News
‘Israel’ Hijacking of Freedom Wave flotilla “Violent and Dangerous”, Activists beaten.
Dublin (SaebPress)… Irish Ship to Gaza Coordinator Dr Fintan Lane was able to make a phone call Sunday 6th Nov afternoon from the ‘Israeli’ prison in which he and 13 other Irish citizens are being held. He communicated the following to the Irish Ship to Gaza team in Dublin:
‘’The takeover of the MV Saoirse was violent and dangerous. Despite very clear protests from the occupants of the two boats that they did not want to be taken to Israel, they were forcibly removed from the boats in a violent manner. The whole takeover took about three hours. It began with Israeli forces hosing down the boats with high pressure hoses and pointing guns at the passengers through the windows. I was hosed down the stairs of the boat. Windows were smashed and the bridge of the boat nearly caught fire. The boats were corralled to such an extent that the two boats, the Saoirse and the Tahrir, collided with each other and were damaged, with most of the damage happening to the MV Saoirse. The boats nearly sank. The method used in the takeover was dangerous to human life. The Israeli forces initially wanted to leave the boats at sea, but the abductees demanded that they not be left to float at sea, for they would have been lost and possibly sunk. All belongings of the passengers and crew were taken from them and they still do not know if and what they will get back. The 14 Irish citizens remain in Givon prison.’’
The phone call was very rushed and ended abruptly with Fintan saying, “I have to go.”
Claudia Saba, spokesperson for Irish Ship to Gaza, who received the call from Lane, said: “The account received from Fintan Lane flatly contradicts the Israeli narrative that Israel ‘took every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the activists on board the vessels’. It is a small miracle that no one was seriously injured during this obviously very violent boarding of the Freedom Waves boats.”
Irish Ship to Gaza spokesperson Laurence Davis added: “This account confirms our fear that the hijacking of the boats was very violent, and explains the time lag between the point at which we lost contact with the boats on Wednesday at 11:12 am (Irish time) and news of the passengers’ arrival at Ashdod not before 5pm.”
In an interview he gave to www.Omniatv.com, Greek captain of the Tahrir Giorgos Klontzas has confirmed the use of violence on him by Israeli soldiers during his interrogation.
Freedom Wave Activists beaten
The last direct contact that Palestine Aid Received from Trevor Hogan their delegate (aboard the Irish boat Saoirse) is this text message, received at 10:08 PM Nov 3, 2011 Palestinian time “Kidnapped, being held against our will by Israeli Army in international waters. Boat nearly destroyed. Need government to press for immediate release.” Trevor then called girlfriend moments later and said, “Did you get the text? Send it out.” Then the phone line went dead.
Majd Kayal, delegate aboard the captured Canada Boat to Gaza and recently released from Givon Prison, confirms the ‘IDF’s’ “peaceful” take-over of the Tahrir was anything but peaceful. An ‘IDF’ video clearly shows the ‘Israeli’ military firing a water cannon at the Tahrir on rough seas, endangering the lives of those aboard. Delegates offering non-violent resistance to the takeover of the civilian ship in international waters were threatened and then beatenby soldiers.
One delegate, 45-year-old David Heap, professor at the University of Western Ontario, was particularly badly beaten. ‘Israeli’ prison authorities are continuing to prevent Heap’s family from contacting him by phone.
“As a Palestinian, I was not surprised at how the IDF treated us,” said Kayal, after his release, noting this kind of abuse is a daily reality for the 1.5 million people of Gaza, who are indefinitely detained in an open-air prison. “However, for the Canadians and other Westerners onboard, it was a complete shock.”
SaebPress
Featured
‘Saudis Arabia is not respecting its neighbours’: Commentator
Yemen will enter a new stage to fully reclaim its rights, Saudi Arabia will find itself in a major strategic deadlock and will bear high costs for its aggression.
Commenting to PressTV on Saudi Arabia’s attack on Sana’a International Airport, author and commentator Saeb Shaath said ”Saudi Arabia’s actions destroy neighbours’ trust and destabilize the region”.
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry in Sana’a has condemned Saudi Arabia’s attack on Sana’a International Airport, saying that the strike marks the end of the truce and the beginning of a new phase of war.
In a statement on Monday, the Ministry declared that Yemen will enter a new stage to fully reclaim its rights, warning that Saudi Arabia will find itself in a major strategic deadlock and will bear high costs for its aggression.
Separately, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, stated that “the Saudi aggression will not go unpunished,” adding, “The Saudi enemy has ended the de-escalation phase, and must bear responsibility for all potential consequences.”
The Yemeni Ministry of Transport announced in a statement that “Saudi Arabia’s bombardment of Sana’a airport and violation of the Yemeni airspace signifies the Riyadh regime’s insistence, with Americans’ and Zionists’ push, to continue the siege.”
On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies initiated a blockade on Yemen, marking the beginning of a comprehensive war, backed with military, political, and logistical assistance from the United States and other Western countries.
The war has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Yemen, while failing to achieve its primary goal of reinstating the previous government that was aligned with Riyadh.
Amid a power struggle, the government fled the country, leading Yemen’s popular resistance movement, Ansarullah, to take charge of state affairs.
After a delicate ceasefire brokered by the UN in 2022, multiple rounds of significant attacks were launched against Yemen by the United States, Britain, and the Israeli regime.
The assaults aimed to weaken Sana’a’s ability to conduct solidarity strikes against Israeli targets, which were being conducted in response to Tel Aviv’s genocidal actions in the Gaza Strip.
Culture & Arts
Over 43 million join funeral ceremonies for Martyr Leader Imam Ali Khamenei in Iran, Iraq
Fra Hughes, reporting back From Iran, as he attending the funeral service in Mashhad for martyred Leader Imam Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
Fra Hughes, reporting back From Iran, as he attending the funeral service in Mashhad for martyred Leader Imam Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
Tens of millions of Iranians and devotees from across the world turned the funeral ceremonies for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, into the largest procession the world has ever witnessed, according to a report.
The six-day grand farewell and burial rites for the revered Leader were held across five cities — Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad — drawing massive, passionate crowds that defied all previous records, the Fars News Agency reported.
The ceremonies included three days in Tehran, two days of public mourning at the Grand Mosalla and one day of the main funeral procession, with each of the other cities hosting a full day of tributes. Many mourners traveled between cities, multiplying the scale of participation and creating a continuous wave of devotion.
Official estimates, compiled from multiple independent field and government sources, confirm that between 41 and 43 million people took part in the historic events.
These figures are based on a rigorous combination of data including public transport passenger records to and from ceremony sites, active mobile phone signals in key areas such as the Mosalla and main procession routes, average individual attendance duration of approximately two and a half hours, detailed crowd density calculations along Tehran’s procession paths, physical area measurements from Jamkaran Mosque to the Holy Shrine in Qom, and the route from the airport to the Imam Reza Holy Shrine in Mashhad.
The endless sea of mourners, who had gathered since early morning, accompanied the vehicle carrying the blessed bodies, transforming the streets of Mashhad into a scene of unparalleled grandeur and devotion.
The sheer scale of the gathering defied description. From the moment the funeral vehicle entered Imam Reza Street, it was completely surrounded by waves of mourners who had traveled from every corner of Iran, all united in grief and determination.
Their tear-streaked faces and fervent chants filled the air, creating an atmosphere that observers described as one of the most remarkable displays of national unity in recent history.
Iraqi authorities, through the Prime Minister’s Office, separately verified the presence of around 10 million mourners in Najaf and Karbala, providing an important independent pillar for the overall calculation.
Even when applying the most conservative methodologies, Iranian officials and relevant authorities emphasize that this monumental event has surpassed every comparable gathering of the past century.
It stands without doubt as the single largest funeral procession in recorded history, a powerful and everlasting testament to the deep love and unwavering allegiance of the Iranian people and the broader Islamic Ummah for their martyred Leader.
The Leader and members of his family were martyred in a terrorist attack on February 28, carried out by the United States and the Zionist regime against the leader’s residence.
Among those martyred were new Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, the late leader’s son-in-law; a daughter of the late leader and his 14-month-old granddaughter.
The funeral ceremonies began last Friday, with tributes from political officials from over 45 countries and scholars from more than 90 nations. This was followed by farewell ceremonies at Tehran’s Mosalla over the weekend, where millions paid their respects.
Watch Fra Hughes, reporting back From Iran, as he attending the funeral service in Mashhad for martyred Leader Imam Ayatollah Ali Khamenei :
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNREVSqqW
Culture & Arts
Sha’ath: Resistance axis to grow stronger after Ayatollah Khamenei.
Resistance axis to grow stronger after Ayatollah Khamenei
Thursday, 09 July 2026
An interview with, West Asia political expert Saeb Shaath discusses why massive participation in funeral processions held in Iraq for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, goes beyond symbolic mourning, arguing that it reflects growing regional solidarity with Iran, shifting political dynamics in West Asia, and the enduring influence of Ayatollah Khamenei on the regional Axis of Resistance.
He also examines how Ayatollah Khamenei’s leadership helped unite diverse resistance movements around a common anti-imperialist agenda and what this legacy could mean for the future of the region.
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