Family members and friends of Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam have demanded his immediate release, along with other humanitarian workers aboard the Conscience and Thousand Madleen vessels, while calling for an end to the occupation and genocide in Palestine.
Dozens of prominent figures, including New Delhi-based writer Arundhati Roy, New York-based scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Cape Town-based playwright Mike van Graan, and Kathmandu-based journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, have signed a joint statement in this regard, according to a press release issued by Drik.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam, along with all 91 other media and medical professionals on board the Conscience who have been illegally kidnapped on international waters by the genocidal and apartheid state of Israel, along with the thousands of Palestinians who are being held in Israeli prisons without trial. The Conscience is among the latest ships in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to sail across the Mediterranean Sea with the mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza that Israel has perpetuated for 18 years,” the statement reads.
Press Secretary demands release of Shahidul Alam, others
The vessel was carrying journalists and medics.
“For nearly two years, the illegal Israel occupation has blocked international journalists from entering Gaza, creating one of the most dangerous press blackouts in modern history. During this time, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been deliberately targeted and assassinated, while many more have been imprisoned or silenced. This boat is our challenge to that silence.” —Thousand Madleens to Gaza & Freedom Flotilla Coalition David Heap of the Canadian Boat to Gaza and Freedom Flotilla Coalition Steering Committee“Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard these ships.”
‘I have been kidnapped by Israeli forces,’ says Shahidul Alam
“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. Our volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade. Their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately,” reads the statement.
The statement also says Israel continues to act with total impunity, defying the International Court of Justice’s orders, disregarding international law protecting civilian navigation and ignoring worldwide demands to end the illegal siege and genocide.