Three flotilla activists detained in Israel arrive back in Vancouver

Sebastian Tow, right, member of the Gaza flotilla, reunites with his mother Anita Wittenberg as he arrives at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond B.C., on Sunday, May 24, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

RICHMOND — Three activists whose Gaza-bound aid flotilla was intercepted in international waters by Israeli forces have returned home to Vancouver, with one of them saying they went through four days of continuous beatings and torture.

Sebastian Tow, Michael France and Mary Grace Mathisen were surrounded and greeted by hundreds of supporters, family and friends at at Vancouver International Airport on Sunday, with tears and hugs filling the airport’s arrival hall.

Tow, from Vancouver, says the flotilla group were kidnapped in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea by Israeli forces, and every one of them was dragged aboard prison ships and beaten.

He says four days of torture left him with several Taser burns and bruises on his body, but many people got even worse. For example, on his prison ship alone, he says there were over 30 cases of broken and fractured ribs.

The Canadians were among 420 people on 41 boats intercepted by Israel as they attempted to bring a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza amid Israel’s restrictions.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday she had received details from her officials in Turkey about “appalling abuse” suffered by Canadians who were on board the flotilla, but she provided no details of the accounts and Israeli prison officials have denied any abuse.

Global Sumud Flotilla, the movement’s organizer, says the B.C. delegates were part of an international civilian flotilla that departed from Marmaris, Turkey, on May 14 to challenge the blockade of Gaza.

The group says 12 Canadians, including the three that returned to B.C. Sunday, were among the detained activists. Other have been arriving home over the weekend in Montreal and Toronto.

Tow says all activists understand that the four days were only a tiny fraction of “what Palestinians have to live under all of their lives.”

Global Sumud Flotilla also lists five demands to urge the Canadian government to take action, including adopting immediate sanctions against Israel and implementing a military equipment embargo on Israel.

This report by Nono Shen, The Canadian Press, was first published May. 24, 2026.