British hostage interviewed from Israeli jail

Adie Mormech, one of over 20 human rights workers and crew taken prisoner on Tuesday 30th June when their boat was forcibly boarded by the Israeli navy, has spoken by mobile phone from his prison cell at Givon jail, Ramle, near Tel Aviv.

Amongst the other prisoners from the FreeGaza Movement boat Spirit of Humanity are Nobel Peace prize winner Mairead Maguire and former US Congresswoman Cythnia McKinney. A message from McKinney on 2nd July condemned Israel for its “illegal” action in “dismantl[ing] our navigation equipment” and confiscating both the ship and its cargo of medical aid, children's toys and olive trees.

McKinney went on to say that “State Department and White House officials have not effected our release or taken a strong public stance to condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli Navy of enforcing a blockade of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians of Gaza, a blockade that has been condemned by President Obama.”

The FreeGaza campaign succeeded in entering Gaza by sea on several occasions in 2008, carrying humanitarian aid, medical personnel, journalists and human rights workers. However, later attempts have been met with aggression by the Israeli navy, with one boat, the Dignity, having to seek refuge and repairs in Lebanon after being rammed by an Israeli warship.

In a brief interview with Andy Bowman of Manchester's Mule newspaper, Mr Mormech gave the following account:

How are you being treated?

It's bad, but the conditions are ok for me, I've not been beaten up, they're a bit nasty sometimes and when they boarded the boat we had our faces slammed against the floor. It was bad for the older women like Mairead.

The four other UK nationals are in the cell with me. There's 14 of us in the 7 by 7 meter cell which includes the toilet and shower, so very crowded. It's very hot and there's only a tiny window. We get woken up at 6 in the morning for an inspection and have to stand to attention, and then they repeat that at 9, and we are only allowed out of the cells for a few hours each day. They keep giving us forms to sign but they are in Hebrew so we don't. Although I'm able to cope here, other people are less comfortable than me in the situation. If we're here for a long time – like some of the other people in here have been – then it will be tough.

Have you had access to a lawyer yet?

We have, and at the moment we're discussing what to do about our deportation. They've taken our personal items – laptops, cameras, phones and many other valuables, and we want to find out where these are. They obviously want to deport us as quickly as possible, but some of us are thinking about fighting the deportation. Firstly on the basis that if we get deported we won't be allowed in to the West Bank or Israel for another 10 years, but also because we didn't intend to come here to Israel – we intended to go to Gaza, and went directly from international waters into Palestinian waters. There is nothing legal about what Israel has done to us grabbing us like this. We're considering fighting the deportation on the grounds that we shouldn't accept and legitimize this barbaric military blockade of Gaza.

If you challenge the deportation could you remain in prison for a while longer?

Yes we could – there's some people that need to get home, but some will challenge. And for those it will be a few more weeks in prison at least, we expect.

And you?

I'm veering towards challenging it on the basis that it's a scar on my name to accept that I shouldn't have been here, but in fact I have every right to go to Gaza just as everyone else does. That's the whole point of these voyages and that's the principle we want to stick to.

Have they told you what has happened to the cargo of the boat?

No, we don't know what they're doing with it. We've been told a lot of lies so far about where we're going and what's happening to us, so we just don't know. They're already prepared to deprive the people of Gaza of a lot of aid anyway.

What is your message to people back in the UK?

This is not about us here in the cells, it's about the denial of human rights to the people of Palestine, and in particular the inhumane blockade of Gaza. People must not forget about what is happening to Gaza. At the moment they are even being denied food and medical supplies. After the carnage of the 1500 people killed in January, we won't forget and we'll keep on going and keep fighting for the human rights of the people of Palestine.

Sarah Irving is a freelance writer specialising in social and environmental issues.