Former Jamaat-i-Islami senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, who was aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) and imprisoned by Israel, criticised Muslim governments across the globe for not putting enough pressure on Israel or taking any action to prevent the ongoing genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khan led<\/a> the Pakistani delegation on the 45-vessel GSF, which left<\/a> Spain last month to break Israel\u2019s blockade of aid to Gaza with activists and politicians, including Greta Thunberg, on board. However, as it approached Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted<\/a> it, detaining the activists on board before deporting them. Khan was detained in Israel for five days before being deported to Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Appearing on Geo News<\/em> programme \u2018Capital Talk\u2019, the ex-senator slammed the federal government, as well as other Muslim governments, for failing to put pressure on Israel to stop its onslaught in the Gaza Strip. Khan also outlined his experience in Israeli captivity during the interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I want to ask is that if Sweden\u2019s Greta [Thunberg] can lead the flotilla, then where are the Muslim countries?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t the people stand up? I am ashamed that 2 billion Muslims could not do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere were parliamentarians in jail with me. Where were Pakistan\u2019s parliamentarians?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking about Pakistan\u2019s role in the peace plan, specifically the meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Khan highlighted that the 20-point plan unveiled by United States President Donald Trump was a \u201cproject of slavery\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince they (Israel) could not capture Gaza by force, they tried to capture it through negotiations. That 20-point plan was a slap in Hamas\u2019 face,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He highlighted that the Palestinian Authority\u2019s involvement was also questionable, as they talked about Gaza \u201cminus Hamas\u201d at the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world order had failed; thus, civilians undertook the mission,\u201d Khan said. When asked about whether the Gaza peace plan would be successful, the ex-senator replied in the affirmative, adding that the people of Europe and their pressure on Israel would be a contributing factor and that they would be able to bring about a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost of the people in this flotilla, 80 per cent, were Europeans and non-Muslims,\u201d Khan explained. When asked about why Europeans were so fervently campaigning for Palestine, the ex-senator explained that they are complicit in decades of oppression by a colonising force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn this flotilla, the Westerners decided that they would bring as many Jews on board as possible,\u201d Khan said. \u201cThe goal was to show that Zionism is an enemy of humanity and exploits Judaism. The vast majority of Jews do not support Zionists. \u201cThey would use the f-word when talking about Israel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ex-senator also hailed Swedish activist Greta Thunberg as a \u201chero of humanity\u201d for standing up for the Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreta \u2026 a young girl left the world shaken,\u201d he added. \u201cI will invite her to Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The senator also floated the idea of a new flotilla mission with participants from across the world, but under the leadership of international Islamic civil society members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will make sure that we fly Pakistani flags from the boats,\u201d he vowed. \u201cIf the peace plan fails, if a humanitarian corridor is not opened, if the genocide is not stopped and if the culprits of this genocide are not brought to justice, then we will launch our own flotilla ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Programme host Hamid Mir pointed out the ex-senator\u2019s loss of weight, to which he replied that it was due to a mix of the journey through the Mediterranean and a three-day hunger strike in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a 20-day journey through the Mediterranean to Ashdod Port. We would eat once every 24 hours during the trip, and only ate salan<\/em> (curry) twice,\u201d Khan said. \u201cThere was bread and dates, that was all the food we ate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the Israeli jail, we staged a three-day hunger strike. That contributed to my weight loss,\u201d he added, calling the jail a \u201cconcentration camp\u201d with a \u201ctorture cell\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked about his faith in accomplishing the mission, Khan said he did not believe it, but was hopeful that \u201cGod would provide a path\u201d. The ex-senator added that he had \u201cexposed Israel\u2019s genocidal face to the world\u201d during the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMalaysia sent the biggest delegation on the flotilla,\u201d the ex-senator said, extending gratitude to Kuala Lumpur for its support. \u201cI went straight to Tunis from Kuala Lumpur; I could not come back to Pakistan because I had several cases against me. I was afraid I\u2019d be stopped at the airport (in Pakistan).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khan said that he was part of the Palestine Action Coalition and was representing the Pak-Palestine Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked about the raid, Khan said that the participants had been given standard operating procedures in case of boarding or an Israeli attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we left Crete, we knew that we were in danger of a drone attack,\u201d he explained. He added that there were 50 boats in the flotilla when they left Crete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis was a journey of four days and nights, so we expected interception and drone attacks. We were instructed to throw our phones and belongings into the sea so that the Israelis couldn\u2019t get them,\u201d the ex-senator said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I saw the Israeli navy ships up close, they were paper tigers,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir entire navy responded and it took them 12 hours to intercept us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy boat, the \u2018Allakatalla\u2019 \u2026 was the second-last to be intercepted. The last boat was 28 kilometres [from Gaza] when it was intercepted,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the [Israeli] ships was bigger than this building and sailing behind a 12-metre boat; the wake it was creating nearly caused up to capsize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that when the boat was boarded by Israeli commandos, the participants had been ordered to remain nonviolent and not resist at all. Khan said the Israelis shone bright lights at the flotilla and a team of 12 S-13 commandos boarded the vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen they were jumping onto our boat, two of them fell over so badly that we were afraid that they would shoot us because they were scared,\u201d Khan remarked. \u201cTheir training was awful, no professionalism. If we had 100 boats and we were not exhausted by the trip, they could not have intercepted us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only thing they (the Israeli military) can do is kill babies; they are unable to deal with any resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recalling his time in Israeli jail, the ex-senator said that Israeli officials expressed disdain for Palestine and ripped the Palestinian flag hoisted on the boat. He added that they forcefully removed the Pakistani flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were ordered not to make eye contact with them (the Israelis). I quietly lifted the flag and put it inside the boat,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe were given instructions like \u2019hands up, lie face down on the ground. They would kick anyone for the smallest thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey assigned two army personnel to each of us. When they asked me where I\u2019m from, I replied that I\u2019m from Pakistan, to which they hurled abuse at me. They were provoking me so that I\u2019d hit them and give them an excuse,\u201d Khan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey kept probing us throughout and went through our documents before putting us in a bus to Ktzi\u2019ot Prison in the Negev Desert, which is infamous for its brutality. We could not see anything from inside the van; there were walls all around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked about what happened in the prison, Khan said that they were forced to remove their clothes and wear \u201cjail clothes\u201d. He added that they were led to their cells \u201clike detainees at Guantanamo Bay\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere were two big cell blocks; 10 rooms on either side in one of the blocks, with a 30-foot walkway in between,\u201d the ex-senator described. \u201cWe were locked in cell number 911. We were called \u2018troublemakers\u2019; suddenly, people with guns and dogs entered our cells and forced us into a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey then bound our hands and feet and blindfolded us, before taking us to isolation and then putting us in an open cage outdoors. Our hands were so tightly bound that we could not feel them after two hours. We were not allowed to offer our Maghrib prayers by the guards. We prayed anyway without wudu or prostration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked about his cellmates, he replied that one was an American policeman, a Swiss senator and people from Europe. There were also two Tunisians and two Egyptians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former senator arrived in Islamabad from Jordan earlier today wearing a keffiyeh and was accorded a hero\u2019s welcome, with people showering him with petals and adorning garlands on the former lawmaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Pakistan embassy in Jordan, where he was deported to earlier, said late on Wednesday that Khan, who was detained by Israel last week after it intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying aid for Gaza, had safely departed for Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a post on social media platform X, the embassy said the former senator had safely departed for Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn accordance with the instructions of the honourable deputy prime minister of Pakistan, the embassy of Pakistan in Amman ensured all necessary arrangements were made for his safe and smooth departure,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The X account for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reposted the embassy\u2019s post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan Ayman Safadi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the foreign ministry, Dar appreciated Jordan\u2019s role in receiving the flotilla\u2019s released detainees and facilitating their return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe also thanked Jordan for its assistance in enabling the return of former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan to Amman,\u201d it said, adding that Khan was scheduled to reach Pakistan today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Behind bars at Ktzi\u2019ot Prison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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