Istanbul, MINA – An Australian doctor who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla has accused Israeli forces of treating activists “worse than animals,” describing beatings, denial of water, and forcing detainees into stress positions after Israel intercepted the Gaza-bound aid mission.
Bianca Webb-Pullman, an Australian doctor, along with French activist Adrien Jouan and Belgian activist Arno Meyne, spoke to Anadolu about their experiences after arriving in Türkiye following their release.
Webb-Pullman said she joined the flotilla with other healthcare workers to deliver humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza, where she was aware of the “terrible treatment of the Palestinian people” and attacks on healthcare services.
“It’s so important for us to be able to be part of this flotilla and bring humanitarian and medical aid to people desperately in need,” she said.
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She described Israel’s intervention as “quite aggressive,” with projectiles fired at her boat. Although no one on her vessel was hit, she said activists were handled roughly after being transferred to what she called a prison boat.
“We were kept there for over an hour while the Israeli soldiers played the national anthem over and over again, and they were saying, ‘Welcome to Israel,’ and being brutal with people,” she said.
“They were hitting people, kicking people, and this went on throughout the whole process of being processed at the dock. It was extremely degrading.”
Webb-Pullman stressed that the activists were not criminals. “We are treated worse than animals. I mean, an animal, you would give water,” she said.
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She also said no medical care was provided by Israel, forcing healthcare workers on board – despite also being subjected to violence – to care for injured passengers.
French activist Adrien Jouan showed bruises and wounds on his body as he described the physical violence he endured. “Yes, they beat me, but a lot in the back also, on the prison boat. And it was a kind of torture,” he said.
Jouan noted that while his vessel was not fired upon, they were still subjected to violence despite offering no resistance. “We stayed really quiet, really pacifist from the beginning to the end. When they beat me, it was for no reason, absolutely. I was not escalating, not answering them, not watching them in their eyes, nothing. Just saying I’m a pacifist. They did it systematically.”
He said he intended to pursue legal action against Israeli soldiers, adding that some detainees of Arab background or those who did not appear to be “white Europeans” were subjected to harsher treatment.
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“Some Arabic people, or some looking like not white Europeans, were much more beaten than I was, and more kind of tortured too,” he said.
Belgian activist Arno Meyne said they were taken to a ship converted into a prison following Israel’s intervention, and everyone arrived injured. He said many aboard the ship suffered fractures and head trauma, and also reported cases of sexual assault.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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