Canberra, Nov 7 (ANI): An Australian on a peace flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade has said that activists were beaten up and tasered by the Israelis commandos.
Thirty-Five-year-old Michael Coleman was among 27 people detained when the Israeli navy intercepted two international vessels carrying pro-Palestinian activists.
According to the Herald Sun, Israeli commandos boarded the Irish-flagged Saoirse (Freedom) and the Canadian ship Tahrir (Arabic for Liberation) in international waters off Gaza on Saturday (AEDT) before the navy escorted them to the port of Ashdod.
Michael's father John Coleman said he had spoken with his son, who was aboard the Tahrir.
He told his father that the ship was bombarded by a water cannon, an activist was tasered and many others were beaten or roughed up as they refused to leave the ship at Ashdod port.
Michael's father said that after activist were forcibly removed from the ship, they were placed in handcuffs and leg shackles and driven to a prison about 10km from Tel Aviv.
He said his son seemed to have been treated "pretty reasonably" since his arrest.
"He indicated last night that he'd had no physical problems there," John told ABC radio.
"But they had been kept in their cells, separated from each other the whole time that they had been there. The only visits they had were from consular officials," he added.
According to the report, activists organised a major attempt to break the Israeli blockade in May 2010, when six ships led by the Turkish Mavi Marmara tried to reach Gaza. But Israeli troops stormed the Marmara, killing nine Turkish activists.
A second flotilla tried to reach Gaza earlier this year, but several ships were sabotaged, which activists blamed on Israel.
Israel has said that its blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from entering the coastal territory, which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement. (ANI)
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