Luxembourger on Gaza aid flotilla: ‘I was kidnapped by IDF’

“If you’re watching this video, it’s because I was kidnapped by the IDF and taken to Israel against my will. Tell my government not to be complicit and bring me home,” Nora Rosa Fellens Huberty said in a video message relayed to the media by Patrick Bosch, the spokesperson for the Luxembourg arm of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

There was no contact with the Mia Mia, part of the flotilla, for over three hours, Bosch said, and Fellens Huberty, a Luxembourg activist, is now “presumed kidnapped”.

“Luxembourg is deeply concerned about the information provided by the organisation of the Global Sumud Flotilla that all contact with the ship on which the Luxembourg national is on board has been interrupted for several hours,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release Thursday morning. Luxembourg is calling on the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of all participants, to respect the right to consular protection and to refrain from any use of force against participants.

The consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the Luxembourg delegation of the Gaza aid flotilla throughout.

‘I risk being intercepted tonight’

On board, the crew talked a lot about their reasons for taking part in the operation, Fellens Huberty said in an interview with Virgule on Wednesday. “We are constantly thinking about Gaza and the Palestinians,” she said. “We don’t want to look away, but we also don’t want the focus to be on us, but on the Palestinian people.”

The Mia Mia was due to arrive in Gaza on Thursday. “We expect to be intercepted. From tonight [editor’s note: Wednesday], I will no longer be able to respond if I am intercepted,” Fellens Huberty said.

In the past, there have been interceptions – mostly at night – presumably by the Israeli Defence Forces. “I feel ready and safe with my team, but I don’t think you can imagine what they are capable of,” Fellens Huberty said. Depending on the scenario, the flotilla participants had prepared different protocols.

The Luxemburger Wort reported early Thursday that since Fellens Huberty was in contact with Virgule, 13 ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla have been intercepted by Israeli forces, including Greta Thunberg’s. Around 30 ships, including the Mia Mia, had continued their journey at that point.

According to the Global Sumud Flotilla tracker, the situation has now changed.

Almost all 44 boats have now been categorised as “intercepted” or “presumed intercepted”. The Mia Mia is also believed to have been intercepted, according to information available Thursday morning.

A difficult night

According to Fellens Huberty, Tuesday night was short and exhausting. She was awakened by the Mia Mia crew about 4:00 Wednesday. “We were told to be ready for a possible interception by the Israeli Defence Forces. So we followed the safety protocol and gathered in the cockpit wearing life jackets,” she told Virgule.

The crew waited for further communication, although they could see “quite a few” drones around them, according to Fellens Huberty. They watched and remained on guard. Then they received a radio message: one of the flotilla’s boats had been circled by a military vessel.

The activist told Virgule that communications had been broken and that military vessels were approaching a second boat in the flotilla, just a few metres away from the Mia Mia. “We stayed calm and waited for coordination with the other boats in the flotilla,” she explained. “But it’s very tiring and I think these tactics are being used to tire us out.”

Only one Luxembourger left

The fatigue that Fellens Huberty mentioned has increased since the events at the beginning of the week. On Monday, the Luxembourger, who had set sail on the boat Johnny M, had to change boats: “It sprang a leak,” she said. Although the Johnny M did not sink, the 12 people on board were either evacuated or transferred to other boats in the flotilla.

Fellens Huberty was transferred to the Mia Mia. Two other Luxembourgers who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla have retuned to Luxembourg: Maya Garman on 20 September and Abdessamed Taqui on 25 September.

“I’m with a team that knows what it’s doing and is made up of seafarers. There is a lot of goodwill, calm and determination here,” she said. Calmness and non-violent behaviour are values that all members of the flotilla were taught when they signed up.

“Tonight we sang Palestinian-Arabic songs while we sailed and waited to see if we would be intercepted,” she said.

What is the flotilla?

Fellens Huberty, a trained lawyer, is taking part in the large-scale Global Sumud Flotilla campaign, in which citizens from 44 countries have joined forces with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade in the war against Hamas. The activists accuse Israel of genocide. In doing so, they are endorsing the conclusions of the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry, which expressed this view on 16 September. Israel described this as a “biased and mendacious” investigation.

The term “genocide” is legally controversial in this context. The flotilla is intended to exert further pressure on Israel. Organisations, activists such as Greta Thunberg and private individuals who are campaigning against the humanitarian situation and violence in Gaza are taking part in the initiative. A similar action took place in June. Its participants were also intercepted. This time, the number of participating ships was much larger.

(This article first appeared on Virgule. It was translated using AI with editing and adaptation by Alex Stevensson.)