All Catalan activists from Gaza aid flotilla return home

All Catalan activists from the Gaza aid flotilla who were held in Israel after being detained by the government returned home on Monday night.

After 21 activists, including former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, returned to Spain on Sunday night, another 27 landed on Monday evening at various airports.

The activists boarded a plane from Israel to Athens yesterday afternoon, traveling alongside passengers of other nationalities.

From Athens, some flew to Madrid on a Spanish military plane sent by the government, while others continued to Barcelona and Bilbao on commercial flights.

Those arriving in Barcelona reached the city around midnight, greeted by friends, fellow activists, and a strong media presence.

The group that returned on Monday night had refused to sign a declaration acknowledging guilt for entering Israel "illegally."

Among them were two members of the far-left pro-independence party CUP: Pilar Castillejo, an MP in the Catalan parliament, and Adrià Plazas, a member of the party’s executive board.

Of the 49 Spanish activists who participated in the humanitarian mission, only one remains in Israel.

She is Reyes Rigo, from Mallorca, who is accused of "biting" a member of the medical staff at Ktzi'ot Prison, where the activists had been held.

Earlier in the day, Israel announced that it had deported 171 additional activists from the flotilla to Greece, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, the UK, and the United States. Among them was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was deported to Greece. 

With these latest arrivals, the majority of the 437 activists who took part in the flotilla, composed of more than 40 vessels, have now been deported from Israel to their home countries. 

Activists denounce 'degrading treatment' 

On Sunday night, former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau arrived at Barcelona airport after being deported by Israel. 

She denounced the "degrading treatment" received by the activists at the hands of Israeli authorities, saying their rights "were violated." 

"We were badly treated, but nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians daily," she said upon arrival, visibly emotional. 

Colau described being "humiliated by hundreds of very aggressive police officers," who, she said, forced activists to kneel for hours, pressed their heads to the ground, and shouted insults. She added that some were even stripped of their clothes. 

In prison, several activists were held in small cells and went hours without food or water. 

"There was no lawful procedure; all our rights were violated," Colau said. 

After landing, the other activists had similar comments, highlighting that the "Zionist State is violent," Ariadna Masmitjà, one of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists, told media outlets in Barcelona.

"We are seeing this with the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank. And if we being European and enjoying some privileges, were treated like this, we can understand that violence is 1,000 times stronger with Palestinians," she added.

Far-left CUP MP Pilar Castillejo, also one of the activists traveling with the flotilla, said that Israel had kidnapped them and said that she will file a complaint.

She said that the members of the Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla were mistreated by Israeli forces, but this is something it "should be not taken into account," as Palestinians are suffering a "much worse" situation.

Eduard Lucas, another Catalan traveling on the flotilla, wondered why Spain recognized the State of Palestine, sent a vessel to protect the flotilla, but did not accompany them to the Gaza shore.

"In front of any Israeli barbaric action, everyone remains quiet," he said before adding that "if the recognition was true, it would also be applied to the territory's waters, therefore they would have accompanied us to reach Gaza. However, they did not do it, as Israel has absolute impunity."

"It is not normal that 500 people of different civil society groups are risking their lives and governments are not moving a finger," he concluded.

Israel says rights were respected

Meanwhile, the Israeli government insisted that all rights of the flotilla members were "respected." 

"All the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld. The lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign," the Israeli foreign ministry said on X. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government stated that the "only violent incident" during the deportation process "came from a Hamas-Sumud provocateur who bit a female medical staff member of Ktzi'ot Prison."