An Irish citizen has claimed he was beaten on the head and treated badly by Israeli special forces during the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla over a week ago.
Arriving into Dublin airport this afternoon on a flight from Istanbul, Al Mahdi Alharati described those who detained as “barbaric”.
The Libyan-born man’s journey home was delayed because he was taken to hospital in Ankara, Turkey for treatment for an underlying heart condition, diabetes, and his injuries.
“I was hit with rubber bullets in the leg. I was beaten in the groin and over the head. I was hit with the back of a gun on the eye. I was hit with the butt of a machine gun on the back of my head,” he said, speaking through a translator.
There were no fatalities on the Greek registered ship on which his was travelling but several activists on it have said they were beaten.
It was part of a six-vessel flotilla which included the Mavi Marmara on which nine people were killed.
He said that the activists had not used force. “It was all peaceful, there was no way it could have been anything other than peaceful,” he said.
He thanked the Irish and Turkish governments for helping him through his ordeal.
His wife Eftaima Najjair and his four children; Abdul Hamid (9), Mohammed (8), Maryah (16 months) and Sarah (6), waved Palestinian flags and hugged him as he arrived.
