Foreign Ministry demands the “immediate release” of a Spanish-Palestinian member of the flotilla detained by Israel

Eduardo González The Government has condemned the detention of a Spanish citizen and member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek, and has demanded his “immediate release” from Israel. Separately, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares reported that nearly 30 Spaniards from the flotilla, detained in the early hours of Thursday following the Israeli assault, have disembarked in Crete. “Given the information regarding the detention and possible transfer of a Spanish citizen, Saif Abukeshek, a member of the flotilla, to Israel, Minister Albares is in constant contact with his counterparts in Israel and Greece to gather all the information and demand that international law and his rights be respected,” Foreign Ministry sources reported. “The Spanish Government condemns this detention and demands their immediate release,” they continued. “Contacts are also being made between technical and diplomatic levels of the ministries and embassies of the various countries,” they added. “The Spanish embassies and consulates in Greece and Israel are mobilized to provide full protection to the Spanish citizen as soon as he can reach Israeli territory, as well as to the other affected Spaniards,” the Foreign Ministry sources concluded. For his part, Albares stated that, according to the information the Ministry has received, “approximately 30 Spaniards have disembarked on the island of Crete along with other citizens, also crew members of the flotilla.” “Our consul in Greece is on the island to attend to them, assist them, and provide them with all the protection they need,” he assured. “However, she has also informed us that a Spanish citizen, Saif Abukeshek, has been illegally detained by Israel and is currently being transferred to that country,” he warned. “We demand his immediate release, just like all other Spanish citizens,” he insisted. “In any case, both the embassy and the consulate in Israel, just like in Greece, are fully operational to assist all Spaniards, provide them with full legal protection, and secure his release and return to Spain as soon as possible,” Albares concluded. For his part, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, described the kidnapping of Saif Abukeshek as a “kidnapping” and demanded his release. A member of the Global Sumud flotilla coordination team, Saif Abukeshek was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus and has lived in Spain for twenty years.

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