Three Newfoundland and Labrador activists who were part of a flotilla that was detained by Israeli forces have been released and are en route home to Canada.
Sadie Mees, Devoney Ellis, and Nikita Stapleton travelled safely to Amman, Jordan, Sunday morning. The members of the Canadian Boat to Gaza, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, were aiming to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade.
The World Health Organization and international NGOs have declared famine conditions in the Gaza Strip have been ongoing since August.
Kira Mees, Sadie’s mother, says she last heard from her daughter around Oct. 7. Sadie told her mom that The Conscience, the boat she was on, was nearing an interception point, and she may be detained in Israel.
“It was so scary,” says Mees. “We were getting reports of mistreatment happening with the detainees, and to know that your kid is in a dangerous situation … it was really hard.”
Mees was able to have a short call with Sadie on Sunday morning, and has seen a photograph of her daughter. She says Sadie appears tired, but otherwise alright.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the ships were intercepted by Israel, and six Canadian activists, including the three from Newfoundland, were held in Israel’s Ketzi’ot prison.
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The Israeli Foreign Ministry says a total of 145 activists were brought to shore for processing and deportation, following the interception.
Once the ships were detained, Mees says communication with the Canadian government and consulate was “sparse.”
She says they got one report of a consular official meeting with the Canadian detainees while they were imprisoned, but was unclear on how often officials were checking on them. “If the reports coming out of the prison are that detainees are being abused or otherwise neglected, I would expect that our government would want to have eyeballs on them as much as possible,” Mees says. “That lack of communication was distressing.”
Amir Khadir, the husband of Nimâ Machouf, another Canadian held in detention, told media Saturday that he heard from his wife that the detainees were treated violently and “dragged by their hair.” He says he also heard that some detainees were denied medication and forced to kneel for hours.
Machouf returned to Canada through Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport on Sunday evening, while Khurram Musti Khan of Milton, Ont., arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Toronto-based Indigenous rights activist Mskwaasin Agnew returned to Canada on Saturday afternoon.
Heralded as a hero by a group of family, friends and supporters who gathered to welcome him home at Pearson, Musti Khan said.
“I’m not a hero,” he told the crowd with a green kaffiyeh draped over his shoulders.
“The real heroes are my Palestinian brothers who have sacrificed everything for the cause of freedom and justice. The real heroes are our Palestinian mothers who bear the loss of their children with patience. The real heroes are our Palestinian children, who stay resilient despite all the hardships they face, unbearable hardships.”
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has previously denied the mistreatment of detainees, with the Associated Press reporting last week that the ministry called the allegations “brazen lies.”
Representatives from the Canadian Boat to Gaza say that the trio from Newfoundland were released along with 40 other international volunteers.
“We continue to call for fully unhindered access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, and an end to the Canadian government’s complicity in the Israeli occupation and genocide against Palestinians,” the statement, sent via email, reads.
Mees says volunteers with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition were the ones most often in contact with her, translating documents, and helping to make plans to get Sadie, Ellis and Stapleton home.
The trio are set to leave Jordan soon, arriving in Toronto on Monday evening, before touching down in St. John’s, N.L., on Tuesday.
Sadie, 24, has always been “deeply connected” to social justice, says Mees, something that makes her quite proud of her daughter. While this past week has been difficult, Mees says the support she has received from friends and family has helped.
“I think it speaks to this larger movement. People realize that this is the work that needs to be done and people have to keep working to free Palestine.”
— with files from Cassidy McMackon in Toronto.
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