Canada will summon the Israeli ambassador to Ottawa to denounce a video showing a far-right minister mocking activists from the Gaza flotilla who are kneeling with their hands tied, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced on Wednesday.
The minister criticized treatment inhuman
from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, saying the controversial video that was posted earlier today on the Israeli official’s Telegram account is deeply disturbing and absolutely unacceptable
.
Minister Anand also recalled that Canada had already imposed sanctions against Mr. Ben Gvir, in 2025, “for inciting violence against the Palestinians.”
A little later, Prime Minister Mark Carney also reacted to the controversial video, describing Minister Ben Gvir’s attitude asabominable
andunacceptable
.
More than 400 activists from more than 45 countries – including 12 Canadians – have been detained since Monday by Israeli authorities after the interception of the flotilla in which they were participating to break the siege imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since almost 20 years old.
Welcome to Israel, we are at home
launches, triumphantly, Itamar Ben Gvir in images published on his Telegram channel, with the Israeli national anthem in the background music.
We see dozens of activists kneeling next to each other, faces pressed to the ground and hands tied, on the deck of an Israeli navy boat. A young woman screaming Free Palestine
as the minister passed, found his head pressed towards the ground by the security services.
The video also sparked an outcry in Israel, pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order expulsion
activists as soon as possible
.
Israel has the full right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza
indicates the Israeli Prime Minister in a publication on social networks. However, Minister Ben Gvir’s treatment of the flotilla activists is not consistent with Israeli values and standards.
I have instructed the competent authorities to expel the provocateurs as quickly as possible
further indicates Mr. Netanyahu, without further details.
The Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, also condemned the actions of Mr. Ben Gvir. You have knowingly damaged the image of our state with this shameful display, and this is not the first time
he denounced on X.
No, you do not represent Israel
he added.
Outcry around the world
The video sparked reactions all over the world.
France announced Wednesday that it had summoned the Israeli ambassador for unacceptable actions
you minister Ben Gvir. I asked that the Israeli ambassador to France be summoned to express our indignation and obtain explanations
wrote on X the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Spain, for its part, denounced the treatment monstrous, unworthy and inhuman
by Israel of militants of the flotilla for Gaza, and announced to summon emergency
la chargée d’affaires israélienne à Madrid.
I demand a public apology from Israel
said the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
The Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, said consternée and shock
par la video.
These activists illegally detained […] are in no way treated with appropriate dignity or respect
declared the minister in a press release. She demanded release immédiate
Irish participants in the flotilla who were arrested, including the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, also condemned one treatment that harms [la] human dignity
activists. The Italian government is immediately taking, at the highest institutional level, all necessary measures to obtain the immediate release of the Italian citizens concerned
indicated the Italian official on X, while ensuring that she had summoned the Israeli ambassador to des éclaircissements
sur la video.
“No news yet”
In response to a question from Radio-Canada, Minister Anita Anand indicated that she did not have encore
received news regarding Canadian nationals detained since Monday in Israel.
I can assure you that we are acting with urgency in this serious matter
however, she assured.
Several relatives of Canadian activists detained in Ashdod denounced l’inaction
of the Canadian government, claiming not to have been contacted by official Canadian representatives for more than 48 hours.
In a message sent to Radio-Canada, the wife of one of the Canadian activists who were on board the intercepted flotilla describes the Canadian government’s decision to summon the Israeli ambassador asimportant
.
Tali Goodfriend, a 66-year-old Montreal teacher and the wife of pro-Palestinian activist Ehab Lotayef, in detention in Israel, says she was shock
by video released by Minister Ben Gvir. The treatment reserved for activists is sickening, discouraging and chilling to see
says the woman who grew up on a kibbutz in Israel before emigrating to Canada in the 1980s.
Cynthia Lemay, the wife of Olivier Huard, another activist detained in Israel, believes that Ottawa’s reaction is too weak
facing Israel. She also denounces the lack of communication on the part of the Canadian authorities regarding the fate of her husband and other Canadian activists detained in Israel.
Anita Wittenberg, the mother of Sebastian Tow, 24, who is among the Canadians arrested, for her part hopes that Canada will ensure a safe return home
for his son and other Canadian activists. The Canadian government’s slowness in this matter is discouraging
she said finally.
With information from Agence France-Presse
