{"id":66134,"date":"2025-10-08T02:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/66134\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T02:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:56:11","slug":"cork-grandfather-describes-barbaric-detention-after-gaza-aid-flotilla-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/66134\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork grandfather describes \u2018barbaric\u2019 detention after Gaza aid flotilla arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crammed into a cell that stank of urine, with nothing but dirty water to drink for days, Cork grandfather and activist Paddy O\u2019Donovan<\/a> said he was woken repeatedly through the night by guards pointing machine guns at him.<\/p>\n

By day, Mr O’Donovan said he was locked in a cage under the sun, surrounded by dogs and armed guards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times you thought you were going to be shot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Donovan, 61, had been aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats attempting to bring aid to besieged Gaza.<\/p>\n

All of the vessels were intercepted last week, and those on board were arrested and detained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey sank my boat out at sea,\u201d Mr O\u2019Donovan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a destroyer, a gunboat, and two RIBs [rigid inflatable hull boats] with 16 [Israeli] soldiers on each RIB.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey boarded us and they forced us down below [deck] and that’s when they started cutting the pipes from the seawater in it into the engine and they started sinking the boat. And they just told us to stay where we were.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were inside the boat and they had machine guns on us. And they waited until the water came up to our knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd at that stage, I was fearing that we were all going be shot. Because they were pointing their guns and they were after cocking the guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then they eventually turned around and they said \u2018oh we’re going to save you now\u2019 after leaving us think they were going to kill us. And then they took us off and they sank the boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey brought us into a port and they tie-wrapped our arms behind our back and they had us lying face down for hours on our knees with our face on the ground and they were shouting and photographing and all this kind of stuff for the Israeli media.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was barbaric. I’ve never experienced the like of it. I didn’t think there were human beings like that.”<\/p>\n

\"ActivistsActivists arrive at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025 after being deported from Israel for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flottila. (AP Photo\/Petros Giannakouris)<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Donovan was among 16 Irish citizens arrested and detained for crewing the humanitarian flotilla.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Senator Chris Andrews and Cork comedian and activist Tadhg Hickey were also detained in Ketsiot Prison in Israel.<\/p>\n

Other detainees included activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela\u2019s grandson Mandla Mandela, and several European politicians.<\/p>\n

About 450 people were detained by Israel for being on the flotilla, which was attempting to break the blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry said it offered voluntary deportation to all the activists.<\/p>\n

\"ActivistsActivists arrive at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025 after being deported from Israel for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flottila. (AP Photo\/Petros Giannakouris)<\/p>\n

Speaking before boarding a flight from Athens to Ireland, Mr O\u2019Donovan said he was relieved the ordeal was over.<\/p>\n

But he added that, as difficult as it was for the Irish detainees, Palestinian prisoners in Ketsiot suffered far worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [Israeli guards] seem to take delight in torturing people,” Mr O’Donovan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were locked inside these cells for days. There was no water given. We had to drink dirty tap water. They were pointing guns in at nighttime when we were trying to sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’d wake us up and they’d move us to another block and different cells. They were changing people around all the time, and shouting and roaring and bringing dogs in, these fully armed combat units coming in. So it was scary enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times you thought you were going to be shot. They were eight-man cells with about 16 or 20 people in some cells.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnAn activist arrives at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025 after being deported from Israel for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flottila. (AP Photo\/Petros Giannakouris)<\/p>\n

Mr O’Donovan said that up to 17 people were crammed into his cell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen they’d take people out and people would go missing,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they wouldn’t give us our medication. We met one doctor and they asked what meds you were on and they took a note. But then they didn’t give anybody anything. They didn’t even give the diabetics insulin.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we started [hunger] striking and then they came in and got more brutal.”<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Donovan said he was on hunger strike for all five days of his incarceration.<\/p>\n

He said those refusing food were mockingly served \u201cbanquets\u201d, while others were given meals that were barely edible. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe only people that had a decent looking food were the people that were on hunger strike,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Barcelona mayor Ada Colau speaks with media as she arrives at the airport in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, after being arrested on the Global Sumud Flotilla and subsequently released by the Israeli authorities. (AP Photo\/Joan Mateu Parra)<\/p>\n

The cell had one tap that only produced dirty water and a single toilet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all psychological torture,\u201d Mr O\u2019Donovan said.<\/p>\n

Despite the horrific treatment, Mr O\u2019Donovan said it was nothing compared to what Palestinian prisoners endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose poor people are suffering. Their treatment is just horrific.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were chained with their hands to their feet and they were bent over and they were blindfolded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guards seemed to relish it, the inhumane treatment that they gave you.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then on the last day their mood started changing, they were becoming nicer because they know the world is going to soon find out what they were like.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crammed into a cell that stank of urine, with nothing but dirty water to drink for days, Cork…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,4712,79,61,60,1196,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-66134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-irish-examiner-instagram","9":"tag-israel-palestine","10":"tag-cork-news","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-middle-east","14":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}