Richard Gilmore
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SMH said:Two Herald journalists captured by Israeli commandos and deported after being caught up in this week's deadly Gaza flotilla attack spoke today of their ordeal.
The Sydney Morning Herald's chief correspondent Paul McGeough told of being aboard one of the Gaza aid flotilla vessels and seeing shadows of the Israeli navy's Zodiac boats circling.
He said it felt like "hyenas hunting an animal in the night".
http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/world/humanitarian-flotilla-heads-to-israel/20100523-w3wt.html A few days before Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty were detained in Israel, they produced this account of the "freedom flotilla" protesting Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
When the commandos attacked the flotilla, it resulted in nine dead.
With photographer Kate Geraghty, McGeough arrived in Istanbul today on a Turkish military flight after being held in an Israeli prison since Monday.
Speaking by phone for the first time after touching down in Istanbul, McGeough told smh.com.au that he and Geraghty were "in good shape" although "Kate and I got pushed around".
He said that tension had been rising "for some hours" in the lead-up to the early morning confrontation with the flotilla.
He said the Israelis then "moved in suddenly from both sides".
A phone was snatched from his hand.
"One of the activists ... had a gun pulled on her," McGeough said.
He said that it was a "scary and frightening" time but that paint pellets, not live ammunition, had been used on the boat he was on, Challenger One.
The incident was "very ugly" and "testosterone-driven", McGeough said, and commandos had stood over some activists in a "bullying" way.
Israel has rejected calls for a commission of inquiry into the events surrounding Monday's confrontation.
But it has faced international condemnation after it raided the convoy of activists and aid workers on their way to Gaza to break an Israeli blockade on the strip.
Nine people were killed in the confrontation but Israel maintains that its commandos were attacked by the protesters.
Geraghty believes she was hit by a stun gun fired by Israeli commandos after they boarded her ship.
She suffered bruises, minor burns and nausea.
Geraghty said today that she was safe and "very happy" to have been released from detention.
While she had been "frightened" during the confrontation, she said her injuries were "minor" compared with what happened to others on board the boats.
It was early morning in Istanbul and both journalists were waiting at the airport to access equipment, including cameras, that were confiscated by the Israelis.
His deportation was "an absolute disrespect by Israel" for democracy and the fundamental rights of journalists, McGeough said.
The first mate on the Challenger One, Shane Dillon, called the Israeli raid "an act of piracy".
"It was an attack on a flotilla of peace boats in international waters. It was an act of piracy. The force used was excessive and unwarranted," Mr Dillon told Fairfax after arriving home in Dublin.
Mr Dillon said the mostly female activists on his boat were treated badly -- pushed and hit with rifles, shot in the face with paintball weapons at close range and beaten.
‘‘[Kate Geraghty] was leaning over the side of the boat to take a photograph down of one of the boats approaching us and they blasted her with a Taser,’’ Mr Dillon said.
She had earlier photographed the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara being boarded by Israeli forces and the Challenger One had attempted to outrun the Israeli zodiacs to give Ms Geraghty time to transmit her photographs.
Inside a cell at Ben Gurion Mr Dillon said he was later told by other protestors that when other boats had reached the shore at Ashdod ‘‘they picked out some of the activists and beat them up in public’’.
Mr Dillon said that as a crew member he was treated relatively well.
The Herald's editor, Peter Fray, said he was elated that he could speak to McGeough and Geraghty and relieved that they were out of prison.
He said he was angry at how they had been treated.
Mr Fray said the Herald would pursue all legal, moral, ethical and journalistic avenues to ensure his staff "are able to do their jobs as bona fide and excellent journalists".
McGeough said that he would fight his deportation from Israel in absentia.
Fairfax Media chief executive and managing director Brian McCarthy spoke to McGeough soon after he landed in Istanbul today.
"I am very proud of the courage and professionalism they have shown in covering this very important story under extremely difficult circumstances," he said.
"I look forward to reading their eyewitness account in tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald."
One Australian remains injured in an Israeli hospital and two other Australians were among last night's group of deportees.
Freed journos tell of Israeli commandos like 'hyenas hunting'
SMH said:ISRAEL is deporting 618 international detainees, including four Australians, captured when it stormed a flotilla of ships in international waters.
The deportees include the Herald's chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, who is travelling on his Irish passport, and the Herald photographer Kate Geraghty.
McGeough and Geraghty are being flown to Turkey and are due to land in Istanbul about 3am local time (10am AEST).
McGeough said the Prime Minister of Turkey, which provided planes to transport the deportees, had refused to allow aircraft to leave before all detainees and the bodies of dead Turks were on board.
Funerals for several of the Turkish dead are expected to be held in Istanbul tomorrow.
As McGeough was speaking from on board one of the planes, there were excited shouts and cries of Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) as a chief organiser of the Free Gaza Flotilla, Bulent Yildirim, came on board.
"We are leaving Israel on legal advice that we will be able to appeal our deportation in absentia," McGeough said.
"Kate’s health is fine; she is recovering," he said of the injuries Geraghty received when hit by what she believes was a stun gun as Israeli forces boarded the boat she was on.
"We’re fine; we’re both fine."
Geraghty spoke to the Herald last night. She said the Israeli attack was ''pretty full on''. ''Three of the soldiers on the deck were Australian-Israelis, I couldn't believe it.''
She said she had been ''Tasered'' by the Israelis. ''It hurt and it made me feel sick.''
Earlier the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected calls to establish a commission of inquiry into the events surrounding Monday's deadly confrontation.
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution setting up an independent inquiry. The resolution, which condemned Israel's ''outrageous attack'', was adopted after 32 countries voted in favour, three against and eight abstained.
An Australian, Ahmed Luqman, 20, who was shot in the leg during the assault, was still being held in an Israeli hospital but his wife, Jerry Campbell, and sister, Maryam Luqman, were among the deportees.
Israel triggered international outrage when it raided a convoy of activists and aid workers trying to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip, killing nine people. It says its commandos were attacked by the protesters.
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, told Parliament he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and requested ''he personally engage on the matter concerning the well-being of these Australians''. Mr Rudd said he had indicated his government ''remains sensitive to the security concerns of Israel'', but was deeply concerned by the loss of life.
Geraghty told consular officials she was on the Challenger One when it was intercepted. She suffered bruises, minor burns and nausea.
Challenger One's first mate, Shane Dillon, saw Geraghty being attacked and Israeli forces ripping equipment from McGeough. ''She was just doing her journalistic duties … She advised them she was a bona fide photographer … She was just attacked,'' Mr Dillon told the Herald from Dublin.
He said Challenger One had attempted to outrun the Israeli boats to give Geraghty a chance to send her images. ''We were 15 minutes from the flotilla before they could board us,'' he said.
Geraghty was questioned by the Israelis and asked if she knew she had entered a combat zone. Geraghty said she was an accredited journalist and those rules should not apply. A letter sent on May 24 by the Herald's editor, Peter Fray, to Israeli authorities called for both journalists to be given safe passage if captured.
''In the event that Israel apprehends the vessel on which they are travelling, I urge you to allow McGeough and Geraghty the freedom to pursue their journalistic duty …''
The Israeli ambassador, Yuval Rotem, confirmed the letter was received before the flotilla sailed.
Gabi Lusky, a lawyer hired by the Herald, said authorities lied to her. ''I specifically asked to see the Australians and was told I would see them.'' She said she was locked in a room and later found McGeough and Geraghty were on the way to the airport.
The Israeli High Court of Justice said it would hear a petition to prevent the deportation two hours before the planes were due to leave.
Mr Dillon also said he saw Israeli commandos use "stun grenades, Tasers and high velocity paint ball guns" as they boarded another boat.
"There was what the Israeli Defence Force called all these hostile weapons on board but we didn’t witness any of that," Mr Dillon said.
"They quickly overcame people on the stern of the vessel and got on board."
I was 'Tasered' by Israelis, says Herald photographer
And now the other side of the story comes out. The IDF lied? Who'd have thunk it?
