Tunisian captain recounts Zionist mistreatment of Samood fleet passengers.
Muhammad Ali, 44, who voluntarily participated in the Samood flotilla and was arrested by the occupiers after the Israeli army attacked the flotilla and returned to Tunisia after a while, added in an interview with Sputnik Arabic: “I have always witnessed Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people and was looking for a way to take even a small step to break the siege of Gaza until the Samood flotilla announced the need for a ship captain for this trip, and I did not hesitate for a moment.” He continued: “When Israel prevented us from reaching Gaza, we felt that part of our goal had been achieved and our message had reached the world and we had mobilized public opinion on the streets of the world; Gaza is a destination that cannot be ignored.” Mohamed Ali added: We were trained to deal with the occupying army during the attack, we acted calculatedly and were not surprised. Interestingly, the soldiers who boarded the ship were more afraid than us and were so angry that they were monitoring our every move. Even a glance could have aroused suspicion. We felt that our courage scared them more than any resistance.
He said: We were subjected to beatings. They pointed weapons at us and threatened to kill us and forced us to raise our hands even though they knew we were civilians. They called us terrorists, treated us very badly, deprived us of food and medicine, and interrogated us almost every two hours and subjected us to torture.
The Tunisian captain stated: The women accompanying the convoy were subjected to severe humiliation. Some of them were stripped of their hijabs, and when one of them tried to cover her hair with her shirt, they did not allow her to do so. Painful scenes occurred that showed the true face of the occupiers.
He continued: “Despite being aware of the dangers, I took this step because the message we were conveying was greater than fear and panic. This effort and movement alone is a form of human resistance.”
Regarding whether he would participate in other plans to break the siege of Gaza, Muhammad Ali said, “You should not wait for an opportunity to come to you. The Palestinian people are exposed to brutal measures, and it is our duty to create an opportunity, not to wait.”
According to him, the Samood flotilla contained strong messages, and these messages and plans should be repeated, and hundreds of flotillas from different countries should go to Gaza to break the siege and end the oppression.
According to IRNA, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas recently expressed its strong anger in an official statement regarding reports published by activists of the Samood Global Fleet about the inhumane behavior of the Israeli forces and demanded that the testimonies of the fleet members in this regard be documented.
The statement states that the shocking testimonies of the Samood Fleet activists about the insults, torture, and deprivation of the most basic human rights during and after their abduction in international waters are fresh evidence of the level of violence and brutality of the Zionist regime and the blatant and repeated violations of international law and human rights by the occupiers.