Burak Bir
22 May 2026•Update: 22 May 2026
Members of the European Parliament condemned Israel’s mistreatment of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla after Israeli forces detained them in international waters earlier this week.
Belgian member of European Parliament (MEP) Marc Botenga said that European citizens kidnapped in the Mediterranean first, then abused, beaten, and humiliated by Israel.
“If it were Russia, Europe would already be on a war footing. But it’s Israel. So people downplay it, talk about an isolated minister, and maintain the partnership with the aggressor state,” he wrote on US social media company X.
Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, said Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is not “the cause of evil, but the expression of a colonial state that made him possible.”
“It is not Ben Gvir who creates the system; it is the Israeli colonial state that produces figures like him. He is merely a symptom, not the cause,” she wrote on X.
The reactions came after Ben-Gvir posted a video Wednesday showing himself taunting pro-Palestinian activists who appeared zip-tied and forced to kneel after being detained by Israeli forces in international waters.
The video sparked criticism both inside Israel and internationally.
Israeli forces attacked the aid flotilla in international waters on Monday and detained all activists on board.
The flotilla, carrying 428 people from 44 countries, departed Thursday from the Turkish district of Marmaris in an attempt to break the illegal Israeli blockade on Gaza imposed since 2007.
