Surya McEwen

So we weren't sure whether they were taking us to occupied Palestine or whether we were just sort of like moving around in the Mediterranean.

and we eventually got dropped in Crete.

So this time it became, you can kind of like read the direction by the way the shadows are and stuff.

It became obvious that we were going to occupy Palestine.

So eventually we landed at shore in Eastwood, what they call Ashdod.

And the amount of violence that had already been experienced by people was severe.

But then that moment of taking us to shore was definitely a big sort of propaganda moment for them.

And it was also something where they'd clearly like G'd up the border force and the IOF who were there waiting for us to kind of have this moment of intensity.

And so one of the memories that is most pervasive is being held, being like dragged by two or three different soldiers and then being held in these tents in stress positions and being held down

And they're playing the Israeli anthem and all like singing along to it and laughing and kind of taunting people.

And you can hear people scream, like you hear people actually like being raped, who have been taken from this area and being tortured.

And you hear the screams and they're blaring this.

The Israeli anthem over and over again and like laughing and like the sadism of the soldiers, like the amount of joy that they're getting from like overwhelming suffering and power was so sickening.

It's so inhuman.

It's like overwhelming.

I remember being held down in that moment and hearing people's screams who were being tortured and then just being punched and kicked in the face over and over until I lost consciousness.

And then kind of like waking up, still being kicked and then held in the stress position and you can't breathe.

You're just sort of like face down in the dirt.

And then they keep repeating the anthem and chanting.

It was so sick.