Samantha Mythen
SPAIN has requested Israel’s Chargé d’Affaires meet in Madrid, in protest of aid ship Madleen being seized in international waters by the Israeli defence force.
Spanish citizen Sergio Toribio was among the activities onboard the British-flagged ship, which aimed to break the Israeli blockade and deliver essential humanitarian aid to Palestinians under siege in Gaza.
“The foreign ministry is in contact with the Spaniard in question, with his family and with the Israeli foreign ministry, and is exercising consular protection with regard to our citizen,” foreign ministry sources told El País.
READ MORE: Spain strengthens its stand against Israel with cancellation of €285m arms purchase
Toribio shared the ship with Swedish national and climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg, and 10 other activists.
Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires Dan Poraz to a meeting today. It’s the second time in three weeks that the representative has been requested to meet with the Foreign Ministry.
The first time was in protest of the Israeli army firing on an international diplomatic delegation in the West Bank, which included a member of the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem.
Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz criticised Israel’s seizure of the boat.
“I strongly condemn the seizure of the Madleen, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza,” she shared on Bluesky.
“This violation of international law demands a clear and firm response from the EU. All my solidarity to the volunteers who are being held. We call for their freeing as soon as possible. #AllEyesOnMadleen“
In a pre-recorded video shared on social media, Toribio holds up his Spanish passport and says:
“My name is Segio Toribio from Spain. If you are seeing this video, we have been intercepted at sea and I have been kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces, or forces of a country complicit in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.”
“I appeal to all my comrades, friends and family to put pressure on the Spanish government to demand my release as soon as possible” he continues.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the activists are being taken to the Israeli port, Ashdod.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has accused Israel of ‘forcibly intercepting’ the Madleen.
In a statement issued after Madleen’s seizure at 3.02am CET, the organisation said Israel had acted with total impunity, as the ship was, “unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo—including baby formula, food and medical supplies—confiscated.”
“These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade—their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately,” Flotilla organiser Huwaida Arraf said.
Under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain has been one of the most vocal critics within the European Union of Israel’s offensive against Gaza.
Sánchez previously described Israel as a ´genocidal state,’ in parliament.
READ MORE: Spain’s Pedro Sanchez demands Israel be kicked out of Eurovision ‘like Russia was’
I can’t believe that Samantha has done too much “deep diving” to investigate her ridiculously one-sided account of the Gaza “selfie-boat” affair. It is quite clear that these self-absorbed dilletantes with be taken quietly to Ashdod, shown the truly harrowing film of the Hamas atrocities and then sent back to their respective countries. The photo of them gratefully accepting a hand-out of sandwiches from the IDF says it all. But Samantha can’t resist dragging Pedro Sánchez and his rabid anti-Israel calumnies into the story, even though anybody half aware of Spanish politics must know that this is a cheap attempt to distract from his corruption problems at home. The O. P. runs the risk with this lazy journalism of appearing as shallow as the “activists” on the flotilla.
Hi Chris
To be fair, it’s not a unreasonable to be reporting on this given there are Spaniards on the boat AND Pedro Sanchez has led the backlash against Netanyahu who is accused of being a war criminal, only staying in power to avoid a far bigger corruption trial !
And thankfully the British, French and German governments have followed suit!
Hi Jon,
Many thanks for your reply. Starting it with “to be fair” is a pretty big giveaway that everything that comes next is anything but. After seeing the 100,000 strong protests against Sánchez this weekend in Madrid I don’t think that Pedro should be throwing too many stones in his glass house of corruption charges. Reading your words makes it abundantly clear that you are singing loudly with the choir, the hymn book of which encompasses agendas which I find at best sad and at worst repugnant. I, of course, respect your opinion, as I hope you do mine, but now I’m pretty sure that nothing I read in the pages of O. P. will surprise me in future. Happy publishing and every success.
Not being fair… but actually being totally honest, yes we may be slightly more left than right-leaning, but we have in the past been very very scathing of the PSOE socialist-run Junta de Andalucia, many left wing mayors and, certainly, much of Zapatero’s PSOE government…
We certainly don’t support Sanchez’ take on many things including housing, for example.
We don’t have a political stance on Gaza by the way, either. It’s merely a humanitarian issue.
Hi Jon,
Thank you for taking the time to reply yet again. I registered your condemnation of Sánchez’ housing and rental bill and actually wrote a comment at the time full of praise for your clear, balanced thinking. I’m heartened to hear, after my obvious misinterpretation of your flotilla article, that your stance on Gaza is merely humanitarian, and by that I take you to mean that this includes hostages, alive, dying and dead, who oddly seem to be seldom mentioned by those wringing their hands over the fate of the people still living in Gaza