Web Desk; Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Greece along with 160 other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla after being deported by Israel.
According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, a total of 171 activists from the flotilla were expelled on Monday, following their interception last week while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. This brings the total number of deportees to 341.
Greece’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 161 activists, including 27 Greeks and 134 citizens from 15 other countries, landed in Athens on Monday, AFP reported.
Addressing supporters at Athens airport, Thunberg condemned Israeli actions in Gaza. “Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on,” she said. “Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are failing to stop the worst war crimes.” She added that the flotilla’s mission was to act when governments “failed to fulfill their legal obligations.”
Thunberg, 22, was reportedly mistreated during her detention. Turkish journalist and flotilla participant Ersin Celik told local media that she was “dragged on the ground” and “forced to kiss the Israeli flag.”
Meanwhile, Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 10 deported activists had arrived in the country, including one Slovak national and nine others from the Netherlands, Canada, and the US.
In Athens, crowds greeted the deported activists, waving a large Palestinian flag and chanting “Freedom for Palestine” and “Long live the flotilla!”
Among the arrivals was Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament, who told AFP that she was beaten by Israeli police during her arrest. “I was beaten by two police officers when they put me in the van,” she said. Hassan described being held with up to 15 people per cell in a high-security prison.
The Global Sumud Flotilla had departed from Barcelona in early September but was intercepted in international waters near Gaza by the Israeli navy. Over 470 participants were detained, and 138 remain in Israeli custody, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
