Calls to expel Israeli ambassador after denying flotilla abuse
Israeli envoy said an AFP investigation would be a waste of time
By Ivana Daskalovic – an independent reporter based in Magan-djin/Brisbane
Palestinian solidarity groups are calling for the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador after he denied the abuse of hundreds of international humanitarians, including 11 Australians, who were detained last month.
The activists were on board vessels sailing with the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a civilian-led mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, when the Israeli navy intercepted them in international waters twice – kidnapping 175 volunteers between Italy and Greece in April, and 428 west of Cyprus in May.
The detained Australians allege they were subjected to violent abuse, with many reporting broken bones, torture and rape – allegations denied by Israeli envoy Hillel Newman.
“This is a terrible world where you can get up in the morning and be accused of rape, without any credible evidence, without any submission [or] official complaint,” Newman said on June 17.
The remarks were condemned by GSF and the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), with both calling for the envoy to be expelled.
AFP ‘wasting their time’
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) committed to investigating the allegations during a recent meeting between Foreign Minister Penny Wong and four flotilla participants. In Senate Estimates hearings earlier this month, Wong said she believed their stories.
“… those allegations are terrible. They are horrific. The treatment is unacceptable ... you should believe, and I believe, women who come forward with these assertions,” Wong said.
Speaking on ABC Radio National on June 17, the ambassador said the AFP is “wasting their time on such a futile accusation“.
“They [Israeli soldiers] don’t have to prove that they didn’t rape.“
Newman said Israel “respects the AFP” but did not commit its cooperation with the investigation.
“If this is a professional examination, I’m sure we will cooperate. If this is a witch hunt, and they’re trying to support their wild accusations, then I’m not sure what we will [do] or how we will respond to it.”
Stories of abuse ‘weaponised’
Australian flotilla participant and filmmaker Juliet Lamont, whose daughter Isla also sailed, says the Israeli ambassador’s denial of their abuse makes her feel like she’s been “victimised twice”.
She says it’s difficult to recover “when a representative from this foreign country is allowed to be here, have the platform to discredit us and say that we’re lying”.
“It’s a lot to share those stories of abuse. It’s a lot for me to listen to my daughter talk about her experiences. So for that then to get weaponised and not believed in such a ridiculous, deceitful way, it hurts.
“This culture of victim-shaming and slut-shaming needs to really be addressed and it needs to end.”
When the far-right Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, shared videos showing abuse of flotilla participants during their detention, Newman was provided a platform on the ABC’s 7.30 Report to firmly deny anyone was hurt.
“Every time there’s a flotilla, there are false narratives and false accusations against the security forces of Israel,” he said at the time.
“The fact that Ben Gvir got involved in this flotilla is condemned from wall to wall by the leadership of [Israel]. That does not reflect the values of the government of Israel or the activities as they are usually done.”
Consistent pattern of Israeli abuse
Ben Gvir has shared videos taunting captured flotilla volunteers before, including last year when Israel kidnapped over 450 people from international waters and imprisoned them for a week. He later expressed frustration at their release, saying “we should keep them in Israeli prison for a few months so they can get a taste of the terrorist wing“.
Last month, the UN blacklisted Israeli forces in the Secretary-General’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, after Israel was “put on notice” last year.
According to the report, “violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape”.
Around 9,000 Palestinians remain in Israel’s prisons and detention camps, with over 4,000 held without charges or trial.
Lamont is calling on the Albanese government “to take the responsibility that they’re elected for seriously and protect our own citizens”.
“They need to stop shielding a foreign state that is hellbent on erasing an entire population of innocent people,” she says.
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If the ambassador is so sure Israel is not culpable, why is he hellbent on obfuscation?