On Thursday of this week, 175 activists aboard 22 boats were intercepted by the Israelis on their way to Gaza to deliver aid and food supplies.
Rachel McNicholl joined The Pat Kenny Show to talk about her husband Fíoch O'Brileacháin who was aboard during the the latest Flotilla seizure by the Israeli military as they sailed to Gaza.
On Thursday of this week, 175 activists aboard 22 boats were intercepted by the Israelis on their way to Gaza to deliver aid and food supplies.
Ms McNicholl told The Pat Kenny Show that the flotilla was really about “bringing awareness and raising awareness” for the ongoing Israeli strikes on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis that ensued.
“They knew they would be intercepted”, she explained.
“But it was a complete shock to everyone that they were intercepted. West of Crete, between Sicily and Crete, about 1,000 kilometers, 700 nautical miles away from the Israeli coast.
“So clearly an illegal operation by the Israelis.”
Mrs McNicholl explained she’d managed to communicate with her husband via WhatsApp Wednesday afternoon before all systems “crashed”.
“So none of us had any contact.
“There is a very good support group for the families and friends of the people on the Flotilla, and they were able to kind of keep us posted of what had happened and how many boats were intercepted and to get in touch with our embassies.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs was really good the whole time. They had their names, their numbers and I made sure they had passport numbers because we knew that probably everything would be taken off them.”
Reactions to the flotilla seizure
Members of the flotilla were intercepted in international waters which would be perceived as an illegal act.
Activists after being deported from Israel for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Picture by: AP Photo.Seven Irish citizens were on board the boats seized in international waters, including the sister of President Catherine Connolly, Dr Margaret Connolly.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and several government ministers have condemned the Israeli military's interference with those boats.
After the seizure, which Global Summit Flotilla labelled as an act of piracy, all but two of the activists were released in Crete.
Main Image: The first Global Sumud Flotilla.
