Homecoming and harrowing testimony as six SA activists return from Global Sumud flotilla

Emotional welcome at O.R. Tambo after detention in Israel

Supporters gathered at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Saturday to welcome home six South African delegates who returned after a period of detention in an Israeli prison following participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza.

Personal accounts of violence and resilience

Among those back was 22-year-old master’s student Hajar Kagiso Al-Tha’irah Ahjum-Mathee, who described being terrified during the operation and said she had to drop her phone in the ocean. She told supporters she was grateful to the men alongside her who cared for her and said the experience, though terrifying, was for a greater purpose.

Ahjum-Mathee said she would take part again if asked by Palestinians, and described the mission as a response to calls from Palestinians for assistance. She said the group “went through various levels of assault” and listed physical, psychological and sexual violence among the abuses she and others experienced.

“I had to drop my phone in the ocean. Even in that moment, I was petrified… Even in that moment, I knew that this is a mission that is so incredibly important, and it’s a mission that I will do again and again and again and again.”

Family reaction and solidarity

Radio presenter Gadija Ahjum, the mother of Hajar, said she was elated to have her daughter back and spoke about balancing a parent’s instinct to protect with supporting the larger cause her daughter had joined.

“For them to put their bodies on the line makes it exceptional… the very fact that it is people within our communities, it is a child – my child – who has reminded us that it is our voices that matter.”

Dirco response and debriefing

Dirco’s Director-General, Zane Dangor, said the Global Sumud Flotilla was a civil society mission and not a government operation, but the department had worked to provide duty of care for returning South Africans. He said diplomats in Jordan and Turkey had helped track returning delegates and that Dirco had tracked their movement from release through Istanbul and back to South Africa.

Dangor said Dirco had conducted a minor debrief with the returning South Africans to ascertain the scope of harm and that the activists would work with their lawyers. He said Dirco would liaise with them and with police to determine “what further action is necessary” depending on the reports.

According to Dirco’s Director-General, Zane Dangor, “We did a bit of a deep brief, just to make sure that we can ascertain the extent of the harm.” He also said, according to his reports, “We’ve had reports of severe assaults, in some cases, sexual assaults.”

Dangor further told reporters that, according to one South African’s account, he had been beaten and the attackers referenced South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during the assault. Dirco said it will consider the nature of the assaults when deciding on next steps.

Numbers and wider participation

Dangor said the mission involved around 420 people on different boats, and that besides the six South Africans who returned on Saturday, there were South Africans with dual citizenship who had returned to countries such as France and elsewhere.

What happens next

Dirco has written to the Israeli embassy in South Africa raising concerns about the treatment of the flotilla participants and said it will await detailed reports from the returned delegates, who will also be working with their lawyers and South African police services to determine whether further action is required.