2010 22
The Flotilla Incident
Crows ‘n’ Bones rarely does politics. Still, some stories are too interesting to ignore. Katerina Kitides is a Greek reporter who was part of The Freedom Flotilla, the small fleet that attempted to challenge the Israeli blocade, in order to transfer humanitarian help to Gaza. As the rest of the world knows by now, the whole project ended in bloodshed. Lucas Velidakis is a friend who also happened to be a former colleague of Katerina. It’s a small world. Below is the interview he did with her. It appeared initially in www.nooz.gr in Greek.
The Gaza conflict is a difficult subject, to put it mildly. Part of the problem is that every attempt at debate usually degenerates into accusations of sympathizing with terrorists, or the usual antisemitic rubbish. In the case of The Freedom Flotilla incident, I don’t see how anyone could justify the actions of the Israeli Government. I fail to understand how one of the most efficient armies on the planet can open fire at a bunch of activists on international waters and then claim the moral high ground. According to some, this hard- line stance insures the safety of innocent Israeli citizens. I find that argument to be unconvinsing at best and offensive at worst. In any case, below is an account by someone who was there. Read it and make up your own mind.
(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)
K. Kitides: My Experience of the Israeli Attack
ATHENS 11/06/2010
Text / Interview: Lucas Velidakis
Translated and edited by Dimitris Kontogianis
Monday May 31st 2010 at 4.10 am. The Freedom Flotilla- comprising of six boats, transferring humanitarian help, and 700 activists- is on the way to Gaza. It’s roughly 70 nautical miles from Israel and within international waters, when Israeli army commandos attack and take over the ships. On the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, nine activists are dead by Israeli fire. The Greek ship Sphendoni is also under attack. Journalist Katerina Kitides is on the ship, covering the mission for the news website tvxs.gr.
Nooz.gr spoke with her.
Asked whether she expected a military intervention by Israel, she explains that they were ready for every scenario, even in the case of a rocket attack. Nonetheless, she admits that she didn’t expect that particular reaction by Tel Aviv. She was expecting the Israeli army to force the vessels to a change of course, or to encircle the flotilla, forcing them to stay in the water for days. This is why they had enough provisions for a month in the ships.
Since Sunday at 23:30, the members of the expedition had become aware of the presence of the Israeli Navy. Military vessels were moving in circles around them. Half an hour earlier, they had their first wireless communication with the army. The captain was told that they were perpetrating an illegal act and that he was responsible for the consequences. He answered that their presence was not illegal, as they were in international waters.
Katerina was at the bridge of the Sphendoni, next to the captain. They had already run into a lot of problems until that point (especially in Cyprus, where they weren’t allowed to port), so the decision was to continue to the end.
Israeli zodiacs flank the ship. The bloody intervention on the Mavi Marmara had already started, but Katerina had no visual contact. The Israeli commandos arrive on the Sphendoni under intense booing from the crew and the members of the mission. Their stance is violent. They throw tear- gas and flares and shots can also be heard. The activists had decided to apply the method of passive- resistance. “We had no other way to protect ourselves. We never intended to come into conflict with the Israeli army” stresses Katerina. In the darkness, it was impossible to keep track of what was happening. “When they came aboard, the only things we could hear was the shots and their cries.
Katerina’s video document
- Wheren’t you afraid?
- No. I don’t pretend to be bold. We had to deal with what was coming. If you can’t keep calm, you cannot react. “My worry was to solve various technical problems and to hide the material, so that they wouldn’t confiscate it” she adds. She insists on that point, even when mentioning the moment when a commando threatened to throw her overboard if she didn’t give him her camera (which he eventually took by force). “If you are not calm, you cannot do your job”.
Asked to whether she was feeling more like a reporter or an activist at the time, she hesitates to give an easy answer. “A mix of the two. There were times when I was simply holding the camera, but also stopping and yelling when people were being beaten up. No one tried to run away to protect themselves. We were all yelling at them to stop.” Where did all this resolve come from? “We were right, that’s all.”
Special forces men come towards the cockpit. Members of the crew have created a human chain around it. The captain refuses to hand over control of the vessel. He gets beaten up, receiving knocks in the ear, the sides and the legs. The second in command and a number of activists are also hurt.
Katerina is hit in the leg by a paintball and argues with the commandos. She has already hidden the memory card from the confiscated video camera. That way, she manages to save visual material from the time of the attack. “For me, the absolute priority was to have a document of the event.”
She describes scenes from the attack. A small 26 year- old French- Palestinian asks the man in charge: “Why are you doing this? This is humanitarian help for children dying because of you. Shame on you!” Red laser sight dots appear on her forehead, from rifles pointed at her.” They were ready to shoot her.”
The Israeli stance is hostile, despite not having met with violent resistance. Masked commandos handcuff some of the activists and have lists with the names and photographs of some of the people aboard. It’s dawn by now and the activists are assembled in a corner of the deck. The American activist Paul Larudee jumps into the sea, in a demonstration of passive resistance. He is dragged back on board and beaten. “There was a general sense of injustice, but we couldn’t fight back.”
Prisoners
Monday noon, May 31st. After the taking- over of The Freedom Flotilla and the capture of around 700 activists, the small fleet is moved to the port of Ashdod. One by one, the activists are led to a big tent, each flanked by two soldiers. “You don’t need to carry me, I can walk by myself” Katerina says to the woman soldier next to her. She is ignored. It’s almost 100 meters from the ships to the location where the interrogation will take place. They walk through policemen, hooded men and women of the special forces, along with plenty of reporters and photographers- all belonging to the Israeli State (there is no access for foreign correspondents). Anyone who resists is beaten. Many are stripped, searched and mocked. At the same time there is no co- ordination. Faulty computers and a lack of interpreters transform the situation into a violent farce.
The activists were presented with two choices: Sign a document admitting that the actions of the flotilla were illegal (in entering Israeli waters) and begin the process of getting back to their country- or go to prison. No one signed. The Israelis then gave them a statement that said “I accept to be deported from the country”. Those who had to leave immediately signed it.
Katerina is guarded by a soldier. She notes that, when she sits down to give her statement, he touches his shoe to hers- she is not sure why. She declines to sign any document, stating that she is a journalist and demands to talk with a lawyer and a representative of the Greek embassy. Was there any difference in her treatment? “No. No difference. Besides, there was no respect to the freedom of press.” She is to be placed in the Be’ er Sheva prison, in the Negev desert. Most activists were taken there, except from those who were deemed “dangerous for Israel”. Those were isolated and lead elsewhere.
She travels in an armored vehicle, cramped with many other women. The journey lasts an hour and a half. A girl passes out from the heat. Katerina looks out the window. Women drag their children away, old men smile, while other drivers make lewd gestures at them. A few passers- by give them the victory sign.
“All the women had agreed to proceed to a hunger strike if we were not allowed to contact a lawyer or somebody from our embassy. It was a collective decision.”
They were the first to stay in the brand- new prison. “This was the first shock. I didn’t expect they were going to take us to jail. I thought they’d place us in some sort of open encampment, before we got deported.”
There are new checks, but the questions are more or less the same. Men and women are placed on different wings. In the morning, the women activists are assembled in the same place. They don’t know what happened to the others. It’s is known by now that, there have been victims in the Mavi Marmara. A Turkish woman was asked to identify her dead husband from a photograph. He died in her hands from a bullet in the head. He was responsible for the internet connections on the ship and refused to give up open communication to the rest of the world until the end.
At noon, lawyers came, along with the Greek ambassador. People started chanting: “Free- Free Palestine”. By now the prisoners had become aware of the international condemnation.
“Hi. This is Katerina calling from the prison”
Until Tuesday night, she had not contacted anyone in Greece. Around 21:30- and after many excuses- she was given the opportunity to make a phone call, under certain clear conditions: It would not exceed one minute and she would have to speak in English. She called TVXS (the news website where she works) and asked them to tell her family she was OK. She also asked for the fate of the rest of her colleagues whi were in the flotilla.
The deportation process started on Wednesday morning, despite the many setbacks. In the airport, Katerina was put once again in a cell, “to be more comfortable”. At last, the men and women activists were joined. A Greek Airforce C- 130 transferred 31 Greeks, 3 French and one American citizen, from Tel Aviv to the military airport of Eleucina in Greece and to the hands of their friends and loved ones.
- Do you regret any of this?
- No. I was doing my job.
- Would you repeat it? Would you go again?
- Yes. But my mom will kill me if she reads this…!
What was the result of the project? “It was an important attempt and had a positive outcome. The price of human lives is of course tragic and nothing can take that back. But I think that the whole incident contributed to the isolation of Israel to an extent and to the creation of an international climate of solidarity. The citizens have acted beyond their governments.”
About the Author: CnB
on “The Flotilla Incident”