“We have generated more support and more concern for the Palestinian issue”

Perween Yaqub is a British citizen of Pakistani origin, and is program coordinator in civil service in Britain. Fatima el Mourabiti (26) is a Belgium citizen of Algerian origin, and is a psycho-pedagogist. These two young ladies joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla with the slogan of “Palestine Our Road, Humanitarian Aid Our Load” in Antalya and were on the Blue Marmara Ship. As witnesses of the Israeli assault, they shared their experiences with us.

31.07.2010 - “We have generated more support and more concern for the Palestinian issue”

This interview was made by Z. Tuba Kor in İstanbul on June 4, 2010

Perween Yaqub is a British citizen of Pakistani origin, and is program coordinator in civil service in Britain. Fatima el Mourabiti (26) is a Belgium citizen of Algerian origin, and is a psycho-pedagogist. These two young ladies joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla with the slogan of “Palestine Our Road, Humanitarian Aid Our Load” in Antalya and were on the Blue Marmara Ship. As witnesses of the Israeli assault, they shared their experiences with us.

Why did you prefer to join the Gaza Freedom Flotilla?

Perween Yaqub: The reason why I wanted to be a part of this flotilla was to contribute the humanitarian aid that was being taken for the people of Gaza, and to provide healthcare and educational resources for people that are desperately in need, i.e. children, widows, sick people etc. Instead of just sitting in the UK, I wanted to do something practical, to be a part of this experience, and to promote greater awareness of the Palestine.

Fatima el Mourabiti: I joined the Viva Palestina convoy before, because Palestine has always been associated in my life. Since I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, I have been hearing from my parents about what happened in Palestine. Now I am 26 and there is no change at all. So I asked myself “How could it happen?” Also I hate injustice. Because of these reasons, I thought that I should contribute to this convoy and I raised funds to help the people of Gaza.

Were you expecting an Israeli attack before setting off? Israeli officials state that they warned in advance that they would not allow the flotilla to go through.

Fatima el Mourabiti: An attack? No, no. PM Netanyahu, before, was saying that they would use violence, but I was thinking they would only block the flotilla, not kill people, innocent civilian people.

Perween Yaqub: Israel made threats previously, but to be honest, I did not take it that seriously or as serious as the outcome. What I anticipated was that we would have some difficulty, perhaps they would try to block us, perhaps climb on the ship, check and find what we have actually, take humanitarian aid and be in a position to prevent us. That was my worst case scenario. As for the violent attack, I did not expect that, not even in my wildest dreams.

How was the atmosphere in the ship before the Israeli attack?

Perween Yaqub: The atmosphere in the ship was of solidarity and unity. It was quite neat and exciting. We were full of hope. People from every part of the world came together for a single purpose and for one destination which was to help the people of Gaza. So I think we were very blessed and privileged to be a part of that. Because it was such a historical, monumental and symbolic journey to Palestine.

Fatima el Mourabiti: Each person found his/her place and each person contributed to the organisation. Everybody had a responsibility just like a big family. All the people, woman and men, they were just amazing people.

Could you please talk about what happened during the Israeli attack? How was your experience in that terrible situation?

Perween Yaqub: I was actually awake for the whole night, because I was waiting to make a live interview. I was maybe becoming more anxious, because I was visually seeing the warships in sight. During one interview that IHH was making on TV, helicopters started circulating. The lights were cut so the interview could not take place. I went into the press room in order to send a couple of messages to my friends on facebook saying what was happening. Somebody came in just shortly before the attack and said that we were being surrounded by the warships. I could feel the panic in his voice. I was about to send another message to say please help us and do something, but they cut the communication system. Then I went out on the deck and found the firing on the ship like bombs, or I am not sure what it was, but I could hear shooting. Then I made signs to the cameras in the helicopter, my hands put on the stop gestures in order to make them stop. It was just very chaotic. Then somebody called me in to keep me safe. I did not realise until that time that they were actually firing live bullets. I ran up the stairs to the next floor and I saw a man with blood on his head and another guy bandaging him up. Then the injured person stood up and I realised that it was an Israeli soldier. He was very panicked and I said to him “It’s fine, it’s ok, no one is going to hit you”. He was taken to the medical area. It was crazy that I was thinking this is not happening, this is a movie. But at the same time I was trying to remain calm, because it was such a chaos. I was trying to help with the injured people. Then I took the role taking the tannoy system and sending messages to the armed forces, saying that “Please stop firing, people are dead”, “We need to get medical assistance”. I pleaded them to stop continuously for maybe an hour, maybe longer, and then they cut the system.

Fatima el Mourabiti: At 3 o’clock I was in the press room on the second floor to contact with people in Belgium. Because at 10 o’clock, two boats of Israeli military showed up on the radar. So we served the information that military were coming and so on. Then internet was cut.

At what time?

Fatima el Mourabiti: I think it was at 4.

Perween Yaqub: Yes, around that time. It was a very strange, very spiritual feeling. Because in one hand the azan (call for prayer) was going out on the tannoy, at the same time the attack was just started. I just thought there was something symbolic about this situation.

Fatima el Mourabiti: At 4 o’clock, I went outside with my camera. Because I was doing a documentary about the flotilla, I went outside, saw the helicopter, and heared the explosions and shooting.

Did you see the Israeli soldiers?

Fatima el Mourabiti: I did not see the soldiers. I think they were not there yet. But I was outside and I entered. I think two minutes after, injured people began to be brought in. For me it was not a realistic situation, it was like a nightmare. You see people with blood everywhere, shooting everywhere. I was thinking in my head that “No, no, I need to record” and then the next step “How can I do it?” Because normally I am very sensitive. But God helped us. I was so strong. I saw people dying. It was a shock.

(After this question, Fatima el Mourabiti had to leave the interview because of an urgent telephone call.)

Israel claims that there were terrorists in the ship. Who were in the ships?

Perween Yaqub: First of all, I would like to ask Israel what their definition of terrorist is. All I saw in the ship were people like me that came together for the same purposes: to take humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, to break the siege and to challenge injustice. There were individuals of all manners on the ship. There were a lot of elders, women, young people, even sick people; also there were academicians, diplomats, dignitaries... I am not sure what constitutes a terrorist. But if you ask me, whether there was anybody carrying guns, and shouting cihad or speaking of violence, I will say “No”. As I said before there was such a sense of peace on this ship. So for Israel, to make such a statement and say this word even in this context, I find it very ugly... By the way, I wonder whether they saw former US President George W. Bush or Prime Minister and President of Israel -Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres- on the ships, perhaps, if they claim there were terrorists!

What was the most striking event, an event or events that you will never forget throughout your life?

Perween Yaqub: I do not think that I will forget any of what I saw. But for me there were perhaps three things: One of them was that when they surrouned us, I had to walk towards the soldiers with the guns with a message of peace and asking for them to stop and help us. Because they cut the tannoy system. It was just something that I had to try in order to stop more people from dying.

The other thing for me was just being among deaths, seeing people breathe their last breath, seeing people helplessly trying to bring people to preserve their lives. When I finished the annonuncement I came across one individual who was just injured and was bleeding. I think he had been shot in the head. My friend was praying gently like a lullaby into his ear and another sister was holding him and nursing him. I held his hand like he was my father, and that’s when I went for a second time with the message (announcement) again. The first time I went, they put the guns and said go away. I tried again and maybe five or ten minutes later they started to communicate asking for their own soldiers and their own weapons. Then very very slowly our injured brothers were taken up. I wanted to go with this injured brother and walked out to the door to the soldiers. When they opened the door, they put their guns in our faces. I looked to the guy who seemed to be in charge and said to him “Please, this man is dying, he has a serious head injury, he needs urgent medical assistance. Please take care of him.”, and he said “You take care of him.” I said “Can I go with him?”, he said “No”. I said “Please, can I go with him”, he said “No”. He put the gun at me and said “Go back, go back” and I had to walk away.

The third thing that I will never forget is mashallah the courage of our brothers who were willing to sacrifice their lives to defend everybody on the ship. I know I am here now because of them. Because they saved our lives, women’s lives, and gave their lives. They were trying to save the lives of the people of Gaza, because we were taking hopes of life to the people of Gaza. We knew the people of Gaza were critically in need of the medicine and the medical equipment that we had. So there were more lives at stake then just the people on the ship and that is what I will never forget. One of the widows of the brother, who was shot in the head because he was taking pictures, that woman I will never forget. That woman’s subhanallah dignity and her sabr (patience)... I have never seen anything like that. When she was here at the funeral yesterday, I went to her; she smiled to me and did not let me cry; because her husband, you know, had gone as a martyr. Her son was there, and he was the same, he was smiling. I thought how can I cry when they cannot...

You were all captives in the ship and then you were brought to Israel. Could you please tell us your story about what happened during that time?

Perween Yaqub: We stayed in the ship for at least 18 or 20 hours. They turned off the air conditioning, so it was very hot and very humid. Previously it was very cold and windy windy, because it was early in the morning and the helicopter was just going at the top of us. When the helicopter moved away, it was getting hot; and when they brought us down, we were very very hot. People were fainting and feeling dizzy. The elderly man, when it was so cold, had their coats on; but when it was so hot, they could not take them off because they were handcuffed. So we were trying to help our brothers and take water to their side. We struggled to go to the toilet and we insisted to go alone, because they did not want to let us go. People just bewildered where to and what now.

When we actually got Israel, it was light but they did not let us get off until it became dark. It was a very long, enduring process to get eventually. I was one of the last people to get off. There were hundred of people there, including the police, the army and other security forces. They were laughing like a big celebration, parading like they hunted us and showing what they caught. It was humiliating, and they were joyous in doing humiliation. I was getting more angry for everybody else, and especially for the brothers who were treated much worse. By the time I went out, I was really scared, but I was very protective of my principals even in that situation. I refused to walk out like a victim and let them see the fear on my face. So I walked out with a lolly in my mouth and stood there eating it. They were in a shock and looking at me like “What is she doing?” This made some of them mad... But before that, in the ship, I had an incident with one of the guys in charge. Because when I was inside I went to the toilet, and when I came back I saw some of the new security people. They were so happy like they watch a football match and this made me so upset. So when I walked out, I put my peace sign on the camera and said “Free Gaza”. They all turned the machine guns immediately, maybe about 9-10 men, and said “Shut up, shut up”. I said “No, I won’t be quiet”. They said “Be quiet and sit down”. I said “No, I won’t be quiet. Why, what you gonna do, shoot me?”. That man said “Try me”, and I said “Come on soldier”. And then the soldier that was little be okay with me, he said “Just go and sit down” and he moved me away. The same guy that was on the ship, when I was going out and eating my lolly, was nodding at me and just saying “I’ll show you”.

Did you meet any torture or abuse both in the ship and the detention centre or prison?

Perween Yaqub: The abuse in the ship was that we were all captives. We were denied food, and we had to struggle to go to the toilet. While searching us they were just making fun and trying to humiliate us. They were threatening us every time we moved. They even hit some people. Anybody who talked to each other, and anybody who looked at them in the wrong way, they just slapped or push them around. For example, one of the bothers, Usama, because he was protesting; they beat him, put him outside to the deck, tied his feet and also hands behind, did not give any water for hours. His thumb became numb and cannot feel it anymore.

Personally my abuse was when I came off the ship. They scrubbed me, pushing me and pinching me. I had a sign on my t-shirt that was “Peace for Palestine”. Because of this they were trying to make me fall by kicking my chair, coughing in my face, swearing at me in Hebrew, mocking at me and all laughing. They did not give me the bottled water, but only a very little bit of water, saying “Have it” and laughing. Because of this I thought they had done something to the water, so I could not have any water. When I just want to change my shoes and put my trainers, they just keep showing to everybody else “ooov” as if they smelled bad; so when they gave the trainers back, I made “hmmm, nice smell” and put them back on, so they were getting more and more mad. I did not want to make eye contact with them, because otherwise their psychological gain would be more intense. So all the time I just chanted at their face saying “La Ilaha Illallah Muhammad Rasulullah”. This was worse than silence. So one of them began singing on top of me... If I would go crazy because of what they did, everybody was gonna come and beat me. But elhamdulillah, you know, Allah protected me.

What do you think about IHH?

Perween Yaqub: Before I came on the convoy I had little information about IHH. I heard from people that were on previous convoys such as Viva Palestina and other organisations. When I approached these people and expressed that I wanted to go on the next convoy, they explained that they were going through with the administration of IHH. Then I asked them who, where and why. They said they had experience with IHH, and it is a real professional organisation, has a lot of trust, and capable of organising a huge and complicated movement. I also did some individual research on IHH, and I was really surprised and very very impressed with the spectrum of the work that they do across the world; it made me feel that not only inshallah would I be part of this project but also I can go on to involve other projects in different parts of the world, perhaps even in Europe that is much closer to my home. I felt very confident to go with IHH in terms of leading this convoy and they were a very capable organisation.

You returned back, fortunately. What do you feel now? Would you like to join another organisation to Gaza again?

Perween Yaqub: Absolutely, I would like to go to Gaza with more determination. There was not a single second in the whole process where myself and the others that I know felt that we had made a mistake subhanallah. We felt we were privileged for what happened. Because we saw first hand the terror that the Israeli government and their military forces are capable of on citizens of the world from different status and dignitaries. So that experience gave us a very tiny tiny insight to what the suffering of the Palestinian people actually is. It made us feel and realise more the extremities that they are experiencing, and the urgency of their situation. We felt more determined to uphold justice and uphold the rights of every human citizen in the world. It has become more our responsibility because of what we personally experienced. So yes, I will go to go Gaza tomorrow.

Do you think this flotilla was successful or what did you succeed? Because some people claim that, “No, many people died and injured, so it is unsuccessful”. What do you think about it?

Perween Yaqub: People are dying everyday in Gaza. So death is something that was part of why we were doing what we were doing. People died honourably, and for the best of the values and principals they died for. I feel really sad and grieve for them, and I really admire the sabr (patience) of their families in this whole situation. When we talked to the families, we saw how proud they are of what their loved ones have been party to, what they have achieved. Mashallah it is very overwhelming.

In terms of the question “Was it a success?”, when else globally can anybody remember the issue of Palestine was being discussed in every corner of the world? When else Israel and its regime of inhumanity were questioned in the way it is now? When else have we seen globally the plight of the Palestinian people are talked about? We have generated more support, more sympathy, more concern for this issue. So how can it not be a success? In history we have paid great prices, and much blood has been shed to achieve success. We would not have the rights we had today if people before us had not shed blood for us. So subhanallah I could not imagine the success. As I said to you before when the azan was going and we were being attacked, I thought this was symbolic. When we were under siege, I said: “Subhanallah, there is something bigger than what we are seeing now. We do not know what Allah’s plan is, what Allah’s answer is to this now. But this is bigger than we can imagine right now.” We had sabr and we continued to pray. And this peace went with me through this whole process and it came back with me.

I would like to add something else. The first thing the Israeli forces did when they came on our ship after the firing had stopped was to break the cameras, the cctv. So the world would not be able to see what they were doing. They confiscated our evidences, our cameras and recordings. They broke law upon law; they had no regard for international law. Despite concealing and destroying evidences of so many journalists and so many individuals, they cannot silence the testimonials of hundreds of people. So the world slowly and surely would hear the truths of hundreds of people.

Thank you very much for your sincere replies.

For the original and longer form of the interview see http://ortadogugunlugu.blogspot.com/2010/06/we-would-like-to-go-to-gaza-again-with.html.