Delhi Police Detain SFI Activists Protesting Against Israeli Raid On Gaza Freedom Flotilla
New Delhi: Several students and activists affiliated with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), AISA and Fraternity were detained by Delhi Police on Monday while protesting outside the Israeli Embassy against the detention of activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, a humanitarian mission heading to Gaza.
The joint protest by the student organisations was organised in response to what they described as the “illegal kidnapping” of international activists by the Israeli Navy. The ship Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was carrying food supplies and medical equipment intended for Gaza when it was intercepted in international waters by Israeli forces. Among the detained activists was renowned climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
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The British-flagged ship, Madleen, carrying an amount of aid, including food and baby formula, was boarded by Israeli forces before it could reach the Gaza shore and was towed to Ashdod Port in Israel.
According to SFI Delhi, police used “brutal” force to detain protestors who had gathered peacefully. Videos shared by student groups on social media showed demonstrators being dragged and bundled into police vans. No official police statement has yet been released regarding the arrests.
Aishe Ghosh, Secretary of SFI Delhi, condemned the police response. “It is a shame that for delivering life-saving aid to Gaza, courageous activists have had to face abduction from the apartheid-practicing Israeli state,” she said.
SFI Delhi President Sooraj Elamon added, “As students, it is our duty to stand alongside Greta and all those aboard the Freedom Flotilla and to demand that NATO powers break their silence and complicity.”
SFI accused the Indian government of siding with Israel and attempting to silence dissent within the country. “While Israel engages in the worst genocide of contemporary history and mass starvation of Palestinians, our government is actively suppressing voices against these actions,” said a press statement by the organisation.
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Thunberg, along with two other activists and a journalist, was deported from Israel on Tuesday. According to Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing Thunberg and other activists, Thunberg and the three crew members had agreed to deportation and to leave Israel, while others who refused to be deported are now being held in detention and their case is set to be heard by Israeli authorities.
The eight crew members who had refused to sign the voluntary departure agreement include French-Palestinian jurist and European Parliament member Rima Hassan, reports Ynetnews.
