Flotilla to Gaza | Nimâ Machouf should be back in Quebec on Sunday
After being detained by the Israeli army, Montreal activist and epidemiologist Nimâ Machouf should be back home on Sunday, said her husband Amir Khadir.
Like five other Canadians, the Dre Machouf was aboard the Conscience, a ship that was part of the flotilla that attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The boat was intercepted and seized earlier this week by the Israeli military.
“We are very proud of her,” said Mr. Khadir, a former member of the National Assembly. We are relieved that nothing too extreme happened to him. »
UN agencies and many non-governmental organizations have declared a state of famine in the Gaza Strip since August.
The Dre Machouf will arrive from Istanbul, Turkey, where Israeli authorities had expelled her. His plane should land at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport around 5:30 p.m., announced Mr. Khadir.
He expressed a mixture of joy and sadness. “The misery of the Palestinian people will not end because Nimâ is back,” he said.
PHOTO AMIR KHADIR, PROVIDED BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nimâ Machouf, from Montreal departure in September
His wife told him that Israeli military jailers had used violence against those in the flotilla.
“They were mistreated, violence was used. Some were far-fetched,” Mr. Khadir described.
He added that he had heard that some had to remain on their knees for several hours and were denied medication.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, 145 people were brought to the mainland and detained before being expelled. The previous week, nearly 450 people, including European parliamentarians and environmental activist Greta Thunberg, were also detained after more than 40 ships attempted to reach the Gaza Strip.
For her part, Indigenous rights activist Mskwaasin Agnew, who was on board one of the ships attempting to resupply the Gaza Strip, is expected to land in Toronto on Saturday
In a video posted three days ago on social media, the member of the Salt River First Nation asked her friends and family to contact Canadian authorities to help her obtain her immediate release.
Khurram Musti Khan, of Milton, Ont., is expected to return home Sunday morning.
He said the three Newfoundland and Labrador residents, Sadie Mees, Nikita Stapleton and Devoney Ellis, remained detained in Israel. They should be deported to Jordan on Sunday.
