The President of Ireland was proud: My sister was arrested in the flotilla to Gaza

The President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, announced this evening (Monday) that her sister, Margaret Connolly, was arrested during the takeover by IDF forces of the Turkish flotilla to Gaza. “I am very proud of my sister, Margaret Connolly, who was arrested today by the Israeli forces in the flotilla to Gaza,” said the president. According to her, her sister is one of six Irish citizens who were arrested on board the ships of the flotilla.

Earlier today, IDF forces began to take control of the “Marmara 2” – the Turkish flotilla that made its way to the Gaza Strip. In the live broadcasts carried out by the flotilla operatives, navy ships were seen approaching the vessel, after which IDF fighters boarded. Shortly after the takeover began, contact was lost with some of the ships and transmissions were stopped.

The flotilla included dozens of vessels and about 500 operatives from 45 different countries. The security establishment prepared in advance for the possibility of violent resistance from some of the participants, and the IDF clarified that they would not allow the ships to reach the shores of Gaza. The flotilla was led by the IHH organization – a terrorist organization that was also behind the Marmara flotilla in 2010.

Catherine Connolly, who was recently elected president of Ireland with about 63% of the votes, is identified with the extreme left in the country and is considered a harsh critic of Israel. In the past, she called Israel a “terrorist state”, accused the Western countries of “giving a hand to the genocide in Gaza”, and called for Irish neutrality to be maintained in the face of what she called “the militarism of the West”. Her victory marked another worsening of tensions between Jerusalem and Dublin.