Five-Star Movement (M5S) MP Dario Carotenuto and Alessandro Mantovani, a journalist with daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, reported being subjected to brutality after being among the activists detained this week by Israel while taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla’s latest attempt to get aid to Gaza when they returned to Italy on Thursday.
“They beat us and said ‘Welcome to Israel” to us,” Carotenuto, his eyes welling with tears, told reporters at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
“It was all horrible,.
“Three thugs savagely beat us. I was punched in the eye and kicked.
“At a certain point, I felt like I couldn’t see any more”.
The Italian government on Wednesday demanded an apology and summoned the Israeli ambassador to Rome after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted videos in which he is seen mocking activists who had been handcuffed, blindfolded and forced to kneel in front of him.
“I was beaten, Dario Carotenuto was beaten, others were beaten more than us,” said Mantovani in a video posted on Il Fatto Quotidiano’s website.
“I saw people with suspected broken arms and ribs.
“Almost everyone who passed through the entry container was beaten, and we could hear the screams from outside.
“Even the boardings (for the returns) were much more violent than in the past.
“This is the face of Israel, and, unfortunately, this is nothing compared to what Israel does to 9,000 Palestinian prisoners.
“If Israel continues to do all this, it is because it continues to have the support of Western European governments, including ours, which this time protested.
“But until the clear images showed the violence to which the Flotilla activists —unarmed, non-violent people demonstrating in the middle of the sea— were subjected, the government hadn’t said a word, and this is unacceptable and allows Israel to continue doing what it does” In total 30 Italian activists were detained by Israel.