Three NL Activists Aboard Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla Released from Israeli Detention – Halifax

Three activists from Newfoundland and Labrador were part of Fleet The detainees were released by Israeli forces and are on their way to Canada.

Sadie Mays, Devonie Ellis and Nikita Stapleton traveled safely to Amman, Jordan, on Sunday morning. Members of the Canadian ship to Gaza, part of the Freedom Flotilla coalition, aimed to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza and break the Israeli naval blockade.

The World Health Organization and international non-governmental organizations announced that famine conditions in the Gaza Strip have continued since August.

Kira Mays, Sadie’s mother, says she last heard from her daughter around October 7. Sadie told her mother that “Conscience,” the boat she was on, was approaching an interception point, and she might be detained in Israel.

“It was very scary,” Mays says. “We were getting reports of abuse happening with detainees, and knowing that your child was in a dangerous situation…it was really difficult.”

Mays was able to have a short call with Sadie on Sunday morning, and saw a photo of her daughter. She says Sadie looks tired, but okay.

According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Israel intercepted the ships, and six Canadian activists, including the three from Newfoundland, were detained in Israel’s Ketziot prison.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry says a total of 145 activists were taken to the beach for processing and deportation, after they objected.

Once the ships were detained, Mays says communications with the Canadian government and the Canadian consulate were “sporadic.”

She says they obtained a report of a consular official meeting with Canadian detainees while they were imprisoned, but it was not clear how often officials were checking on them. “If reports coming out of prison indicate that detainees are being abused or neglected, I expect our government would want to shine as much light on them as possible,” Mays says. “This lack of communication was sad.”

Amir Khudair, the husband of Nima Maashouf, another detained Canadian, told media on Saturday that he heard from his wife that detainees were treated violently and “were dragged by their hair.” He says he also heard that some detainees were denied medication and forced to kneel for hours.

Mashouf returned to Canada via Trudeau International Airport in Montreal on Sunday evening, while Khurram Musti Khan arrived from Milton, Ontario, at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Toronto-based Indigenous rights activist Miskwasine Agnew returned to Canada on Saturday afternoon.

Musti Khan said he was heralded as a hero by a group of family, friends and supporters who gathered to welcome him to his home in Pearson.

Wearing a green keffiyeh draped over his shoulders, he told the audience: “I am not a hero.”

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“The real heroes are my Palestinian brothers who sacrificed everything for the cause of freedom and justice. The real heroes are our Palestinian mothers who patiently bear the loss of their children. The real heroes are our Palestinian children, who remain steadfast despite all the difficulties they face, unbearable hardships.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had previously denied mistreatment of detainees, with the Associated Press reporting last week that the ministry described the allegations as “brazen lies.”

Representatives of the Canadian Boat to Gaza say the three were released from Newfoundland along with 40 other international volunteers.

“We continue to call for unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, and an end to the Canadian government’s complicity in the Israeli occupation and genocide against Palestinians,” the emailed statement said.

Mays says it was the Freedom Flotilla Coalition volunteers who were in contact with her most often, translating documents and helping make plans to bring Sadie, Ellis and Stapleton home.

The trio are scheduled to depart Jordan soon, arriving in Toronto on Monday evening, before landing in St. John’s, New Delhi, on Tuesday.

Mays says Sadie, 24, has always been “closely connected” to social justice, which makes her very proud of her daughter. Although the past week has been difficult, Mays says the support she has received from friends and family has helped her.

“I think it speaks to this larger movement. People realize that this is the work that needs to be done and people must continue to work to liberate Palestine.”

– With files from Cassidy McMacon in Toronto.

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