Dr Margaret Connolly describes ‘dehumanising’ conditions for activists

Dr Margaret Connolly has described “dehumanising” conditions for activists detained by Israeli forces.

Israel detained hundreds of activists from around the world that had been attempting to reach Gaza as part of an aid flotilla.

Dr Connolly, the sister of Irish president Catherine Connolly, was among the Irish detainees who returned to Dublin Airport on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, she said participants had been hit with guns and stepped on.

She also said detainees had to gather their body heat together for fear of hypothermia.

“We were using our body weight to hold people from dying of hypothermia.

“Every time someone went to the toilet, they stepped on someone’s wounds – on their feet, on their heads.”

She added: “The Muslim men allowed me – an Irish white doctor – to cuddle them like a mother. All barriers were broken.

“My admiration for their courage and their spirit increased hugely.

“It would not be me. I’ve lost my faith, but love kept me going – love of my family, love of comrades. We held together.”

Dr Connolly said detainees were given water on an irregular basis, adding that participants were surrounded by armed guards.

“Yesterday they gave us one bottle for every three people. We were dying on Tuesday and Wednesday to get four rolls of toilet paper for people that were menstruating, people that had tampons in them for four days at risk of toxic shock.

“I had my medical kit taken from me on the boat.”

Dr Connolly said participants were stripped of their clothes and requests for blankets were denied.

“I would never ever have taught to be so invisible, so menaced, so threatened by men that were very tiny in stature, but looked huge because they kept us bent all day.”

Dr Connolly demonstrated the position that detainees were kept in and said: “If you’d looked up at them, it was an injury.”

She told reporters: “I was on hunger strike for three days. I felt so sick with the pain of watching my patients.

“We could do nothing but hold their hands and hold them – the painkillers were outside the door, we asked them to go and get them, and they refused.”

She described how bread bags and sleeves of shirts were used to cover wounds and create slings, but said Israeli forces later cut the makeshift medical equipment.

“They wanted us to suffer. A lot of the soldiers with American accents, shouting down: ‘You should have thought of this before you came’.”

Concluding her speech, she said: “We must sanction Israel – it brought apartheid South Africa down.”

She added: “I have never felt so frightened in my life, and I am ashamed of the Irish government for voting no sanctions.

“I cannot say any more, but please, please become active to demand justice for Palestine.”

Israeli authorities have denied mistreating detainees. The country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Prison Service have been contacted for further comment.