Israel preparing to hold Madleen activists in separate cells in Givon Prison: Report
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed prison authorities to prepare separate cells for the activists from the Madleen ship at Givon Prison in Ramla, where they will be held before being deported, according to Israel Hayom.
Upon arrival in Ashdod, the activists will be escorted to the prison in vehicles with tinted windows to minimise public attention, media reports said.
Ben-Gvir has also directed prison officials to prohibit the activists from possessing any pro-Palestinian symbols during their detention and to deny them access to electronics such as televisions and radios in their cells, according to the report.
Madleen activists ‘detainees, not prisoners’: Human rights lawyer
We have reported earlier that Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir seeks to hold the Madleen activists in separate cells at a prison in Israel.
Addressing other reports claiming that the activists would be wearing uniforms, human rights lawyer Sara Bashi said it would be “very unusual for the Israeli government to issue prison uniforms to people who are not prisoners”.
“They’re detainees … not prisoners,” she told Al Jazeera. “In the past, people who have entered Israel and been refused entry have been deported in their regular clothing. So, I’m not sure what that intention is.”
Asked about reports that Israel will force activists to watch videos of the October 2023 Hamas attacks, she said this is “part of what is so heartbreaking about what’s going on now”.
“Hamas-led fighters violated a core principle of international humanitarian law by targeting Israeli civilians. That was wrong, and the answer cannot be for the Israeli military to then target Palestinian civilians in Gaza, as it has done,” she added.
Sweden: Madleen activists not in danger, no need for support
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has addressed the status of Swedish national Greta Thunberg and the 11 other activists illegally taken into Israeli custody.
In comments carried by Swedish media, Stenergard emphasised that Sweden’s government has long advised against travel to Gaza and the activists bear “clear personal responsibility”.
The government’s current assessment is that the activists are not in danger and there is no need for consular support, she added.
Activist Thunberg recorded a video before her capture. “I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces … I ask all my friends, family, and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” she said.
That makes it clear what side of history Sweden is on.
