WITNESS ACCOUNT:AN IRISH citizen caught up in the Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla has told how he witnessed his friend being hit in the face with a gun during the attack.
Issam Ben Ali (40), a naturalised Irish citizen originally from Libya, arrived back in Ireland on Wednesday evening.
He and Al Mahdi Alharati, another Libyan-born Irish citizen, had joined the flotilla under the auspices of the Palestinian Rights Institute, a Dublin-based organisation set up several years ago by Palestinians living in Ireland.
Both men were on one of two Greek ships taking part in the six-vessel flotilla. Mr Ben Ali, a Dublin electrician, said the Israeli commandos fired plastic bullets and administered electric shocks during the raid.
There were no fatalities on the Greek ship but several activists were beaten, including Mr Alharati, who was struck on the face with the butt of a gun.
Mr Ben Ali said none of the activists on board offered any physical resistance during the two-hour raid. “We kept telling them we are civilians and we have no weapons. We said there was no need for violence,” he said. “We made a circle around the elderly on the boat to protect them.”
When the activists were brought to the Israeli port city of Ashdod for processing, Mr Ben Ali, who had by then been separated from Mr Alharati, agreed to be deported.
“Many people were shocked by this violence,” he said. “But it just confirms the view I already had of the Israelis’ harshness and arrogance. This attack was nothing more than piracy and there should be an international inquiry. Israel must be punished for this.”
Mr Ben Ali said he wished to thank Irish diplomats in Israel for their assistance during his detention. “I would also like to thank the Irish Government and people for their strong position on this matter,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Alharati, who was hospitalised because of his injuries and an underlying medical condition after he arrived in Ankara on Wednesday, remains in hospital for observation.
Another Irish activist, Fiachra Ó Luain, was due to be discharged from hospital in Istanbul last night. He was treated for injuries sustained during a fracas with Israeli security personnel at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
Irish officials intend to raise the incident with the Israeli authorities after they receive a medical report from the hospital.
Both Mr Ó Luain and another activist, Dr Fintan Lane, are expected to travel back to Ireland today. Other Irish passport holders transferred to Turkey, including Australia-based journalist Paul McGeough, are making their own travel arrangements.