I was detained by Israel: here’s what Ben-Gvir didn’t want you to see

JVL Introduction

Zeteo contributor Alex Colston gives a first-hand account of the ritual humiliation and torture of the Global Sumud Flotilla members kidnapped in international waters hundreds of miles from Israel.

As an electioneering gimmick, Ben-Gvir released a video of his visit to the hostages, a video which provoked near universal condemnation from Western leaders normally sympathetic to Israel.

But, as Colston makes clear, little of the Israeli violence against the flotilla participants was actually documented in the video. Their treatment was far harsher than that.

For those administering the violence to which these hostages were subjected, it is clearly second nature, part of the degrading treatment meted out routinely to Palestinians who are seen as sub-human.

Ben-Gvir was once on the fringes of Israeli society. No more. Large swathes of the Israeli population clearly share his political outlook, his demonisation of every critic of Israel and of course his utter dehumanisation of the Palestinians over whom he lords it.

RK

This article was originally published by Zeteo on Fri 29 May 2026. Read the original here.