Category World News

A United States citizen who was detained by Israel on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which tried to deliver aid to Gaza, says he and other activists endured abuse and “psychological torture” in Israeli custody.

David Adler, who was released and deported to Jordan on Tuesday, said after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters, they took the activists to a prison complex in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

“We were kidnapped, stripped, zip-tied, blindfolded and sent to an internment camp on a police van without any access to food, to water, to legal support,” he said. “And for the next five days, on and off, we were psychologically tortured.”

In an audio message shared with Al Jazeera through the advocacy group Progressive International, Adler said he and another Jewish activist were picked out and forced to be photographed with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“After interception, we were violently forced onto our knees into positions of submission, where the two Jews of the flotilla were taken by the ear and ripped from the group for a photo-op with Ben-Gvir, staring at the flag of the State of Israel, taunted by his goons,” Adler said.

He described his time in detention as a “five-day nightmare of serial and systematic violations of our most basic rights”.

‘My Jewish heritage demands it’

Adler, who is co-general coordinator at Progressive International, added that riot troops would raid the prison with attack dogs at night to “terrify and terrorise” the detainees.

His testimony adds to the allegations of mistreatment of flotilla activists, who included climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The flotilla – a collection of more than 40 boats and 470 people from across the world – aimed to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which has sparked a deadly hunger crisis in the territory.

Israel intercepted the flotilla in international waters last week, a move that human rights advocates have argued is illegal.

Adler was one of more than 20 US citizens in the group and among the last to be released.

Earlier this week, about two dozen lawmakers from the activist’s home state of California penned a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on him to push for Adler to be freed.

As he was sailing towards Gaza last week, Adler shared a social media post reflecting on his Jewish identity and the decision to participate in the flotilla.

“If there’s any part of the Torah that I still remember, it is this obligation it bestows upon us: ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue.’ How could we stand by while the State of Israel perverts this holy obligation, overseeing a holocaust of the Palestinian people?” Adler wrote.

“I joined this flotilla just like any other delegate – to defend humanity before it is too late. But on Yom Kippur, I am reminded that I am also here because my Jewish heritage demands it.”

Trump envoy taunts Adler

According to Adler, US officials did not provide any consular services to him and other Americans who were imprisoned by Israel.

“The US general consul said, ‘We are not your babysitters. You’d have no food, no water, no money, no phones, no planes,’” he said. “‘We’re taking you straight to the airport, and you’re on your own.’”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee had rebuked Adler personally, calling him a “self-absorbed tool of Hamas”.

Huckabee also echoed the false Israeli claims that the flotilla is “Hamas-funded”.

Palestinian rights advocates and many Palestinians in Gaza welcomed the flotilla, saying it demonstrates the power of individuals to take direct action to help the people in Gaza even if they fail to reach the shores of the territory.

In his message, Adler called the mistreatment of the activists a marker of “how rogue the state of Israel has become in its utter disregard for basic international humanitarian law”.

“I’m obviously very aware that all of this pales in comparison to the treatment that Palestinians endure every single day,” he said.

Israel holds thousands of Palestinian detainees, many without  charge or trial.

Rights groups and United Nations experts have documented horrific and systemic torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including the use of starvation and sexual violence against captives.

Israel continues to imprison US teenager Mohammed Ibrahim, who was arrested in the occupied West Bank in February and has since lost more than a quarter of his body weight, according to his family.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is on his second visit to the White House in five months as he deals with increasing pressure to address US tariffs on steel, autos and other goods that are hurting Canada’s economy.

Carney and United States President Donald Trump met at the White House on Tuesday.

“From the beginning, I liked him, and we’ve had a good relationship,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, sitting next to Carney.

“We have natural conflict. We also have mutual love … you know we have great love for each other,” he added, saying the two men would discuss tariffs including potentially lowering tariffs on key Canadian sectors as part of efforts to ease trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa.

More than 77 percent of Canada’s exports go to the US.

A Canadian government official and several analysts played down the chances of an imminent trade deal with Trump and said the mere fact that discussions are continuing should be considered a success for Carney.

Among the topics up for discussion are trade and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is critical to Canada’s economy and is up for a review next year.

Trump said he was willing to revisit the free trade agreement, which was enacted during his first term, or seek “different deals.”

“We could renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we can just do different deals,” he said. “We’re allowed to do different deals.”

Trump exhibited a fondness for Carney, something he didn’t display toward Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. He described Carney as a “world-class leader” and said he’s a tough negotiator.

The prime minister last visited the Oval Office in May, when he bluntly told Trump that Canada would never be for sale in response to Trump’s repeated threat to purchase or annex Canada.

Since then, the prime minister has made numerous concessions to Canada’s biggest trading partner, including dropping some counter tariffs and scrapping a digital services tax aimed at US tech companies.

Carney’s office has said the working visit will focus on forging a new economic and security relationship with the US.

“In areas where we compete, we have to come to an agreement that works, ” Carney said.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday: “I’m sure trade will be a topic of discussion … and all of the other issues that are facing both Canada and the United States.”

While the majority of Canada’s exports are entering the US tariff-free under the USMCA, tariffs have pummeled Canada’s steel, aluminium and auto sectors and a number of small businesses.

“The reality is that right now, Canadian products have among the lowest tariff rate,” said Jonathan Kalles, a former adviser to Carney’s predecessor, Trudeau. “You don’t want to poke the bear when things could be much worse,” he said, adding that any meeting with Trump is a calculated risk.

“Carney will probably get a better deal through private negotiations, not the pomp and ceremony of going to the White House,” he said.

Growing pressure

Carney won an election in April promising to be tough with Trump and secure a new economic relationship with the US.

Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said polls show Canadians have largely been willing to give Carney time to deal with Trump.

“But that amount of time is finite,” Kurl said, noting pressure may build with job losses mounting and economic growth hobbled by US tariffs.

Canada’s opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, has criticised Carney’s approach to Trump, noting the prime minister’s earlier pledge to “negotiate a win” by July 21. He said on Monday that it did not look like Carney would accomplish much in the trip.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-US trade, said in response that Canada has work to do on sectoral tariffs.

“Was the leader of the opposition suggesting that if the president of the United States invites us to go to Washington for a meeting and a working lunch, we should have just said ‘no’ and hung the phone up?” LeBlanc said in Parliament.

Asa McKercher, a specialist in Canada-US relations at St Francis Xavier University, said Carney’s meeting with Trump would be a success if there is any recognition that Canada has moved to address some of Trump’s persistent grievances.

The Conscience is the latest ship in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to sail across the Mediterranean Sea toward Gaza, carrying aid and nearly 100 medics and journalists. The mission follows Israel’s interception of a previous flotilla last week.