Israel releases some ship raid activists
3 Canadians among hundreds detained at prison in Israel
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 12:52 AM ET
CBC News
Dozens of activists seized in the deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla arrived in Jordan on Wednesday after being deported from Israel, according to Jordanian officials.
The 124 activists from 12 Muslim nations — most of them without diplomatic ties with Israel — crossed the Allenby Bridge aboard five Jordanian buses.
The group included 30 Jordanians, 16 Kuwaitis and activists from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen, Oman and Bahrain.
Dozens of other activists remain in Israeli detention, but most are expected to be deported in the coming days.
An activist arrested aboard a Gaza-bound ship looks out the window of a bus upon arrival to Ella prison in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Tuesday. (Herzl Yosef/Reuters) Earlier Tuesday, Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told CBC News there was no one left on the ships and that passengers who identified themselves were taken to the airport, while the others were detained. The ships tried to break the three-year blockage of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid when they were raided by Israeli commandos early Monday.
Turkish woman Nilufer Cetin said she agreed to leave Israel after being warned jail conditions in Beersheba would be "too harsh" for her one-year-old, whom she'd brought on the voyage.
Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed three Canadians had been detained, but would not elaborate.
"We are working with local authorities and are providing consular assistance as required. Due to the Privacy Act, no further information can be released," ministry spokesperson Ambra Dickie wrote in an email to CBC News.
Kevin Neish, 53, a retired engineer and activist from Victoria, is believed to be among those in confinement. His daughter Jennifer said Tuesday that she'd received confirmation from Canadian government officials that her father was alive and well and would be deported from Israel within 72 hours.
His brother, Steve Neish, said Tuesday morning it was unlikely his brother had been injured in Monday's attack and that he was sure "his overall safety is OK."
"He's fully aware of the dangers [of such missions]," Steve Neish told CBC News. "It's a bit unpredictable though, so you don't know, you're never sure what is going to happen."
"No one was expecting bullets," said Neish's friend, Zoe Blunt.
"He was expecting to take a beating at the hands of the Israeli army. He was not expecting anyone to get shot."
Activists describe raid
Turkey said Tuesday it was sending three ambulance planes to Israel to pick up 20 more Turkish activists injured in the operation.
Three Turkish Airlines planes were on standby waiting to fly back other activists, the prime minister's office said.
Five Germans, six Greeks and several others were released, but Israel barred access to hundreds of other activists seized during the raid Monday that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens.
One of the Greeks, who had been a crew member, told reporters that Israeli commandos boarded the boats in international waters about 130-145 kilometres off the Israeli coast.
The Greeks told reporters the Israelis beat activists with clubs and used electric shocks, and said they heard shooting aboard the Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara, ahead of theirs.
The Israeli government says its soldiers were defending themselves, and has released video showing soldiers in riot gear being struck by activists with sticks. One soldier appears to have been shoved into the water.
Israel says the activists were armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops.
When asked about the Israeli video, Norman Paech, a former member of Germany's Left Party who was aboard the Marmara, said he only saw three activists resisting.
"They had no knives, no axes, only sticks that they used to defend themselves," Paech said at a news conference in Berlin, after he returned from Tel Aviv.
Still, he said, he could "not rule out" that others used weapons somewhere else on the boat.
Some 400 Turkish activists were part of the flotilla, along with more than 30 Greeks and people of some 20 other nations including Canada, Germany, the U.S. and Russia.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- 32 Syrian children die in artillery attack, says UN
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming more than 32 children and 60 adults were killed the attack. more »
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges

- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest

- The deaths of six climbers last weekend on Mt. Everest, with more summits underway this weekend, fuels the debate about the risks and responsibilities of high altitude climbing. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- 32 Syrian children die in artillery attack, says UN
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming more than 32 children and 60 adults were killed the attack. more »
- No. 3 in Egypt election demands recount
- A spokesman for the third-place finisher in Egypt's presidential race has called for a partial vote recount, citing violations. more »
- 3rd most-wanted Nazi war criminal dies in Germany
- Klaas Carel Faber, a Dutch native who fled to Germany after being convicted in the Netherlands of Nazi war crimes and subsequently lived in freedom despite several attempts to try or extradite him, has died. He was 90. more »
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz, Brian Banks & 50 Shades of Grey May. 25, 2012 8:56 PM On his first full day of his new life, former football star Brian Banks joins us live.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Pope's butler arrested in Vatican leaks scandal
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- Tornado touchdown confirmed near Montreal
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest
- Woman's remains found in bag on Cape Breton river
- Attack on Syrian villages deadliest yet, activists say

