The families of Ammar from Eindhoven and Osman from Steenbergen are seriously concerned. The two people from Brabant were on board activist fleet Gaza Flotilla, who was on the way to Gaza when this Wednesday evening was intercepted by the Israeli army. Since then, friends and family have not heard from them anymore.
“I am very worried about him, also because he has a Syrian background,” says Marieke Stam about Ammar. She is the spokesperson for the Dutch delegation. “We know that people with an Arab background run a higher risk of becoming a victim of violence or humiliating treatment.”
Ammar reported for the last time in the night from Wednesday to Thursday. “He was grateful that he was allowed to go with the promotion and is still convinced of the goal,” Stam says Studio040. “He really wanted to mean something to the people in Gaza.”
Surrounded
Selin, the daughter of Osman from Steenbergen, is also full of worries. She has not spoken to her father since Wednesday evening. “He indicated that he would no longer be accessible because they would throw the telephones in the water so that they would not fall into the hands of the Israeli army,” she says to Southwest update. “They were already surrounded by Israeli ships then.”
Not long after, Selin received a message from the organization behind the Flotilla. “The boat that my father was on has indeed intercepted in international waters and all people on board have been abducted by the Israeli army.”
Hesitant
The Dutch government reacted cautiously. Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he understands Israeli action and called participating in the fleet ‘consciously taking risks’. “Ridiculous”, Selin responds. “I’m ashamed that this is my government. Palestine is illegally occupied by Israel and the entire sea blockade is illegal.” According to her, Israel commits piracy.
The Dutch government has not yet officially asked Israel to release the boarders accelerated. Shoved only the hope said that “they will be on Dutch soil again fairly soon.” Outgoing Foreign Minister David van Weel indicated that there is contact with Israel. “I also don’t think Israel benefits people to hold people for a long time,” he said. According to Van Weel, the circumstances in Israeli detention centers ‘are generally good’.