wise and so on.
The Turks moved up and volunteered to take the brunt of the attack in case of a confrontation with the Israeli navy. They did not want any of the volunteers from other countries to put themselves in the line. And that’s what happened; the Turks were on the top deck of the Flotilla and on the frontlines of the conflict.
Some of the Turks who were on top of the deck took some broomsticks with them. Nobody had any arms. However, the order was that if any confrontation was to take place then it had to be with bare hands. Although we were on a Turkish ship and in the international waters and no one had the right to attack us.
By that time there were rubber bullets being shot at us, and sound bombs and gas bombs hurtled. One of Kuwaiti volunteers, Ahmad Luqman, was hit by a rubber bullet on his side. He was hurt in his leg. One of the Bahraini volunteers also was similarly injured.
Q: Were the ladies on the ship also facing the attack?
A: All the ladies were actually inside the ship and well guarded. However, when there were casualties on the ship, some women who were trained in first aid came out to help the injured and the dying. By then some volunteers had already given up their life for the noble cause.
What we discovered during that time is how inhumane the Israelis actually are. We usually only saw them on TV, and this trip gave us the opportunity to see them first hand. They were very violent, inhuman and disrespectful to everyone. I could not believe how the Palestinians have survived facing these monsters on a daily basis for years; this is something that is very difficult to handle.
It is very easy for them to kill. They even shot dead injured volunteers. In the beginning, I only saw four Turks dead because they were brought down to the lower deck. We initially thought only 9 were killed that day.
We felt horrible after seeing the dead Turkish civilians. We felt proud because these people were fighting for a true cause. For human rights. They were fighting in defense of other humans similar to them but who have been suffering for so long. These people died for the most humane cause in our world today. These people are martyrs in defense of the right to live with freedom, respect and safety.
Something that was really touchy was when the wife of one of the martyrs covered her husband with the red cloth she was wearing, and considered his death something to be proud of and not weep over it.
Even after seeing all the blood and the violent attack by the Israelis everyone stayed in their place, until the Turkish leadership called for us to stop confronting them and go back to our places. The Turkish leadership started sending messages to the Israeli officers in Hebrew and English to stop attacking because some activists had been killed and many others wounded.
The Israelis were in full control of the Flotilla by around 5 am, and we all went inside and sat in our places from 5 until 7 am while the Israelis were outside pointing their guns at us without any action taking place. No one was allowed to move, and when someone moved to get water or anything else they pointed their laser gun on him or her as an order to go back to their place. With all that pressure some people tried as much as possible to continue helping the wounded.
At around 7:30 am they came in and started searching each one of us individually and the Flotilla in general.
Q: Did the inspection include any kind of violence by the Israeli soldiers?
A: Yes. Some people were shoved, kicked, and pushed, while others were stripped off their clothes down to their underpants. They treated everyone this way without consideration for old people or women.
We were all then placed on the open decks of Flotilla under the hot sun. We stayed there for long hours. It was really difficult for anyone to go to the toilet or have a drink of water. For example, a pregnant woman was not allowed to go to the toilet; they sent her to the kitchen and told her to do whatever she wanted there. In another case a man was sent to the toilet handcuffed, and they refused to take them off. We were also horribly handcuffed that caused us much pain.
After a couple of hours another batch of Israeli officers took over the guarding duty. They seemed to have some humanity. They loosened the handcuffs. By that time the whole fleet had been subjected to thorough examination. They took away everything they believed could be used as a weapon along with all the electronics appliances which they promised to give back. But as usual, the Israeli promises were never kept.
We were only allowed to have our passports and money with us.
Q: How did Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei contact his family and tell them that the Kuwaiti volunteers were safe?
A: Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei made his final call a few minutes before the Israeli soldiers were in full control of the Flotilla. That was something great that Al-Tabtabaei did.
After that men and women were separated, the handcuffs of women, journalists and old people were removed, and going to the toilet and drinking water became easier when the second batch of navy guards arrived.
The Flotilla kept sailing until we reached Ashdod. However, the aggressive treatment continued. For example, Father Capucci stood up for a couple of seconds after tiring from long hours of sitting on his knees. He was shoved very aggressively on to the ground by the Israeli soldiers. One of the activists was taking a small nap and suddenly one of the soldiers hit him hard on the chest to wake him up.
I discovered during this experience that with all the strong training that the Israeli officers have and weapons they were holding, they were still really afraid; they were cowards, and whenever someone moved they would become nervous and stress out and point their guns. They repeated their inspection over and over again. Although none of us had the ability to fight back, we were still kept handcuffed.
After that we were brought down from the ship and inspected one by one. We were led to a tent with each of us accompanied by an Israeli officer. This was in Ashdod. During the inspection they started to tell us that we came here illegally. They said that what we were doing was something completely wrong. We told them that the Israeli officers kidnapped us while we were in international waters and that we were not heading for Israel. We were going to the occupied Palestinian lands. They started telling us that we were coming to support Hamas; we simply answered that we have no equipment that could be of any support to Hamas. We had only brought food and medical supplies and materials for building. These were things they already knew.
They gave each one of us two documents to sign: one saying that we came in illegally and for a wrong purpose and the other that we are going to be deported. I did not sign any of the papers like most of the volunteers, only some signed on the deportation form, which is normal because we were going to be deported anyways.
Q: Where was your daughter at that time?
A: Since we were taken from the ship I was separated from my daughter, because she was taken with the women and I was taken with the men. After the inspection we were taken in buses to a prison. The prison was new and we were the first people to be locked in it. It was very clean.
We stayed there for hours. I can’t even remember the exact number of hours we were there because they were like years of my life passing by. We were not allowed to change our clothes. We stayed in our clothes for two days because no was allowed to take anything from the Flotilla. We were given breakfast. There were tomatoes and cucumbers and I don’t know what else.
During the day we all gathered to say the afternoon prayers, but they stopped us and said that if we want to pray we have to pray separately. They didn’t allow us to gather in groups.
After around an hour, 22 consuls from different countries visited the prison. They made us feel at home, especially the Jordanian consul who asked a lot about us and stated that he was responsible for all the Arab volunteers and checked that we were all safe and that we were in good health.
That evening, we left the prisons. Until that time, I did not see my daughter, and after reaching the Israeli borders we were moved from the Israeli bus to the Jordanian bus. Here I suddenly experienced a feeling of freedom that I was missing for the past two days.
When we reached the Jordanian borders we were surprised by the reception that was given to us in Jordan. I would like to thank the Jordanian government for its efforts. And of course the government of Kuwait for its efforts because without them we would not have come back this quickly.
This has made us stronger and pushed us into continuing what we started. This is to fight peacefully for human rights in Palestinian so that we will be able to send aids one day without having to confront Israel.
The 55 hours from Monday until Wednesday morning when we arrived in Kuwait was like 55 months for me. The ordeal will not stop us.
Q: There is talk about sending Gaza Aid Flotilla II, will you join this mission again along with your daughter?
A: Well, we will definitely have representatives from Kuwait. That’s all I can say for now.