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When the Musto brothers walked free after enduring six days in Israel’s notorious Ketziot prison, they had nothing on them but the clothes they were given in jail.
A State Department official greeted Adnaan and Tor Musto at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in Jordan. The State Department “had no interest” in speaking with the legal aid group representing the Mustos or other activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which “basically did all the work our government’s embassy should do for its own citizens,” Tor told the Prospect.
Adnaan, the captain of the Mikeno, and Tor, a maritime engineer aboard the Huga, were among hundreds of flotilla volunteers detained by Israeli forces earlier this month. Israel, which seized 42 ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in the span of three days, has continued to escalate its deterrence strategy against flotilla activists seeking to penetrate what is widely understood to be an illegal blockade.
In an October 9 letter, Democratic senators requested an explanation from the State Department for its “failure to provide timely consular services to American citizens who were detained while on the Global Sumud Flotilla.” In addition to enumerating the activists’ alarming allegations of mistreatment by Israeli forces, they demanded answers as to why it took the State Department “longer than other governments … to visit and assess the care of American citizens.”
At Ketziot, American citizens and international flotilla volunteers alike have described rampant abuse, including being interrogated at random by unidentified personnel, denied access to legal representation and essential medications, and held in overcrowded cells. According to the Global Sumud Flotilla, some activists had no choice but to “sleep on the floor under harsh and unsanitary conditions,” while others bore the brunt of physical violence and psychological abuse at the hands of the authorities. Among them was Tor Musto. |
