DETROIT – Huwaida Arraf stood defiantly in front of microphones, fresh off a plane after being released from Israeli captivity on Monday.
“Physically, I’m starting to do a bit better again,” Arraf, 49, said on Thursday at Detroit Metro Airport. “It’s so hard to kind of focus on this level of abuse when you know we want to really keep the focus on not only what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Arraf, a human rights attorney and an organizer of the Freedom Flotilla coalition, stood emotional, grateful, and – at times – defiant as she gave her first public comments just moments after landing in Detroit from Amman, Jordan.
On Oct. 8, she, along with 144 others, was detained after Israeli forces intercepted their nine-boat flotilla.
The Israeli foreign ministry said the flotilla was trying to break Israel’s naval blockade to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to a Freedom Flotilla Coalition press release, the seized boats were carrying 145 people from 30 countries, more than 33,000 pounds of vital aid, including medicine, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies, worth over $110,000.
Arraf says that she was violently taken into custody and is still feeling the physical and mental aftereffects of it.
“It’s painful when I sleep or when I move or when I take deep breaths, because [Israeli soldiers] were kicking me in the chest,” Arraf said. “But when I crossed into Jordan, I had an X-ray, and there are no broken ribs.”
Arraf was born in Detroit to Palestinian parents and lives in Macomb Township.
A University of Michigan graduate, Arraf has been helping bring aid to Palestinians for more than 20 years and said that this wasn’t the first time during the conflict that she was taken by Israeli soldiers.
“Two months ago, I was on a small boat called the Handala for children of Gaza”, Arraf said. “We carried baby formula and teddy bears going to Gaza.
“Israel attacked our small boat then also,” Arraf said. “What kind of security threat do we constitute?”
Arraf was released on Monday when the ceasefire took hold and saw the release of the 20 remaining Israeli hostages and 2,000 Palestinians.
She was flanked by her two young kids and her father as she spoke of the trauma that not only she endured, but the continued suffering of Palestinians.
Arraf lashed out at people who label all Palestinians as “terrorists” and call their supporters – and anyone who criticizes Israel – as antisemitic.
She also called out American media for “self-censoring” themselves when it comes to reporting on the war.
“We have to understand that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are two very separate things,” Arraf said. “In our struggle, we stand against all forms of racism and discrimination, and we are very clear about that we don’t tolerate antisemitism in our movement, just like we don’t tolerate any forms of discrimination.
“We can’t let those forces that want to just make apologies for Israel’s policies abuse the ‘antisemitism’ label to shut people up,” she added.
Arraf says that more needs to be done in Gaza and says that the violence continues in Israel despite the ceasefire. She also says that despite her ordeal and the danger it poses to her, she will go back to Gaza to continue to help as many Palestinians as she can.
“Palestinians, including children, are locked away for months and years, without charge and subjected to torture – including rape,” Arraf said. “Maybe I have broken ribs, or maybe I was beaten and pulled and punched, but it’s hard to focus when that’s happening in Gaza.”