UU scholar on the flotilla: ‘I was kidnapped by Israel’

“I thought that with almost a hundred boats, we could break the siege, and at least some of them would reach Gaza,” the Assistant Professor tells DUB. She was one of eight GSF activists from the Netherlands on this edition of the flotilla. Her hopes didn’t come to pass. 

Images of her arriving at Schiphol airport in early May, wearing a neck brace and greeting an ecstatic service dog, were widely shared on social media – both to support the action and to criticise it.

“It wasn’t anything performative,” she says about her reasons for joining GSF. “It was an action to intervene in a system of injustice. We were hoping to open a humanitarian corridor. Our boats were carrying aid, and our group included educators, medics, and eco-builders who were ready to assist Palestinians in rebuilding schools, universities, hospitals, and infrastructure.” 

However, breaking the siege was her most important goal. “While aid is necessary, it alone doesn’t challenge the structures of occupation and erasure Palestinians are subjected to,” she explains. 

Magdalena Górska. Photo: courtesy of the UU scholar.

“A huge responsibility”
Górska already considered joining GSF’s first mission in July 2025. The organisation needed more people with sailing experience, and she had been sailing on and off for fifteen years. “But being on the flotilla is a huge responsibility. I wanted to be sure I could do it.” Her neurodivergence and service dog, Rubi, also played a role in her decision-making.

In September, she made up her mind. “I concluded that it’s an ableist idea to assume you can’t participate in certain forms of protest because you have some kind of vulnerability,” she says. Rubi would stay in the Netherlands with friends. 

Górska took holiday leave to join the flotilla. She informed her colleagues in the Gender and Postcolonial Studies team to ensure that no educational or research activities would be disrupted. She did not inform the university, as she was joining GSF in her own time.

“We had to evaluate the mission's safety and impact at every step”

The beginning
The mission started in Barcelona in April, where Górska says the participants were trained in non-violent communication and tactics to de-escalate situations with the Israeli army. They were also prepared for what to expect in the event of an interception. 

Then, on April 12, it was time to sail. They worked in shifts and practised for several potential situations, such as evacuating the boat or rescuing someone overboard. They also held meetings on geopolitics, particularly on events in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. “We had to evaluate the mission's safety and impact at every step,” she says.

They first sailed to Sicily, where some of the boats took action to disrupt the cargo vessel MSC Maya, which allegedly carried raw materials for the Israeli military industry. In Sicily, the fleet was joined by additional boats and continued on to Crete, totalling 56 vessels. As they approached the Greek island on April 29, 22 of the boats, including the one she was on, were captured by the Israeli Army. The remainder of the fleet regrouped in Crete and then proceeded to Marmaris, Turkey, where they set sail again on May 14. These boats were intercepted near Cyprus on May 18.

“It is quite telling that no EU government condemned the abduction of people from all over the world, including EU citizens, by a foreign state operating over 1,000 km from its shores, in the Greek Search and Rescue Region,” Górska says. “The silence of governments and media reflects not only complicity in our kidnapping, but also their role in sustaining Israeli impunity and influence over the EU.”

The interception is estimated to have happened 500 to 600 nautical miles from Gaza.

“Our boats are still drifting somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea”

The interception
No one on board expected an interception so soon. The soldiers yelled at the activists to stop the engine, or else they would shoot them. She saw machine gun lasers on the bodies of people sitting opposite her in the cockpit. 

Once the Israeli soldiers got on the boat, they restrained the person they thought was the captain using zip ties and later took everyone under the deck for a search. “They turned all our belongings upside down, and then cut the sails and completely destroyed the boat.”

After that, the crew was forced into a military rigid inflatable boat, which took them to a prison ship. People were taken with whatever clothes they had on. The GSF boats were left at sea. “They’re still drifting somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, putting sea traffic at risk, which is just one of many examples of Israel’s impunity,” says Górska.  

The prison ship
On the prison ship, the flotilla participants were held in the same positions shown in a viral video posted by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security. In the footage, he is seen taunting detained flotilla activists while they are kneeling in rows with their heads on the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their backs. 

“We were forced into these stress positions over and over again,” says Górska. She saw other activists being kicked, punched, or hit with guns if they moved just a little bit, which was impossible not to do. “Many people were shocked when they saw Ben-Gvir’s video, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Israel’s violence – both against us and the much worse violence against the Palestinian people – is a systemic issue, an everyday reality that also includes rape and myriad methods of torture.”

After the search, the prisoners were forced to move forward on their knees, heads down and hands on their heads, for a document check. “At this point, they took everything away from me: my passport, debit card, health ID card, and the jacket I was wearing.” According to her, people who needed medication had their medicines taken from them.

“When I landed, I heard a loud cracking sound coming from my neck”

The prison yard
The Israeli soldiers created a prison yard on deck out of shipping containers. “We had to enter that space alone and didn’t know what was inside. What a relief it was to see other flotilla activists there. Whenever someone was brought into this space, everyone clapped and hugged them. We tried to determine how many boats had been intercepted and how many people were missing.” They counted 181 people.

They were kept in this space for two nights and two days. “It was extremely cold during the night and hot during the day,” says Górska. She recalls a woman who was captured without shoes or socks, just in a tank top and pants, and ended up having hypothermia. “We tried to heat her up by giving her all the clothes we could. We also made her shoes from the plastic wrappers around the bottled water the Israeli Occupation Forces provided.”

Górska was sleeping on the floor when the soldiers suddenly came in, shouting: “Move! On your knees! Get down on the floor!” She did as they said. After a while, the activists were told to get back up. “As I was doing so, a soldier came from behind, grabbed me by my shirt and pants, and threw me against another person. When I landed, I heard a loud cracking sound coming from my neck, and it went dark in front of my eyes. From that moment on, I was in a lot of pain.” 

When the soldiers finally left, she told a doctor who was part of her boat’s crew about what had happened. “She put a T-shirt around my neck to keep it warm, and that was it. There was nothing else she could do.” 

According to Górska, around this time, the Israeli army began putting some of the prisoners into solitary confinement. 

Despite the heat, Górska says there was a limited amount of bottled water available, and the bread they were given had been thrown into the yard in trash bags. At this point, 81 of the kidnapped people, herself included, went on a hunger strike to demand the release of those in solitary confinement. They also asked that people's medicines be returned and that sanitary pads be provided, as the activists were not allowed to take their own from the boats. “To no avail.” 

The activists also protested by chanting for their comrades and Palestinians, and by refusing to cooperate. Górska: “We didn’t go in lines when they wanted to count us, and made our bodies limp so that we had to be carried away.” 

“As bad as this sounds, it is nothing compared to what Palestinians go through” 

The release
Nearing the end of their captivity in the Israeli prison ship, the soldiers threw flashbangs at the activists from a short distance. “My sense of hearing has been affected by this,” Górska reveals. “I saw one person being shot in the leg, dragged by his hair and beard. They also beat some people up badly. However, it is important to underscore that, as bad as this sounds, it is nothing compared to the systemic violence of a state system designed to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.” According to her, none of the activists got medical treatment for their injuries

The Israeli forces released the activists into a Greek Coast Guard ship on May 1. “At this point, they told us that Saif and Thiago, two activists who were still being kept in solitary confinement, had already been transferred to the other ship, but we didn’t believe them. And it was, indeed, a lie,” says Górska. Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila were not released. Instead, they were taken to Israel and detained there for one more week. 

Once aboard the Greek Coast Guard ship, the activists were taken to an empty military harbour. “We realised that the Israeli ship was bringing us back in batches, so the prison ship must have been in Greek coastal waters. The Greek authorities must have known how many people were being released and thus that Israel kept Saif and Thiago. “This is collaboration; it's not even complicity.”

The Greek authorities then took the activists to a hospital on buses. That’s where she got her neck brace. “The hospital staff was nice, but I asked for my medical records, and they refused. I’m still trying to get it,” says Górska. After the hospital, the Greek police returned their documents. Górska got her passport back, but not her debit card. 

Then, the buses dropped them in Heraklion, Crete, where someone from the Dutch Consulate came to see the Dutch citizens. “She said she couldn’t do anything for us. She couldn’t pay for accommodation, food or water. I told her it was ironic that taxpayers’ money was used to cover her hotel expenses, but not for helping people who were kidnapped by a state with which the Netherlands collaborates. She just smiled and shrugged my comment off.”

“Luckily, the level of solidarity I experienced from the people of Crete was incredible. I’ll never forget it,” Górska continues. Locals offered some activists a couch or a guest bedroom to sleep in, while others stayed in a squat. “While governments fail, people show the kindness and solidarity that should prevail in the world.” 

No statement from UU
Górska says she got a lot of solidarity from her immediate colleagues and students. “Colleagues outside of Gender Studies were also worried about my safety. I also got a beautiful collection of messages from students that means a lot to me. But acts of solidarity came from many sides, such as a protest at Central Station and an encampment in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

However, the university itself did not reach out to her or issue a statement about her kidnapping. UU President Hans Brug told DUB that the university wouldn’t issue a statement because Górska was on holiday leave.

She is now back to work. Asked if she would join another GSF mission if it happened, Górska says: “If I had a chance to do it again, I would. I believe we can't stop trying even if we don't achieve our goals right away.”

Seven Dutch nationals who participated in the flotilla are going to file charges against Israeli soldiers with the Public Prosecution Service (OM). They accuse the soldiers of sexual violence, assault, humiliation, and torture. Górska is not part of the Dutch charges, but has filed criminal charges against Israel in her country of origin, Poland.