[Opinion. What is most shocking to me is that so few Israelis speak out against the unspeakable abuse to detainees in Israeli. Do Israelis really think this is proper conduct in a civilised country? Are they just "good Germans"? That all the prisoners they’re torturing are terrorists? Abu Ghraib… How do these monsters go home and hug their children?] They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention Anna Liedtke files criminal complaint in Israel over alleged attack by female guards and says abuse was intended to silence campaigners Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem The Guardian: 15 Jul 3026 SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/gaza-flotilla-activist-rape-complaint-israel-anna-liedtke Anna Liedtke pictured in Cologne, Germany. ‘There is no reason for me to be ashamed.’ Photograph: Judith Jockel/The Guardian The third time Anna Liedtke was subjected to an illegal strip-search in Israeli detention, female prison guards forced her on to her knees, covered her mouth to stop her screaming and raped her, according to interviews and a criminal complaint filed in Israel. She described hearing male guards laughing during the attack, which she believes they watched and may have filmed. It took place in an area separated from the prison hallway by a partially drawn curtain that her attackers had left open. Liedtke, 25, joined a flotilla sailing from Europe to Gaza with humanitarian aid last autumn. Israeli forces intercepted her boat in international waters on 8 October and took her to Israel, where she was detained for five days. The abuse and violence directed at flotilla participants in Israeli prisons, including rape, was intended to intimidate, Liedtke said. “It’s clear they want to break our will and silence us, making this so traumatic that we will never talk about Palestine again,” she told the Guardian.
