Greta Thunberg faces harsh treatment in Israeli custody after flotilla mission arrest: Report

Days after being arrested, climate activist Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials that she is being subjected to harsh treatment in Israeli custody. Thunberg was arrested by the Israeli authorities while she was on board one of the vessels of the flotilla, which was travelling to Gaza carrying humanitarian aid.

According to The Guardian, the Israeli forces are also reported by other detainees to have taken photographs where Thunberg was allegedly forced to hold the flags. The identity of the flags is unknown.

In an email sent by Sweden’s Foreign Ministry obtained by The Guardian, an official who has visited the activist in prison said she claimed she was detained in a cell infested with bedbugs, with too little food and water.

“The embassy has been able to meet with Greta,” reads the email. “She informed of dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes, which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces,” the email read.

“Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her [Thunberg] being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered whether images of her had been distributed,” the Swedish ministry’s official added.

‘They dragged Greta by her hair’

The allegations were also supported by two other members of the flotilla who were released by the Israeli forces on Saturday. “They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.

Lorenzo D’Agostino, a journalist and another flotilla participant, said after returning to Istanbul that Thunberg was “wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy” – a scene described with disbelief and anger by those who witnessed it.

The Swedish climate activist was among 437 campaigners, parliamentarians and lawyers who were part of the Global Sumud flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels carrying humanitarian aid. The goal of the mission was to breach Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza, but they failed to do so.

Between Thursday and Friday, Israeli forces intercepted all the boats and arrested every crew member on board. According to The Guardian, most of the members of the mission are being held at Ketziot, also known as Ansar III, a high-security prison in the Negev desert. It is pertinent to note that the prison complex is used primarily to detain Palestinian security prisoners, many of whom Israel accuses of involvement in militant or terrorist activities.

In the past, activists, including Thunberg, who were detained by Israel were not criminally prosecuted and instead their presence was treated as an immigration matter.