'Cruelty, humiliation, violence': Belgian flotilla activists describe illegal Israeli custody on their return

• 'As an elderly person, from age 77, I never imagined that such cruelty, such cruel and sadistic people existed,' Olimpia Diez Perlines says
• 'We were attacked, pirated, and almost no government even reacted to it,' says Isja Puissant

Belgian nationals aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to break Israel’s longstanding blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, have described in detail the violence, humiliation, and systematic abuse they suffered during their illegal interception and subsequent detention by Israeli forces in international waters.

The activists, who returned to Belgium via Türkiye after being released, spoke exclusively to Anadolu at Brussels Airport, recounting an attack on their convoy, beatings, rubber bullet shootings, and days of captivity aboard a prison ship and in a desert detention facility normally reserved for Palestinian prisoners.

The flotilla, carrying 428 people from 44 countries aboard 50 vessels, said all boats in the convoy were attacked by Israeli forces after departing Türkiye.

Julien Cabral said Israeli forces carried out two separate illegal interception attempts during the flotilla mission, the first near the Greek island of Crete.

"Our boat wasn't incepted. We continued. They tried to scare us," he said.

According to Cabral, after the convoy departed the Turkish district of Marmaris with around 50 boats, Israeli forces mounted a far more aggressive operation. "The first day they intercepted us heavily quickly with a lot of warships and very violently."

'Let's have fun'

Cabral said he was shot with a rubber bullet from behind.

"This was not hit by beating," he said, pointing to his purple eye, and added: "This was a shot with a rubber bullet from behind, and we hear them with the interceptions say, 'Let's have fun.' They shoot it at me and at our captain."

He said detainees spent two days inside containers aboard a prison ship before being transferred to a detention facility "somewhere in the desert."

"This, in fact, closest to Egypt, and where we also (had) humiliations, beatings. I had, look, I have the Belgian nationality. I think there were people like Palestinians with us, Syrian people with us, who were beaten harder," Cabral said.

He criticized what he viewed as a weak response by Western governments to the Israeli attack.

"If I kidnap someone here in Brussels, I take that man to my home, I close the door, he is a victim, and I am kidnapper. The police come to me, they will arrest me, and they will liberate the victim. In this case, Israel is kidnapping us, our authorities, they say to Israel, 'You may not do this anymore,' and they turn back to business," Cabrail said.

'Humanity doesn't exist'

A 77-year-old activist, Olimpia Diez Perlines, described what she called systematic humiliation and cruelty during detention and linked her own experience to the conditions faced by Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

"What's happening is an injustice, the greatest injustice of the 21st century. ... We were able to see the suffering of all the prisoners. There are more than 9,000 prisoners, Palestinian men, women, and children in Israeli prisons," she said.

"It's terrible, because we were humiliated, we were hurt, and the fact that humanity doesn't exist, the most astonishing thing is to see young soldiers, ... all so young, who hurt you, who push you, who respect nothing. As an elderly person, from age 77, I never imagined that such cruelty, such cruel and sadistic people existed," she further added.

Describing the detention conditions, she said: "We are being held on our knees, on the ground, ... and it's unbearable."

Perlines said European governments were abandoning not only detained activists but also Palestinians living under occupation.

Calling for stronger political pressure against Israel, she urged European leaders to end trade relations.

"We must continue, as citizens, to do everything we can to get them to stop trade agreements with Israel. It's a disgrace that a country that massacres people has economic ties with Europe. It's the ultimate disgrace," she said.

Israeli authorities give numbers

Isja Puissant, another Belgian activist, detailed the systematic dehumanization.

"We were first abducted in international waters after two weeks. Before, a lot of my friends were already kidnapped, so we already heard the stories. We knew what we were going to meet. We went onto the prison boats. We were searched, had to give all our belongings away, were given a number, and now number 244, and dropped there without any place to properly sleep," he said.

He continued: "After that, we were taken to (a) port, where we were beaten, sat on our knees for hours, and then went through all port authorities to eventually be sent to Ketziot torture prison that's normally used for Palestinians, and now had international visitors."

Puissant also criticized European governments for failing to respond strongly.

"It was horrible to the dogs that were there are trained in the Netherlands. The whole prison system is built by the United Kingdom. We were attacked, pirated, and almost no government even reacted to it.

"I really don't see how we came into this reality. When governments don't react to this kind of stuff, it expands, and has been happening in Palestine for almost 80 years, and now it's getting more and more into Europe, all this violence and suppression," he said.

He added that over 9,000 Palestinian prisoners remained in detention facilities and described the psychological toll of his own experience.

"In 48 hours, they broke me. I don't know how people are supposed to go through that. There's children in there," Puissant added.

He called on European governments to take urgent action.

"I think for European governments, it's really time to start acting to cut the ties. We have been asking for this for years," Puissant stressed.