Sydney activist jailed in Israel

Sydney youth worker Michael Coleman is being detained in an Israeli prison, six days after the boat he was travelling aboard en route to Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters.

Mr Coleman was taking part in the Freedom Waves to Gaza flotilla when it was raided by the Israeli navy on Friday, November 4. Organisers of the flotilla said the raid was aggressive and dangerous.

Mr Coleman told his father the two boats were violently intercepted in international waters.

Organisers in Sydney from Free Gaza Australia are concerned for his safety, saying Israeli forces water-cannoned, tasered, beat and shackled activists on the flotilla who were seeking to challenge Israel’s illegal naval blockade of Gaza.

Mr Coleman spoke for just over a minute to his father John on Sunday after nearly 40 hours in Israeli detention.

He told his father: “We have been hand-cuffed and shackled, sleep-deprived, with our watches impounded and the clock in the prison set to the wrong time. This is all designed to disorient and demoralise us. But our spirits are high. We are political prisoners, defending the rights of Palestinians. We were headed for Gaza, not Israel. We were forcibly, violently and illegally taken to Israel against our will.”

Several goodwill messages have been received. Australian journalist, writer and film-maker, John Pilger wrote: “Be assured the great majority of humanity is with you in spirit; … All power to you.”

Spokesperson of Free Gaza Australia Vivienne Porzsolt said: “We are calling for the immediate release of Michael and the other brave activists. The maltreatment of international peace activists is unacceptable but pales in comparison with the treatment of Palestinians by Israel. Just last week, nine Palestinians were killed and two more yesterday.”

“Initiatives like the Freedom Waves would be unnecessary if Israel would finally end this illegal blockade. Western governments, including Australia, must hold Israel accountable for its defiance of international law,” she said. “Israel’s impunity must stop.”

Before leaving Australia, Mr Coleman said: “It is only because governments fail to act that citizens of the world feel the need to do so. In spite of being a signatory to UN Human Rights Conventions, our government has shown time and time again that it is complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and gross human rights abuses.”

The Israeli military commandeered the boat and took the boats and their passengers to Ashdod port. Mr Coleman is still in detention.

By Liz Cush