Boarding party troops in deadly flotilla raid confiscated cards and spent on them, claim campaigners who were on board.
The Guardian, 18 June 2010
Israeli troops have been accused of stealing from activists arrested in the assault on the Gaza flotilla after confiscated debit cards belonging to activists were subsequently used.
In their raid of 31 May, the Israeli army stormed the boats on the flotilla and, as well as money and goods destined for the Palestinian relief effort in Gaza, the bulk of which have yet to be returned, took away most of the personal possessions of the activists when taking them into custody.
Individual soldiers appear to have used confiscated debit cards to buy items such as iPod accessories, while mobile phones seized from activists have also been used for calls.
Ebrahim Musaji, 23, of Gloucester, has a bank statement showing his debit card was used in an Israeli vending machine for a purchase costing him 82p on 9 June.
It was then used on a Dutch website, www.thisipod.com, twice on 10 June: once for amounts equivalent to £42.42 and then for £37.83. And a Californian activist, Kathy Sheetz, has alleged that she has been charged more than $1,000 in transactions from vending machines in Israel since 6 June.
Musaji and Sheetz were on board two separate boats – one the Mavi Marmara, on which nine Turkish activists were killed, the other on the Challenger 1. Both activists only entered Israel when arrested, and were in custody for their entire time on Israeli soil.
"They've obviously taken my card and used it," Musaji told the Guardian.
"When they take things like people's videos and debit cards and use them, and their mobile phones, it becomes a bit of a joke.
"We were held hostage, we were attacked, and now there's been theft. If the police confiscate your goods in the UK, they're not going to use your goods and think they can get away with it."
Musaji cancelled his card on 7 June, the day after he returned to Britain, where he is a support worker for adults with learning difficulties. His bank has agreed to treat the transactions as fraudulent and he will not be charged for them. His mobile phone was also used for two short calls in Israel after it had been confiscated.
This is typical Israeli... They stole the land of a few Arab countries and have been crying "self-defense" since..
Today they officially stated that Lebanon was occupying "Israeli" land.. and they've been trying (with the help of the UN) to change the blue border line between Lebanon and occupied Palestine for quite some time now. Imagine Israel claiming that Lebanon is occupying "Israeli" land??!!! Can there be more CHUTZPA than this??
Of course they will use the credit cards of activitsts. They still steel the poor Palestinian refugees... you don't expect them to steel well-to-do activists??!!
This is Israel