St Andrews university professor claims he was physically abused while detained by Israel

A senior professor at the University of St Andrew has alleged he was threatened and physically abused while spending five days in Israeli detention.

Across first-person reportage in Al Jazeera and an interview with The Courier, Professor Antonis Vradis described the “brutality” that followed the intercepting of his ship, La Sirena, and the transfer of its crew at gunpoint onto a “prison ship” formed of a crudely repurposed commercial vessel.

Dr Vradis claimed he endured 52 hours descending successive “levels of hell” aboard Nashron, noting the harsh irony of the ship’s namesake, “who initiated the Hebrews’ passage through the Red Sea.”

Dr Vradis spoke of his experience on the prison ship, which he felt was “governed by deliberate cruelty,” challenging “whatever a day, or an end might mean.”

Dr Vradis described the conditions on the ship, where “comrades used frozen bread as toilet paper,” “screamed for sanitary products” and attempted to discern their location from the positioning of shadows on the deck.

Dr Vradis claimed he and his comrades endured harsh conditions, where “water bottle rings and labels were used to create impromptu slings” and “ripped additional clothing to stem the bleeding” of victims were discarded from the ship’s onboard “torture chamber,” a repurposed shipping container.

On reaching, the port of Ashdod, Dr Vradis said he was “forced to kneel and crawl” while being transferred to Kizi’ot Prison.

It was during this transfer that Dr Vradis alleged he received the most gruesome treatment at the hands of two Israeli guards.

He said: “He chucked me into what I believed was a blind spot away from cameras. He held me up by the throat. Another of his colleagues was punching me in the stomach.

“The first guy let go and then took a pocketknife and tried to stab me. I believe he was trying to stab my stomach or ribs.

“I managed to put my hand up and take the stabbing in one of my fingers. The guard then continued to torment me, forcing me to strip naked.”

This reported incident has since been documented by medical staff in Athens to form part of legal proceedings.

Professor Antonis Vradis, via the University of St Andrews

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After his transfer, Dr Vradis said he was “dragged around and crammed 40 into a small cell for hours, suffocating from a lack of Oxygen,” claiming no food or water was offered to the prisoners.

Despite his experience, Dr Vradis maintains that “none of us on the boats is a fearless hero, not did we ever claim to be our mission has become all the more important because of what just happened in those waters”

 “When I was going through this, I was thinking about Palestinians who have experienced much worse.”

As reports of Dr Vradis’s report emerged, St Andrews University contacted local MP Wendy Chamberlain and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. A vigil was also held in the town, during his captivity.

The Student’s Association and Rector encouraged those with concerns to contact Israel’s Foreign Minister and Embassy,

University Principal, Professor Dame Sally Mapstone issed an email to all staff and students thanking all who had been in touch to express concern for Dr Vradis.

A spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel in London said: “The State of Israel completely rejects the allegations made by Hamas-affiliated activists involved in the ‘flotilla’.

“Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.

“As stated by the Board of Peace, the ‘flotilla’ is a distasteful PR stunt designed to exploit the suffering caused by Hamas.

“Actions of this kind divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm and from efforts to help the people of Gaza free themselves from its control.

“They have done nothing to support humanitarian efforts or the people of Gaza, which are currently being led by the Board of Peace in coordination with regional partners and international agencies.”

The Israeli Embassy has been contacted for comment.

Featured image (before edits) via the University of St Andrews and Geograph Britain and Ireland under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic