Israeli court rejects flotilla activists’ plea challenging detention

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard the flotilla intercepted in international waters off the coast of Greece on Thursday. The two were abducted by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. On Tuesday, an Israeli court extended their detention until Sunday to allow police more time to interrogate them, according to their lawyers. The lawyers then filed an appeal at the Beersheva district court against the detention, but it was rejected. “Today, the district court of Beersheva denied our appeal and basically accepted all of the arguments that the state or the police have represented before the court and kept the previous decision,” lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih said. The two activists, who are on a hunger strike, had appeared in the district court with their feet shackled. Abu Keshek looked exhausted and sat with his hands clasped in his lap, while Avila appeared calm. Abu Salih said her clients had been subjected to “an illegal arrest that took place in international waters where the activists were kidnapped by the Israeli navy without any authority”. She went on to accuse the courts of “giving a free hand for the Israeli forces… to do it again and again”. Decision termed unlawful Israeli rights group Adalah, which is representing the pair, called Wednesday’s court decision “unlawful and unreasonable”. “This is especially egregious given that the activists were abducted from an Italian-flagged vessel, placing them under