Montreal Activist Returns Home From Israeli Prison With A Message For Carney
Adedokun Waliyu
2 min read
Shortly after her return to Canada on Sunday, Montreal activist and epidemiologist Nimâ Machouf recounted “difficult” conditions while she was detained for several days by the Israeli army. She is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to pressure the Israeli government to respect the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to be delivered.
Machouf, 59, was among about 150 people aboard a nine-boat convoy organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza, which was stopped by Israeli forces early on Wednesday. A public health specialist at Université de Montréal and former NDP candidate, she joined the mission to deliver supplies to Gaza.
When her boat was intercepted, the entire crew was transported to a high-security prison, Machouf said. She was freed Friday.
“There was a lot of aggression. They subjected us to psychological torture by depriving us of sleep, and destabilizing us psychologically by giving us contradictory orders and frequently moving us around,” she said, adding she suffered “a great deal of humiliation.”
She said members of the Israeli army threatened to spray her and her fellow prisoners with tear gas while they were in a cell.
“When one is in a cell, there isn’t a way to get out. It’s disturbing,” Machouf said.
She asserts she was “kidnapped” by the Israeli army, because the ship was in international waters when it was intercepted.
“They kidnapped us and took us by force to the port of Ashdod, then accused us of entering Israel illegally, but we didn’t go to Israel — we were taken there by force,” she said. “Israel is changing the narrative on all fronts and trying to give its version of events, and we have seen how wrong it is.”
Carney was scheduled to attend a peace summit in Egypt Monday. The summit will be co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and bring together leaders from about 20 countries.
Machouf wants Ottawa to put pressure on the Israeli government to respect the peace agreement proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which allows humanitarian aid to be delivered.
She called for a secure humanitarian aid corridor to assist Gazans and for trade relations with Israel to be “closely linked to respect for the rights of the Palestinian people.”
“Without constraints, (Israel) will not respect any laws, rules or morality,” she said. “It has just demonstrated this to us, and it is imperative to be strict on this point.”
Machouf welcomed the release of three activists from Newfoundland and Labrador on Sunday morning, who were also with the flotilla and being held by the Israeli army.
