Australian activists have alleged they were subjected to beatings, sexual assault, and other mistreatment after the Israel Defense Forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla earlier this week. Zack Schofield, a climate organiser from Newcastle, said he watched as Israeli soldiers beat an Irish woman to the ground after she shouted “free Palestine” at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Schofield, speaking from Istanbul after being deported, said many of the 428 people on board the Global Sumud flotilla were treated brutally. “Many people received similar or worse treatment for much less,” he said. “There’s no consistency to the violence. It was really at the whim of whichever guard was in front of you.”
Eleven Australians were among those detained. Flotilla coordinators said all Australian activists required first aid, with three taken to hospital in Turkey. Filmmaker Juliet Lamont alleged she was sexually assaulted and beaten by soldiers, and that 180 people on her prison boat were beaten, with at least 40 suffering broken bones. “We were tortured,” she said.
Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman rejected the allegations, claiming the detainees were handled with “great sensitivity” and that no one was harmed. Schofield disputed this, describing guards who were masked and used stun guns and “beanbag rounds” for minor provocations. Detainees were left in cold, wet conditions with no blankets, and forced into stress positions.
Schofield also recounted an incident where a soldier took a man of Arab appearance to a container, and screams were heard. When others protested, guards fired beanbag rounds into the crowd. During a prison tour, Ben-Gvir avoided eye contact with detainees. “The veneer of courage is pretty thin,” Schofield said.
