Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Quito, Oct. 8 - Ecuadoreans Nicole León and Carmen Alexandra Portero participated in the Sumud Global Flotilla humanitarian mission and recounted the abuses they suffered, while drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people today.
In an interview with local radio station Radio Pichincha, León said that her boat, the Adara, was intercepted in international waters on October 1 by Israeli forces.
“I want to make this clear: it was a kidnapping,” insisted the young woman, who described how they were held at gunpoint for more than 10 hours, unable to move or eat, before being forcibly taken to the port of Ashdod.
"They beat us, they assaulted us, they stripped us naked. They ripped off the hijabs of the Muslim women. They beat me for translating for a Colombian woman," added León, who reported psychological torture and sleep deprivation during her detention.
Meanwhile, Carmen Alexandra Portero, who was traveling on the Sunflower boat with activists from Germany and Turkey, stated that the flotilla faced “persecution and boycott” from Cypriot and Greek authorities before setting sail.
“We experienced harassment and threats. We only confirmed what we already knew: Western states are complicit in genocide,” she said in the interview with the Ecuadorian media outlet from Berlin.
Portero asserted that even the transfer of food and medicine destined for Gaza was prevented.
“We were carrying humanitarian aid and they prohibited us. It was a brutal confirmation of how colonial power operates,” she added.
Both agreed that their personal experiences should not divert attention from the Palestinian tragedy.
“If they treated us like this, imagine the daily torture they experience in Gaza or the West Bank. The focus must be on Palestine,” León insisted.
For his part, Assemblyman Gustavo Mateus, of the Citizens' Revolution, addressed what happened to the two young women.
“Humiliated and mistreated without the government defending them, our compatriots were sent back in their attempt to reach Gaza. Despite our formal requests, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry shone as always with its silence and inaction,” Mateus commented on his X account.
The Global Sumud Flotilla—whose name means “perseverance” in Arabic—brought together dozens of vessels from different countries to establish a humanitarian corridor to Gaza.
The boats were intercepted by Israel in international waters last week, about 70 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.
“Our mission is clear: to affirm that the lives of the Palestinian people are above the interests of capital. If we were 40 boats now, next time we will be 150,” León said.
Meanwhile, Portero emphasized that the Palestinian struggle connects with Latin American resistances, "it's the same struggle for the life and sovereignty of the people." (Text and photo: PL)
