Gaza flotilla: Berlin venue Oyoun founder released from Israeli prison as Björk calls for “safe return” of detained childhood friend
Despite threats, she said the crew maintained radio contact with Israeli forces, insisting their mission was legal under international laws including the San Remo Manual, the Geneva Convention, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Around 2 AM, she said Israeli forces boarded their boat. “Dozens of soldiers pointed guns at us with lasers on our chests. They took over the boat, kidnapped us, and brought us to Ashdod port.
“We endured severe dehumanising violence, physical and verbal abuse,” she said, adding that Israeli far-right politician Ben Gvir was present, calling activists “terrorists and baby killers”.
She described detainees being held for hours in freezing vehicles, with some women forced to remove hijabs — some were mocked or bullied for refusing. “In two or three cases, soldiers ripped hijabs off their heads,” she said. She said detainees were then crammed into overcrowded cells at Ktzi’ot (“Kesidot”) prison without access to food, water or lawyers.
“One morning they took a bunch of us into a cage in the boiling heat, and refused to allow us to put our sweaters above us to have some shade,” she said. “We were 57 women crammed into ten to 12 square metres. Three women fainted, one case was an extreme emergency, so we started screaming for a doctor. One of the soldiers told us: ‘If you don’t stop screaming, we will gas you and I’m not talking about tear gas’.”
Claims of threatening use of lethal gas have been corroborated by other detained activists, including Carsie Blanton. Greta Thunberg has also publicly accused Israeli authorities of mistreatment during her detention.
Sbou emphasised that despite the extreme deprivations they faced — soldiers banging on cell doors with guns aimed at detainees, denial of medical care, and refusal to provide sanitary towels to women on their periods — the ordeal was nothing compared to what Palestinians endure daily. She highlighted the plight of over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, many held without trial, as well as hundreds of children currently detained in Israeli prisons. “We cannot even begin to imagine the daily violence they endure – especially given the privilege of passports that grant us the freedom to move safely,” she said.
According to the Global Smud Flotilla website, a total 456 flotilla activists have been released and there are another six remaining. Activists came from countries including Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Malaysia, Bahrain, Tunisia, Turkey, the US, Ireland, Canada and Germany.
Sbou’s Oyoun became a vital hub for Berlin’s activist-led electronic music scene in recent years, hosting artists such as Ixindamix, Flaaviø, Marum, Buba and Authentically Plastic, and curating programs that reimagined the city’s music landscape through a decolonial, queer-feminist lens. It has also collaborated with the Berlin independent radio station Refuge Worldwide on multiple occasions.
