{"id":315754,"date":"2026-05-04T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=315754"},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:39:50","slug":"israel-has-kidnapped-two-of-our-most-important-pro-palestine-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/05\/israel-has-kidnapped-two-of-our-most-important-pro-palestine-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Has Kidnapped Two of Our Most Important Pro-Palestine Activists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two foreign activists \u2014 Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek \u2014 from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel for interrogation and appeared before an Israeli court on 3 May 2026. (Photos by Ilia Yefimovichvia Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

4 May 2026\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0Nothing illustrates the inversion of the international and moral order more than the genocide in Gaza and the shipment of tens of billions of dollars of weapons to Israel by Western nations, especially<\/a> the United States, to sustain it. Part of this inversion is the unrelenting persecution of those who denounce the genocide \u2014 especially those who risk their lives to halt it and demand the rule of law.<\/p>\n

But the rule of law, it appears, is buried under the rubble in Gaza.<\/p>\n

And because of that Israel is able, with barely a word of protest by Western nations \u2013 Spain<\/a> being one of the few exceptions \u2013 to abduct 175 activists<\/a> aboard Sumud Flotilla 500 nautical miles from Gaza and 80 nautical miles west of the Greek island of Crete.<\/p>\n

This violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/a> was accompanied by the usual Israeli brutality. Flotilla members from the 22 vessels that were intercepted and then transferred to the Israeli vessel NAHSHON were denied food<\/a>, forced<\/a> to sleep on the floor as it was flooded \u201crepeatedly\u201d with water, punched, kicked, dragged across decks with their hands tied and shot at with rubber bullets and live ammunition<\/a>. Eventually, all but two flotilla members were transferred to Crete, with 36 requiring medical attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two<\/a> of the leading activists on the flotilla, the Brazilian organizer of the flotilla, Thiago Avila, and the Spaniard Saif Abu Keshek, who<\/a> is of Palestinian descent and who has organized Palestinian solidarity movements across Europe for over two decades, were not allowed<\/a> to disembark when the vessel reached Ierapetra Port in southern Crete, although the ship was in Greek territorial waters.<\/p>\n

They were kidnapped<\/a> and taken to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipant eyewitnesses provided harrowing testimony of Abukeshek\u2019s screams echoing throughout the ship as he was subjected to systematic torture, after being separated from the others,\u201d read a communique<\/a> issued by The Global Sumud Flotilla.<\/p>\n

Abu Keshek was blindfolded, forced to lie on his stomach \u201csince the moment of his seizure until this morning\u201d which resulted in \u201cbruising to his face and hands.\u201d Thiago was \u201cdragged face-down across the floor\u201d and beaten so severely that he passed out twice.<\/p>\n

When the two activists appeared in an Israeli court there were visible bruises<\/a> on their faces. Thiago had trouble lifting his right hand.<\/p>\n

Since their detainment, the two men have been on hunger strike. They are accused<\/a> of \u201cassisting the enemy during wartime\u201d and \u201cmembership in and providing services to a terrorist organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the world we now live in. The moral and the courageous are criminalized. The ruling class weaponizes the law to justify the abuse and atrocities of the lawless.<\/p>\n

Here is a link to an interview I did in Italy with Thiago:<\/p>\n