A Reporter Was on a Flotilla Bound for Gaza. Israel Detained Him—and Some Twenty Other Members of the Press.

On August 31, in Barcelona, Alex Colston, an editor for Drop Site News, boarded a vessel of the Sumud flotilla along with some thirty-seven other passengers, a collection of politicians and humanitarian workers carrying aid bound for Gaza. (Sumud, an Arabic word for “steadfastness,” refers to Palestinian resilience.) Colston, who is thirty-four and lives in Brooklyn, has a beard and wears a metal chain necklace; he packed a black T-shirt, sleeves cut off, bearing the word PRESS in capital letters. He grew up in Florida, where he worked as a deckhand as a teen. This was slow sailing; en route, he reported on the nautical happenings surrounding Israel and edited colleagues’ work about ceasefire talks. He also kept night watch and helped repair the boat’s water system. He lost weight. “It felt like a purposeful thing to do,” he told me. The trip lasted until October 1, when the vessel was intercepted by the Israeli navy and Colston was detained—as were some twenty other members of the international press, on a fleet of aid boats scattered across the sea.

Ships approached the Sumud about fifteen miles off the coast of Gaza. “They circled us like sharks,” Colston said. The Israeli navy’s commander at sea made remarks to his sailors: “The Navy stands up to a mission that requires determination and professionalism, to ensure that any attempt to breach the maritime security blockade will be stopped far from our shores. I have full confidence in you that you will carry out the mission successfully while upholding our values.” Then officers grabbed a ladder, which they attempted to latch on to Colston’s boat. It took a few tries until they affixed it, which struck Colston as absurd, even as the officers made it on board, carrying assault rifles. “It just felt really goofy to me,” he said. For hours, the officers confined passengers on deck, as they steered to the Port of Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv.