‘We didn’t think they would massacre them’
“I just felt dismay, disbelief, totally appalled when I saw what was happening,” she said yesterday. Maura had nervously decided to watch the news as the ships made their way towards the 20-nautical mile exclusion zone around Gaza declared by the Israeli military.
Speaking from her home in the Togher Road area yesterday she said: “This was totally humanitarian aid, the only thing we thought might happen, the worst we thought might happen, would be that they would prevent them from carrying the aid to Gaza, badly needed aid.... we didn’t think they would go in like that and massacre them.
“Then with the Israelis you can expect that even with women and children, they have massacred people before.
“My concerns are for Fintan’s safety and the safety of all the others. There has been a lot of deaths reported, up to 19. The Israelis just went in last night... and massacred them,” she said.
All electronic communications with the flotilla were blocked at 3am on Monday morning by the Israelis. From that time his family heard nothing of Fintan, a long-standing member of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and a respected historian, until contacted by Foreign Minister Micheál Martin’s office following his meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to say Fintan was unhurt and in Israeli custody. Fintan has had a long involvement in politics and peace campaigning.
From a political family, his father Jim was one of the leading anti-Vietnam War campaigners in Cork during the 1960s. After receiving confirmation his son was in Israeli custody Mr Lane said: “I am proud of my son, not only for going on this solidarity mission to Gaza, but also for refusing deportation. He is making a point that Israel should have no control over who enters Gaza. He has done nothing wrong and I support him.
“Furthermore, it is my belief that the United States should stop giving a carte blanche to the Israeli state for it is this support that gives Israel the confidence to act with such impunity.”
“He was very involved with the Palestinian situation,” said his mother.
“Fintan was born in Cork, he graduated from UCC and went to live in Dublin. He was always involved in humanitarian issues.” He was very involved in the Shannon stopover protests, and was against the war in Iraq, she said. “What would I like the Irish Government to do? I think the Irish Government should know themselves what they should do. We would like to see Fintan back home right now. I have great sympathy with the people of Gaza,” she said.
“We can hope the other governments will have to take action against the Israelis, they get away with too much.”
