More than 400 Global Sumud Flotilla participants, including a Belleville resident, are free.
All of the flotilla participants, including 12 Canadians and Shahid Mahmood, landed safely in Turkiye on Thursday morning at 11:00 EDT after being seized by Israeli Forces earlier this week.
The group was on the way to Gaza to attempt to break an Israeli siege and deliver humanitarian aid.
Mahmood is the co-founder of the Belleville for Justice and Peace organization.
Communicator and organizer-in-chief of Belleville for Justice and Peace Angela Maracle stated she watched live video of them disembarking.
“They were met by a delegation that gave each one a keffiyeh and a red blanket. They were all wearing grey tracksuits, identical to the ones worn by Palestinian hostages,” she noted.
Some had to be taken immediately to hospital by ambulance.
“Many people were there to welcome them and cheer for them,” Maracle observed.
Now flotilla participants will begin to fly to their home countries, but there is some question of who will play for their flights.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand stated Wednesday she directed her officials to summon Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed after the “mistreatment of civilians” aboard the flotilla.
