Global Sumud Flotilla: Heroes welcome for SA activists after harrowing Israeli detention

While the SA activists, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), were joyfully welcomed at the airports after a harrowing detention in an Israeli prison, the government said they will see what further action is necessary from them once they receive the debrief reports. 

A wave of emotion, determination, and raw testimony swept through O.R. Tambo International Airport on Saturday, as the six South African delegates arrived home after a harrowing detention in an Israeli prison.

As they shared details of their experience, 22-year-old Masters student, Hajar Kagiso Al-Tha'irah Ahjum-Mathee, said that she was very grateful for the men who were alongside her as they took care of her the whole way.

She said that they were shoved around and that it was a terrifying experience, but one that she knew was for a greater purpose. 

“I had to drop my phone in the ocean. Even in that moment, I was petrified, and my heart was shaking, and pounding with an anxiety that I can't describe to you. Even in that moment, I knew that this is a mission that is so incredibly important, and it's a mission that I will do again and again and again and again.”

Ahjum-Mathee said that if she had to go the day after, she would just put ointment on her bruises and “definitely go again because we go at the request of Palestinians”

“We go because Palestinians have been begging and screaming and crying and asking us to come to their aid and to help, to help them for decades, and we've been failing them.”

While she did not want to go into details, Ahjum-Mathee said that they “went through various levels of assault”.

“It was physical, there was psychological, there was sexual violence. There was every sort of violence because these, these monsters, these monsters, all they know how to do is to take away your dignity.”

Radio presenter, Gadija Ahjum, the mother of Hajar, said that she is elated to have her back. Ahjum said that it has been difficult to navigate the desire to protect her daughter from harm while also giving voice to the greater good for which her daughter undertook the journey.

“For them to put their bodies on the line makes it exceptional, but also, I want to reiterate what I said, that the Zionist entity responds with violence because they assume that that is what people are most afraid of. The imperialists assume that death is the ultimate punishment. 

“If you are a person of faith, or if it is about humanity, then death is not the end of something; it is about living your truth. And the very fact that it is people within our communities, it is a child - my child - who has reminded us that it is our voices that matter, and our voices as a collective that can make the most impact,” Ahjum said.

Dirco’s Director-General, Zane Dangor, said that while the GSF is not government action, they have been doing their part to provide the duty of care for the South African activists.

“What we've been doing is to make sure that we provide the duty of care. It is not a government action; it's global civil society.

“In this particular mission, there were 420 people, I think, who were on different boats. There were six South Africans who returned today (Saturday), but there were also South Africans of dual citizenship who have returned to places like France and elsewhere.

“What we did was, we organised with the people, the families, to just give us a sense of where people are at. We also had our diplomats, both in Jordan and in Turkey, working together to track what happens on their release,” Dangor said.

“We also had to make sure that we make statements in the public domain, and we've written to the Israeli embassy in South Africa around the protection of our citizens, because the reports that we were getting were that all the people abducted, because it's illegal abductions, because they were actually in international waters, we were being treated quite badly.

“We’ve had reports of severe assaults, in some cases, sexual assaults. We just wanted to make sure that we bring across the message that our citizens have to be protected and treated with rights due to them,” Dangor said.

“We tracked their way back from being released through to Istanbul, and then from Istanbul, flying back to South Africa.”

Dangor said that they did have a minor debrief with the South Africans who had returned from Israeli detention to know the scope of the harm they had faced. 

“We did a bit of a deep brief, just to make sure that we can ascertain the extent of the harm. They will then be working with their own lawyers, and we'll be liaising with them after they've done the reports together with our police services to see what further action is necessary from us.

“If the assaults were of a nature that may require further action,” he said.

The director-general said that they had heard from one of the South Africans that he had been beaten due to South Africa’s ICJ case, but said that this is broader than the ICJ case. 

“One of the South Africans said he was particularly beaten up, and as they were beating him up, they mentioned the fact that South Africa had taken Israel to the ICJ. So for some of those soldiers or police doing the beating, this was a sore point for them,” Dangor said.

In terms of the status of South Africa’s relationship with Israel, he said: “I think what we've done is we continue our call for the self-determination of the Palestinian people, for the end of the occupation.

“We'll continue to pursue what is called the accountability route through the ICJ case.”

theolin.tembo@inl.co.zaa