European Parliament Members Condemn Israel’s Treatment of Detained Activists

(MENAFN) Members of the European Parliament have criticized Israel over its treatment of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla after Israeli forces intercepted and detained them in international waters earlier this week.

Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Marc Botenga stated that European citizens were first taken in the Mediterranean and then allegedly mistreated, beaten, and humiliated by Israeli authorities. Writing on the US social media platform X, he argued: “If it were Russia, Europe would already be on a war footing. But it’s Israel. So people downplay it, talk about an isolated minister, and maintain the partnership with the aggressor state,” he wrote on US social media company X.

Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament, also responded by saying that Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir should not be seen as the root of the issue but rather as a reflection of a broader system. She stated: “It is not Ben Gvir who creates the system; it is the Israeli colonial state that produces figures like him. He is merely a symptom, not the cause,” she wrote on X, adding that Ben-Gvir is not “the cause of evil, but the expression of a colonial state that made him possible.”

These statements followed the circulation of a video posted by Ben-Gvir on Wednesday, in which he appeared to mock pro-Palestinian activists who were seen with zip ties and forced to kneel after being detained by Israeli forces in international waters.

The footage drew widespread backlash, with criticism emerging both domestically within Israel and internationally.

Israeli forces had launched an operation against the aid flotilla on Monday in international waters, detaining all activists on board.

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