After a 10-day sea voyage, Greta Thunberg returned to Sweden and told reporters that the members of the flotilla were treated badly in Israel, adding that she would rather not go into detail.
She was greeted by around 30 cheering supporters waving Palestinian flags amid a large media presence at Stockholm's Arlanda airport, after landing just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night (20:30 GMT), an AFP journalist reported.
Greta Thunberg arrives back in Sweden after being deported from Israel
(Reuters)
Thunberg said she was made a tool in Israel's propaganda when she and her shipmates, who she claims were 'kidnapped,' were filmed eating sandwiches given to them by IDF troops after they boarded the Gaza flotilla ship Madleen.
She said the passengers were aware of the dangers, considering past events. She added that she was desperate for a shower and sleep and insisted her activism for Gaza was not over.
"We were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters. We did not break laws. We did nothing wrong," Thunberg told reporters after she flew into Paris, accusing Israel of kidnapping her.
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"(There) is a continued violation of international law and war crimes that Israel is systematically committing against Palestinians by not letting aid come to starving people," the 22-year-old Swede said.
Another participant in the flotilla's voyage, French Egyptian journalist Omar Faiad, told the Qatari Al Araby Al Jadeed that Thunberg had been "tortured" before she was deported from Israel. He claimed she had been psychologically abused when a female police officer perodically came into the room she was kept in, playing children's songs and dancing, to prevent sleep.
The four French pro-Palestinian activists still detained in Israel, including European Parliament member Rima Hassan, have "illegal immigrant" status and "the goal is to put them on a plane to France as quickly as possible," Israel's ambassador to France said on Wednesday.
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IDF forces provide sandwiches to protesters on the Madleen after the ship is boarded and transported to Ashdod
"They will meet a judge who will decide whether they can be repatriated to France immediately or whether they have the right to remain in Israel," said Joshua Zarka, testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "They entered Israel illegally," he said, "and their status is that of an illegal immigrant."
"The goal is to get them on a plane to France as quickly as possible," he added. "They are being held in a detention center that is not a prison."
The vessel, Madleen, flying under a British flag, was boarded early Monday morning by Shayetet 13 naval commandos after repeatedly ignoring orders to change course away from Gaza's coastline. The military said the operation was conducted without force, and all passengers were unharmed.