The Italian activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla, released by Israel after being kidnapped in international waters, arrived at Fiumicino Airport at 11:30 PM . Among them was Emanuela Pala, a Sardinian journalist for La7, who was able to embrace her family who arrived from Cagliari : her parents, her sister Antonella, her brother-in-law, and her five-year-old niece.
"I was only able to speak to her for twenty seconds. All things considered, she's fine, and she seemed even more determined than before to speak out about the inhumane things happening in Gaza," her sister Antonella said before seeing her again. The phone call came from Istanbul, where the Italians had landed, from the Consulate's telephone "because she threw her Emanuela into the sea when the Israeli soldiers boarded the plane." Other Italians, 26 in total, have arrived at Malpensa. Fifteen have not signed the voluntary release form and must await forced judicial expulsion next week.
The activists were greeted with chants, applause, and flag-waving. They immediately described being treated "terribly."
"We are exhausted. What really devastated us were the hours spent in Israeli prisons and the journey there: there we truly understood what they could have done to the Palestinians. There were 15 women in a four-bed cell; there were 10 of us in a seven-bed cell, with only one roll of toilet paper, no water, and with food eaten on the floor: and above all, the aggression and hatred shown towards us when we had left in peace," is the testimony of Paolo De Montis .
Cesare Tofani recounts: "We were treated terribly . At first, when we were intercepted, they weren't very harsh because, according to them, we were supposed to help bring the boat to port. We remained inactive; they didn't use violence against us. From the army we went to the police. There was harassment. They treated us like they treat terrorists, Palestinians. We had tap water. We had little to eat."
"We're exhausted, but we're fine. It's been tough," said. "But it's never been as hard as it is, every day, for the Gazans, the Palestinians, for all the people who experience this oppression and bullying. We must keep fighting: right now, it's crucial to keep doing so for ."
