{"id":468161,"date":"2026-05-04T16:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/468161\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:38:13","slug":"irish-flotilla-activist-claims-she-was-grabbed-by-the-hair-and-cable-tied-by-israeli-commandos-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/468161\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish flotilla activist claims she was grabbed by the hair and cable-tied by Israeli commandos \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Irish member of the flotilla intercepted by the Israeli<\/a> navy said she was cable-tied, manhandled and left for 24 hours without adequate food or water. <\/p>\n

Catriona Graham was on the Eros 1st boat, one of the lead vessels of the flotilla, which was intercepted late last Wednesday night into Thursday morning. <\/p>\n

It was \u201cvery unanticipated\u201d they would be intercepted when they were, as they were in international waters at the time, some 900 kilometres from Gaza<\/a>, she said.<\/p>\n

Altogether Israel has removed 175 activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was made up of about 58 vessels carrying crew members from 70 countries. <\/p>\n

Their boats were surrounded by ribs and they thought initially they were from the Greek coastguard. <\/p>\n

They turned out to be Israeli navy commandos who called out to them to be ready for boarding. <\/p>\n

The passengers of the flotilla were moved to the back of the boat and their life jackets were taken off. They were all cable-tied. The vessel then left at full speed, Graham recalled. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey took people\u2019s shirts and jackets off. It was extremely cold and extremely uncomfortable. They were demanding that people move around without life jackets on. It was dangerous and risky.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree Irish members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Robert Murphy, Catriona Graham and Fiacc \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in, were among those who issued videos after being detained in international waters by Israel. Photograph: \u00c9ire Global Sumud\/Instagram <\/p>\n

Graham said they were transferred to a prison boat where they were forced into a stress position (kneeling down with head to the ground and hands on their head). <\/p>\n

\u201cThey took my jacket off. I was wearing a very light dress and very light leggings. We were all damp and wet.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israeli court extends detention of two activists arrested aboard Gaza-bound flotillaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

They were given foam mattresses without blankets. There was a limited amount of water, she recalled, and all they had to eat was \u201ctiny\u201d bread rolls with single slices of cheese. \u201cThere was not enough to go around,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not given any more water for a further 24 hours. It was a 500ml bottle per person over that period,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had seven portaloos for 180 people. We were not given any soap or any hygiene products. It was quite dire circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried on the second night to set up the foam mattress into a structure for warmth. Many of us were huddled together to try to sleep with body warmth.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said six of those on the flotilla were taken into isolation away from the others. \u201cBy the second evening, it was clear it was 24 hours before we knew about their wellbeing.\u201d <\/p>\n

They were all told they would be brought ashore on ribs 10 at a time, but they refused until they were given information on the six held in isolation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey rapidly started the physical engagement. They grabbed me by the hair and forced me into a stress position,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"BrazilianBrazilian activist Thiago Avila arrives at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

According to her, at that point they grabbed the Brazilian activist Thiago Avila who is currently in detention in Israel. \u201cThat\u2019s the last time I saw or heard from him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Five of the six who were held in detention on the prison ship were released except Saif Abu Keshek, a Palestinian activist who is also a Spanish citizen. He is in detention in Israel. <\/p>\n

She refused to stay on the rib and was put back on the prison ship, where she claimed she was manhandled by Israeli commandos. <\/p>\n

She was eventually taken onshore in Crete. She said the Greek government did not give them food or toilet facilities. \u201cIt was a disappointing experience after being kidnapped,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

She stressed, though, that the Greek people have been very welcoming of them. <\/p>\n

Despite her ordeal, Graham said she intends to continue with the flotilla which is currently moored because of rough conditions in the Mediterranean at present. <\/p>\n

She is one of three of the seven who will continue on the flotilla. The others have returned home. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is very clear about the willingness to continue in every different way that we can in the struggle for Palestinian liberation and resistance.\u201d <\/p>\n

Israel has defended its stance calling the flotilla organisers \u201cprofessional provocateurs\u201d and added: \u201cIsrael will \u2060not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israel instructs residents of multiple towns in southern Lebanon to evacuateOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Irish member of the flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy said she was cable-tied, manhandled and left…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,3761,6,71,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-468161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-gaza-strip","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116517294481805656","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}