{"id":481011,"date":"2025-10-07T18:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/481011\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T18:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:47:11","slug":"us-activist-from-gaza-flotilla-alleges-psychological-torture-by-israel-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/481011\/","title":{"rendered":"US activist from Gaza flotilla alleges \u2018psychological torture\u2019 by Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United States citizen who was detained by Israel on the Global Sumud Flotilla<\/a>, which tried to deliver aid to Gaza, says he and other activists endured abuse and \u201cpsychological torture\u201d in Israeli custody.<\/p>\n

David Adler, who was released and deported to Jordan on Tuesday, said after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters, they took the activists to a prison complex in the Negev desert in southern Israel.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were kidnapped, stripped, zip-tied, blindfolded and sent to an internment camp on a police van without any access to food, to water, to legal support,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd for the next five days, on and off, we were psychologically tortured.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an audio message shared with Al Jazeera through the advocacy group Progressive International, Adler said he and another Jewish activist were picked out and forced to be photographed with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter interception, we were violently forced onto our knees into positions of submission, where the two Jews of the flotilla were taken by the ear and ripped from the group for a photo-op with Ben-Gvir, staring at the flag of the State of Israel, taunted for his goons,\u201d Adler said.<\/p>\n

He described his time in detention as a \u201cfive-day nightmare of serial and systematic violations<\/a> of our most basic rights\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018My Jewish heritage demands it\u2019<\/p>\n

Adler, who is co-general coordinator at Progressive International, added that riot troops would raid the prison\u00a0with attack dogs\u00a0at night to \u201cterrify and terrorise\u201d the detainees.<\/p>\n

His testimony adds to the allegations of mistreatment of flotilla activists, who included climate campaigner Greta Thunberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The flotilla \u2013 a collection of more than 40 boats and 470 people from across the world \u2013 aimed to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which has sparked a deadly hunger crisis<\/a> in the territory.<\/p>\n

Israel intercepted the flotilla in international waters last week, a move that human rights advocates have argued is illegal.<\/p>\n

Adler was one of more than 20 US citizens in the group and among the last to be released.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, about two dozen lawmakers from the activist\u2019s home state of California penned a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on him to push for Adler to be freed.<\/p>\n

As he was sailing towards Gaza last week, Adler shared a social media post reflecting on his Jewish identity and the decision to participate in the flotilla.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s any part of the Torah that I still remember, it is this obligation it bestows upon us: \u2018Justice, justice you shall pursue.\u2019 How could we stand by while the State of Israel perverts this holy obligation, overseeing a holocaust of the Palestinian people<\/a>?\u201d Adler wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined this flotilla just like any other delegate \u2013 to defend humanity before it is too late. But on Yom Kippur, I am reminded that I am also here because my Jewish heritage demands it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump envoy taunts Adler<\/p>\n

According to Adler, US officials did not provide any consular services to him and other Americans who were imprisoned by Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US general consul said, \u2018We are not your babysitters. You\u2019d have no food, no water, no money, no phones, no planes,’\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018We\u2019re taking you straight to the airport, and you\u2019re on your own.’\u201d<\/p>\n

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee<\/a> had rebuked Adler personally, calling him a \u201cself-absorbed tool of Hamas\u201d.<\/p>\n

Huckabee also echoed the false Israeli claims that the flotilla is \u201cHamas-funded\u201d.<\/p>\n

Palestinian rights advocates and many Palestinians in Gaza welcomed the flotilla, saying it demonstrates the power of individuals to take direct action to help the people in Gaza even if they fail to reach the shores of the territory.<\/p>\n

In his message, Adler called the mistreatment of the activists a marker of \u201chow rogue the state of Israel has become in its utter disregard for basic international humanitarian law\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m obviously very aware that all of this pales in comparison to the treatment that Palestinians endure every single day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel holds thousands of Palestinian detainees, many without\u00a0 charge or trial.<\/p>\n

Rights groups and United Nations experts have documented horrific and systemic torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including the use of starvation and sexual violence<\/a> against captives.<\/p>\n

Israel continues to imprison US teenager Mohammed Ibrahim<\/a>, who was arrested in the occupied West Bank in February and has since lost more than a quarter of his body weight, according to his family.<\/p>\n

The Israeli government\u2019s Press Office and US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera\u2019s request for comment by the time of publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A United States citizen who was detained by Israel on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which tried to deliver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[2194,837,7424,839,12,1814,49,978,286,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-481011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","11":"tag-middle-east","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-palestine","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-canada","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}