Polish members of Sumud flotilla arrived at Warsaw airport
Four Polish participants of the humanitarian mission Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) arrived at Warsaw Chopin Airport on Wednesday evening and expressed their dissatisfaction with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski's response to Israel's handling of the flotilla.
Polish MP Franciszek Sterczewski, Ewa Jasiewicz, a journalist and activist, Omar Faris, the president of the Polish-Palestinian Social and Cultural Association, and Nina Ptak, the head of the Nomada Association, were part of approximately 500 international members of the Gaza-bound flotilla, which aimed to deliver humanitarian aid to the war-torn region and challenge the long-standing Israeli blockade. Last week, Israel intercepted a group of over 42 vessels, transferring the passengers to Israel, detaining and ultimately deporting them.
On Monday, Sterczewski, Faris and Ptak, all Polish nationals, along with other GSF members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were deported to Greece. Jasiewicz, a British passport holder with Polish roots, had left Israel before the three Poles.
When speaking to reporters at the airport, Faris urged people to resist Israel's "genocidal war" in Gaza.
"We were treated in an absolutely brutal way," he told reporters, referring to the conditions he endured in the Israeli prison. "I am 73 years old and, for a couple of hours, they tied my hands behind my back and sat me down on rocks."
Furthermore, Faris mentioned that the activists were questioned regarding their connections to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Sterczewski said that the Polish delegation of the flotilla was disappointed by Sikorski's stance, demanding "an immediate change in the Polish government's policy."
"Why, at a time when we were striving to end the genocide and bring global attention to the situation in Gaza, was Minister Sikorski downplaying the situation?" asked Sterczewski, who is a Polish MP and a member of the ruling Civic Coalition (KO).
The politician said the delegation wants to see Sikorski criticise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the same manner that the top diplomat condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine.
The MP also commented on the conditions he and other members faced during their detention in Israel.
"We were not allowed to sleep. For hours, the guards shined their torches in our eyes and played music from Israeli propaganda movies. They set dogs on us. The spat at us. They threatened us with weapons," Sterczewski said, noting that around 11,000 Palestinians were subjected to comparable or even more severe conditions in Israel, accusing the nation of violating international law.
"We witnessed firsthand that the state of Israel is a barbaric and terroristic country, on the same level as, for example, Russia," he added. (PAP)
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