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Campaigners feared for lives in 'brutal' ordeal - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie
"Campaigners feared for lives in 'brutal' ordeal
By Shane Hickey
Saturday June 05 2010
TWO Irish campaigners deported from
Israel told yesterday how they were beaten and repeatedly threatened while in custody after they were taken from the flotilla of boats that has caused international controversy.
Fiachra O Luain (28) and
Dr Fintan Lane (43) arrived back in
Dublin airport yesterday and said they had both feared for their lives during the incident, which resulted in their deportation from Israel to
Turkey.
Mr O Luain said he was "brutalised" while in custody in
Ben Gurion Airport and said there were bruises all around his body.
When he was initially taken from the boat, he refused to talk to anyone apart from a lawyer.
"As soon as one of them grabbed me, about 15 or 20 jumped me, kicked me, punched me as soon as I hit the ground," he said.
"They had my arm in stress positions, they tried to break my finger."
He said he feared for his life during his time in custody and at one stage asked to see a rabbi.
"I asked to see a rabbi and they told me I would only see a rabbi when they killed me," Mr O Luain, from
Co Donegal, said.
He said they were repeatedly threatened and he had his passport taken from him.
His mother
Eleanor Lamb said last Monday -- when the boats were raided -- had been "absolute hell".
Both he and Dr Lane, who were on board the Challenger vessel, were welcomed into Dublin airport by a crowd from the
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).
Hyenas
Dr Lane, a historian from
Co Cork, said he had refused to sign any documentation from the Israeli security services and repeated that he was being kept in the country against his will.
When the vessel he was on was stormed, he said the Israeli boats surrounded their vessel "like hyenas" and at one point a soldier told him to move a few inches with such aggression that he believed his life was under threat. "I believe that soldier would have shot me," he said.
Another man who holds an Irish passport and was on board the vessels,
Isam Bin Ali, described the Israelis as being "like mafia" during the storming of the flotilla.
- Shane Hickey
Irish Independent"
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...271913157.html
"Activists threatened and beaten, claim returnees
STEVEN CARROLL
DUBLIN PRESS CONFERENCE: ACTIVISTS REMOVED from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla were viciously beaten and threatened with execution during their detention in Israel, an Irish member of the convoy claimed yesterday.
Fiachra O’Luain, who travelled on board the Challenger 1, said he witnessed members of the Israeli military punching and stamping on detainees. He alleged he was kicked and beaten while held at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv and that his life was threatened.
At a press conference in Dublin yesterday, Mr O’Luain (28) said he saw Irish passport-holder Ken O’Keefe have his “head split open with a baton” during a scuffle between soldiers and detainees. “On one person there may have been up to 10 or more ,” he said. “They beat the **** out of everybody.”
Fintan Lane of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who was also onboard the Challenger 1, said “extreme violence” was used by the Israeli commandos.
“It was a violent attack in the sense it appeared they would use whatever violence they felt necessary to take control of the flotilla.” Mr Lane said he was treated well while waiting to leave Ben Gurion airport but there was a “strong sense of violence”.
He also said he was concerned his passport had been compromised by the Israelis during his detention given Irish documents were used by suspects in the murder of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai earlier this year.
Separately, members of the Irish Anti-War Movement blockaded the Israeli embassy in Dublin yesterday. Richard Boyd Barrett, chair of the movement, said they had undertaken the protest to highlight the “continued inhuman blockade” of Gaza.
Mr Boyd Barrett said no security staff or officials arrived at the embassy during office hours. He said the protest may resume if the passage of the Rachel Corrie to Gaza was interfered with. Calls to the embassy and press office were not answered yesterday.
Meanwhile, Catholic Primate Cardinal Seán Brady has called for Israel’s blockade on Gaza to be lifted. He described the loss of life when the flotilla was stormed as “reprehensible”."
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