Wits PHD student who has focused on the Rhodes Must Fall campaign
South African activist Leigh Ann Naidoo is set to land on home soil after being detained by Israeli authorities while travelling on the Women’s Boat to Gaza, which sought to peacefully end the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Musa Marawu, the counsellor political at the South African embassy in Tel Aviv, told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday that the embassy had managed to secure her return to South Africa after liaising with contacts in the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs.
“Following our consultation with Israeli authorities, it has been agreed that Ms L Naidoo will leave Israel tomorrow morning on flight LY053 to SA. The flight normally lands in SA between 3.30pm and 4.00pm,” Marawu said.
The South African embassy has been unable to speak with Naidoo, but Marawu said that people in Israel’s foreign affairs ministry had been helpful “throughout all this unpalatable situation”.
“Unfortunately, we could not speak to her directly despite our best efforts. The Israeli authorities informed us that today it was not possible to talk to her due to time constraints,” he said.
The news will come as a relief to many South Africans who have applied pressure for Naidoo’s safe return home through #BringBackLeighAnn. A petition was started on amandla.mobi, which now has more than 2 000 signatures after it went live less than 24 hours ago.
Naidoo, a South African Olympian and a PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, was one of 13 women activists on board the Zaytouna-Oliva boat. She was the only South African delegate. All the women were reported to be unharmed when they were forced off the boat by the Israeli navy. The campaign was led by the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is a body of international organisations that send aid and activists from around the world to Palestine via boat.
On Tuesday, a video was uploaded to YouTube where Naidoo appealed to South Africans to apply pressure on the government to secure her release. The boat was intercepted by the Israeli navy, who then commandeered it to the port of Ashdod. The Israeli military said that they had intercepted the boat to prevent “breach of the lawful maritime blockade” and that they had taken such action “in accordance with government directives and after exhausting all diplomatic channels”.
Prior to the Women’s Boat to Gaza’s departure from Barcelona in September, reports emerged that the Israeli government would threaten to take action against the passengers if they continued with the journey.
The South African embassy says that from the information it has so far, Naidoo is unharmed.
“From our understanding there has been no violence or any incident committed against her,” Marawu said.
All thirteen women will be released. Naidoo is expected to depart from Tel Aviv and arrive in Johannesburg on Friday.