Two western Massachusetts brothers aboard a flotilla equipped with humanitarian aid bound for Gaza were among the estimated 450 activists arrested by Israeli forces this week.
The first of 42 boats on the Global Sumud Flotilla were intercepted by the Israeli military on Wednesday, about 70 nautical miles off the Gaza coast in international waters, Reuters reports. Israeli officers boarded the vessels and detained passengers until Friday.
Tor Stumo, 26, was intercepted on Wednesday, according to a post on his Instagram. His brother Adnaan Stumo, 32, made it further to the Gaza coast before Israeli military boarded and detained the eight members aboard the Mikeno, said their mother, Nadia Milleron, who ran for Congress as an independent candidate last year. The Stumos are from Sheffield.
“I talked to Adnaan after he posted the video that he had been abducted because I saw that he was interacting with online,” Milleron said. “He and his crew of eight people were pummeled with water cannons and skunk spray.”
Tor and Adnaan have also announced they will be on a hunger strike while in custody, Milleron adds.
“They were going to deliver food to people who were starving,” she said. “Since that food was confiscated, and they refuse to accept food from an entity that confiscated food from starving people.”
The brothers set sail from Barcelona to deliver food, water and supplies to those in Gaza suffering from starvation, where United Nations-affiliate Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) last month confirmed that at least 500,000 people in Gaza are trapped in famine. The World Health Organization and UNICEF have echoed IPC’s concerns, adding that the devastation is preventable by allowing aid to enter into Gaza.
The Gaza Health Ministry estimates that over 66,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel-Hamas war.
Israel has repeatedly called the flotilla a “provocation” and warned that the boats should not attempt to break the naval blockage.
Tor reported on his Instagram that he saw military drones tailing the boats. Last week, a military drone attacked the boats off the coast of Crete, the largest island in Greece. Spain and Italy deployed naval ships as escorts to aid convey in response to the attack, Reuters reports.
“Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement in the Times of Israel newspaper. “We are witnessing these psychological operations firsthand, right now, but we will not be intimidated.”
The Israeli military took the detained flotilla passengers to Ashdod port before transferring them to the Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev, according to legal-aid organization Adalah, which is representing the activists.
“Over the past 24 hours, Adalah attorneys met with 331 participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla at Ashdod Port, where they are facing hearings before Israeli immigration authorities,” the statement said. “Several participants were processed without Adalah’s legal consultation, as our lawyers were initially denied access to them.”
Well-being unknown
Milleron visited her sons in Barcelona before the Global Sumud set sail on Aug. 31. Since Tor and Adnaan were training for the mission, Milleron tagged alongside them, checking inventory for 19 ships and attending trainings.
The leaders of the training, she said, acknowledged the presence of Israeli intelligence and welcomed them to show that the training was nonviolent. Each member of the flotilla crew practiced remaining calm and quiet in the the face of provocation by an Israeli solider.
“It was horrifying me as a parent,” Milleron said.
Milleron worries about her sons’ safety and well-being while in custody.
“We’re all depriving Gaza of food, but I’m worried about my sons not having food,” she said. “I want me kids to be able to fight another day.”
She implores people in the Massachsuetts to call their representatives. As an activist herself, Milleron has seen how political pressure from the people pushes politicians to act.
“When you call the State Department and your members of Congress, you may not feel like you’re getting anywhere,” Milleron said. “But it does make a difference. Even if they do hang up on you, they record the number of calls and what it was about.”
