Greta Thunberg 'freedom flotilla' crewmate describes 'mistreatment' he claims she and her colleagues suffered while held by Israel - including bizarre 'dancing'

Daily Mail​

a day ago

Greta Thunberg was 'mistreated' by Israeli officials after security forces stormed the 'freedom flotilla' boat she was travelling on and detained the crew, an activist who was on board the Gaza-bound ship has claimed.
Baptiste Andre told French media that 'there were acts of mistreatment' when Israeli authorities brought the group to the port of Ashdod to be processed.
The French doctor, who was one of the 12 people on board the British-flagged humanitarian ship Madleen, said that there had been 'no acts of physical violence' against the group.
However he claimed that members of the group, 'especially Greta', were put through 'sleep deprivation' and experienced 'mockery' from officials.
'As soon as [Thunberg] fell asleep, the immigration services came to wake her up,' he said.
He added that music was also 'turned up loud' and that members of the immigration services 'danced in front of us'.
Andre also alleged that the group had 'difficulties in accessing water and food' during their more than 24 hours in detention.
'It took three hours to get a piece of bread,' he said, adding that the detainees had difficulty accessing food, water and toilets.
Andre has since returned to France after being deported from Israel by plane on Tuesday.
Thunberg, who also arrived back in Europe on a deportation flight, told reporters yesterday that 'people were not being treated well' during her detention.
'I was not able to to say goodbye to people and I don't know what's happening. And there were many, many issues,' she said.
Pressed for details on her treatment, she described the experience as 'very dehumanising.
'But of course, I have to stress nothing compared to what Palestinians are going through. I would prefer not to go into detail,' she insisted.
She went on: 'I do know that there were major issues with people actually getting to talk to lawyers.
'When you look at the state of the world, everything feels meaningless. But unless you try to do everything you can, we lose our hope.'
Asked by reporters about a viral picture of her smiling as an Israeli soldier offered her a sandwich when the boat was intercepted, Thunberg branded the gesture a PR stunt.
Israel had shared pictures of the crew receiving sandwiches and water from soldiers, and said the crew were 'safe and unharmed'.
Thunberg and Andre were among four who agreed to be deported immediately, with lawyers while all of them have been banned from Israel for 100 years, the rights group that legally represents some of them said in a statement.
The remaining eight were taken into custody after they refused to leave Israel voluntarily, and brought before a detention review tribunal on Tuesday, rights group Adalah added.
The activist group had set off from Catania in Italy on June 1 aboard the Madleen carrying what they called a 'symbolic' amount food and supplies for Gaza, the entire population of which the UN has warned is at risk of famine.
Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters on Monday, allegedly shadowing the vessel with speedboats and drones before 'quadcopters' surrounded and sprayed the ship with an unidentified 'white irritant substance'.
Images showed the deck of the charity vessel splattered with white liquid. Activist Yasmin Acar, among those on board, said it had been deployed by Israel and was affecting her eyes.
'Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,' the coalition wrote on Telegram.
Huwaida Arraf, the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, told Al Jazeera that crew members had said their eyes were burning from the substance.
'We don't know what that chemical was. Some people reported that their eyes were burning,' they said.
The IDF seized the ship and towed it to the port of Ashdod, where it took those on board to be processed before taking four to the airport to be deported.
'The passengers of the 'Selfie Yacht' arrived at Ben Gurion Airport to depart from Israel and return to their home countries,' the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
'Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority.'
Thunberg landed in Sweden at around 10.30pm Tuesday night after a brief stop in France following her deportation from Israel.
She was welcomed at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm by dozens of people waving Palestinian flags, who presented her with flowers and a keffiyeh scarf as they shouted 'free Palestine!'
Thunberg yesterday vowed to return to the country despite the restrictions apparently placed on her.
Asked in if she was scared when the security forces boarded the Madleen sailboat, Thunberg replied: 'What I'm afraid of is that people are silent during an ongoing genocide.'
'What I feel most is concern for the continued violations of international law and war crimes that Israel is guilty of.'
She accused Israel of carrying out a 'systematic genocide' and 'systematic starvation of over two million people' in Gaza.
Several rights groups including Amnesty International have accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza but Israel vehemently rejects the term.
'We must act, we must demand that our government acts, and we must act ourselves when our complicit governments do not step up,' Thunberg said.
She rose to fame as a schoolgirl activist against climate change and seeks to avoid flying because of its environmental impact, going so far as to cross the Atlantic by sailboat twice.
Thunberg vowed that they 'would not stop' trying to help and promised that 'this is not the end.'
She told journalists shortly after landing in Paris: 'What is certain is that we will not stop.
'We are going to continue try to do everything we can because that is the promise that we have given to to Palestinians.
'We are going to try every single day in every way that we can and keep trying to demand an end to the atrocities.'
Earlier in the day, Thunberg accused Israel of 'kidnapping' her in international waters, a claim she made previously in a dramatic pre-recorded SOS message released shortly after her detention.
The activist, who has long eschewed air travel for environment reasons, was photographed on board an aircraft en route to France earlier on Tuesday - a moment that Israel's Foreign Ministry was quick to publicise, posting the image on social media platform X.
Prior to her deportation, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he'd instructed IDF officials to show the activists the full, unedited footage of the October 7 attacks as recorded by Hamas terrorist body cameras.
'It is appropriate that the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas supporters see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organization they came to support and for whom they work is, what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself,' he said.
Late on Monday night, he told reporters: 'Greta and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival to the screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre... when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching.
'The anti-Semitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children.'
Thunberg joined 11 activists in sailing to the Gaza Strip with a 'symbolic' amount of aid
Katz and other Israeli officials have come under fire for branding Thunberg and her fellow activists 'anti-Semitic' for wanting to deliver aid to starving Gazans.
But Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said: 'This wasn't humanitarian aid. It's Instagram activism...
'Who's really feeding Gaza and who's really feeding their own ego? Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself.'
Meanwhile, the French government revealed that five of the six French citizens detained alongside Thunberg had refused to sign deportation orders, meaning they will now face judicial proceedings.
US President Donald Trump did not miss the opportunity to wade in on the controversy.
'I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg. She's a young, angry person... I think she has to go to an anger management class,' he said.