Jordi Coronas, an ERC councillor at Barcelona City Council, was one of the Catalans who participated in the Gaza flotilla as captain of the Adara, where CUP MP Pilar Castillejo also travelled. The Israeli military boarded the flotilla on 1st October and detained everyone on board. After processing through Ashdod military port, they were imprisoned in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Coronas returned on Sunday with the first group, including former mayor Ada Colau.
Speaking to Vilaweb, Coronas shared his experiences of Israeli military and police actions, treatment received, rights violations, physical and psychological abuse, prison conditions, difficult moments and more. He looked tired but keen to explain what they lived through. “We experienced very unpleasant situations, but we must remember the positive things, like personal relationships and people’s commitment,” he said.
First thoughts on returning to Barcelona
“Family, friends, many things I needed to sort out in my head. I’m still processing these last few days, because a lot happened. From the 1st to the 5th it was a whirlwind of things, not particularly good. When I saw photos of the demonstrations, which I hadn’t had access to, I thought that’s good, it gave meaning to what we were doing.”
On landing at El Prat, he said: “What we’ve seen these last five days is the worst of humanity.” He maintains that feeling. “It’s a sensation of being surrounded by psychopaths who don’t consider anyone who doesn’t think like them to be a person. If I were Palestinian, I definitely wouldn’t have got out of there.”
Wednesday 1st October interception
“We prepared ourselves. We’d talked a lot about the interception moment. We’d studied it, reviewed it and practised it many times. Everyone had a function, a place to sit. Everyone knew who should answer and what if they asked us questions. This gave us some calm. Around that time, as the sun was setting, I had a conversation with everyone on the boat.”
“I insisted on the importance of keeping our composure, sticking to protocols, being very disciplined, following the captain or crew’s orders at all times. We were 99% sure they’d intercept us and we didn’t rule out a combination of things, like drone attacks, that there could be live fire situations. It was about mentally preparing that this could happen.”
When darkness fell, a boat ahead warned of about twenty objects, probably ships, advancing in a straight line towards them from Ashdod, the military port in southern Israel. “We found ourselves with ships between us, without navigation lights, in the dark. I had to dodge a ship, I don’t know if it was a corvette, a couple of times to avoid collision, because they were cutting across our bow.”
“After a while of skirmishing, the Alma was intercepted, then the Sirius. My boat was third in the command scale and we were left as heads of the flotilla. After about fifteen minutes, they turned on very powerful spotlights that illuminated us, and for ten minutes we tried to get away from the situation to see if we could continue to our destination, which was sixty miles away, about ten hours’ navigation.”
“Finally, two launches positioned themselves on the sides and over megaphone told us to cooperate, stop the engine, that they were coming to protect us and everything would be fine. It seemed to me they were coming to protect us from themselves. There was inferiority of means, they were armed people and you only do what they tell you. They placed us all in position and the launch on the left side started spraying with water from the middle of the boat to the bow.”
Boarding and detention at Ashdod port
“I don’t know why they were spraying us, but I think they did it as a prevention method in case there was any flammable substance. From there, about nine or ten soldiers from the special forces started boarding, very armed, with M16 submachine guns, with night vision goggles. We were all sitting in the position we’d agreed, hands in the air, waiting for them to enter.”
“They asked for passports, searched us. We didn’t lose composure at any moment. They asked who the captain was, we already knew that was an answer not to be given, and someone from the boat who was from the organisation said there was no captain, that the organisers were in command. They didn’t insist and, in pairs, they made us go inside the boat and placed us in the cabins. In one for three people we were nine. And they took the boat to Ashdod port, for about twenty hours.”
“They didn’t give us food. They offered water, but we refused because we already had large bottles. The soldiers carry cameras, take photos and post them. We chose to refuse it.” At Ashdod port: “Moving from military to police is a change of treatment. It’s very obvious from the moment you set foot off the boat. As soon as I got out, they grabbed my arm, twisted it, hurt me, immobilised us, took us in front of the shed and threw us one by one onto the concrete floor.”
“They had us sitting there with our backpacks, which we still had then, and tied our hands behind our backs with cable ties. We were like that for about six hours, some even longer. I had Greta Thunberg very close. She was in the row behind. They placed her in a luggage trolley with an Israeli flag. Then Minister Ben-Gvir arrived to do his show. Making fun of us, saying we were terrorists and would rot in prison. People reacted. Everyone shouted, like, ‘Free Palestine’. I remember telling him he was a war criminal and would be tried. That was the tensest moment.”
Treatment and discrimination
“Police focused especially on Greta Thunberg. She was the visible face of the fleet, the most recognised, and they wanted to make more mockery of her. She remained absolutely dignified. She didn’t cooperate, didn’t open her mouth, accepted what was happening, with great firmness.”
Asked about differential treatment between Arabs and Westerners, Coronas confirmed: “Yes, during the five days, both at the port and in prison. They hit them more. When there was a protest action, those who received reprisals were people of Arab origin. Tunisians, Algerians, Lebanese, even some Turks.”
The experience revealed what Coronas described as psychopathic behaviour from Israeli authorities, systematic discrimination, and deliberate humiliation. The detention highlighted broader issues of how Israel treats those attempting to bring attention to the Gaza situation, using intimidation and harsh conditions to deter future solidarity actions.
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