Alternatives International

Lac-Mégantic: One year later

Michael Bramadat-Willcock — 2014-08-01T18:45:34Z

As my childhood home of Lac-Mégantic reeled in the wake of the July 6, 2013 derailment that left its center destroyed, journalists flocked to the small town. After the explosion my family and I were in a state of shock. Wanting to be of whatever help we could and to connect with friends who were affected, we went to the relief center that had been set up in the local high school. Journalists were everywhere, resembling an organized tour. Their tents, logos predominantly displayed, were pitched around the entrance to the relief center. There they stood representing the world media, competing for tent space while studiously adjusting their hair and fiddling with equipment as a woman announced upcoming news events over the microphone like a summer camp tour leader. Traumatized, confused citizens had to negotiate their way through this gauntlet in order to enter the relief center.

In the aftermath of the disaster, encouraging tourism became central to the recovery plan and positive reports on efforts to regain a sense of normalcy began to surface. A benefit concert was organized at the Bell Center in Montreal to help raise money for the rebuilding of the town. This was followed by a much-publicized visit to Lac-Mégantic by the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. Soon after, to the ire of many, it was announced that a train loaded with tourists would be stopping in Lac-Mégantic as part of an effort to draw tourist dollars to the region. Although the idea of a "tourist train" was dropped, a lot of people in the community feel that even the suggestion that a train ride be involved in a tour of the town makes a mockery of, and indeed capitalizes on, the town's plight. The fact is that the trains were one of the first things to get back up and running in Lac Mégantic. The mayor made a pointed statement that anyone feeling negatively affected by the renewed presence of the trains in the community should seek psychological help. Indeed, several members of the community who I know personally have ended up in the psych wards of hospitals in the area or have simply remained bedridden with what looks like undiagnosed PTSD.

Train or no train, visitors to Lac-Mégantic came in droves in order to see first-hand the disaster zone that the guy in the suit with the great hair told them about on television. They might even snap a selfie in front of the gaping crater that used to be our local pub, where my sister sang on weekends. This feeling of being used and abused persists in the local citizenry. Driving through town the other day I observed a group of smiling tourists getting a group picture taken in front of Lac-Mégantic's ground zero. ''Say cheese'', I thought to myself.

In the immediate wake of the disaster, the majority of people in the Lac-Mégantic region with whom I spoke were appreciative that the media was involved in exposing their plight. Despite some being weary of repeated interviews, they trusted that the media would help ensure that their best interests were served. Only a few months later, however, the tone had drastically changed. At the corner store on the day of the one-year anniversary of the disaster, a man referred to journalists as vultures sucking on the dead corpse of the community, profiting from their pain. Musings in the community have equated the media's conduct with what Naomi Klein would call "disaster capitalism". Increasingly, journalists are being seen as profiteers who exist not to help promote the interests of the afflicted population, but to sell their suffering in an unholy alliance with the disaster tourists.
Many a whispering voice contends that important stories are being under-reported in favor of lighter “human interest” subjects and dramatic, cheesy sob-stories that trivialize their grief. The complicity of journalists in this ongoing disaster capitalism is nowhere better-illustrated than in a conversation that I witnessed on social media in the days following the explosion. An aspiring journalist bragged about the boost that covering the disaster would give his career. Others chimed in with supportive comments along the lines of “this is awesome.” To my great embarrassment for the future of the profession, no one objected.

A year later, the selfie-snapping, logo-loving, perfect-hair- combing, camera-happy media was back in town. The vultures smelled more meat on the corpse that they had left for eaten and came swooping in for another go at it. This time around their angle has been less macabre. The “Lac-Mégantic: One Year Later” story focuses on the rebuilding of businesses along a small strip of pavement that has been designated as the new town center, and on the memorial services at the remaining Catholic church (the other one was torn down to make way for a new supermarket). Once again, the media is missing the point. Calling for tourists to visit the town in order to help its economy grow is one thing, but what I see is a grieving community being turned into a circus of public grief, while bigger issues are being ignored.

The reconstruction of the town is an ongoing and contentious issue. Contracts were allocated in an atmosphere that has inspired members of the community to whisper of corruption in the air, but all I see on television is a guy in a suit with great hair, perfectly silhouetted in front of Ground Zero. Where is the Charbonneau Commission when you need it?

Because of a real or perceived lack of access to relevant information, a group of concerned citizens has begun organizing community meetings to discuss environmental as well as economic and social implications in the aftermath of the disaster. The citizens of Lac-Mégantic have to be content with their own commission of inquiry, away from Montreal's cameras, away from public view and away from any of the power of a Montreal courtroom. This would be unnecessary were the media to develop a passion for gathering and disseminating relevant information to the public.

Now that the fires have been put out and the tragic stories told, it is time to dig deeper. As the narrative of The Lac-Mégantic Disaster continues to unfold, it is time for the media to shift from retelling stories of grief and horror, making a commodity of the suffering of a community, to ensuring that the reconstruction of the town is conducted to the benefit of the local population, the environment and the greater national interest.

Whatever the outcome, we the media are as complicit - and as culpable - as anyone else.

Some useful Links:

Montreal Gazette article about the day of the disaster – By Michael Bramadat-Willcock http://www.montrealgazette.com/hometown+burned/8794271/story.html

Rail service resumes in Lac Megantic: CTV interview with Michael Bramadat-Willcock http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mixed-emotions-in-lac-megantic-as-rail-service-set-to-resume-wednesday-1.1596904

Montreal Canadians Practice in Lac-Megantic: CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal-canadiens-practise-in-lac-m%C3%A9gantic-que-1.1894962

Tourist trains announced: The Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/10/01/lacmegantic_tourist_trains_visit_part_of_devastated_towns_recovery.html

Tourist trains cancelled: Busses used instead. Globe and mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tourist-trains-shutdown-complicates-lac-megantics-plans-for-recovery/article14864394/

Disaster tourists descend on Lac Megantic, CTV.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/disaster-tourists-descend-on-lac-megantic-quebec-1.1370467

Reconstruction plan controversy: The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Clashing+visions+M%C3%A9gantic+future/10000797/story.html

The Mayor's statement: The National Post: The town invited residents traumatized by the return of train traffic to contact psychosocial workers who have been made available. “To see a freight train passing again takes us back to July 6,” Ms. Roy-Laroche said. “We see these images again.” http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/18/first-trains-since-explosion-trundle-through-lac-megantic-as-residents-complain-of-psychological-distress/

Past, Present and Future: An Overview of South Sudan

Michael Bramadat-Willcock — 2011-09-01T14:03:04Z

The Republic of South Sudan has endured a difficult coming of age. Its future remains uncertain as this young nation in Africa takes its first steps towards adulthood.

Optimism towards its new nation status as well as trepidation regarding the challenges ahead mix as fluidly as oil in the streets of Juba, the nation's Capital and largest city. As the youngest and one of the poorest nations on earth, South Sudan has what some have called the worst health situation in Africa. Media reports reflect conflicting visions and highly polarized speculation on what lies in store for a country whose ambitious motto lauds "Justice, Liberty, Prosperity" for all its citizens.

Recent History

Prior to Sudan's independence, British rulers intended to join South Sudan with Uganda due to their demographics, however these aspirations were circumvented by the Juba Conference which unified the North and South of the Sudan.

After achieving independence from Great Britain in 1965, the predominantly Muslim north of Sudan with its capital located in Khartoum became the main centre of political power. However the South of the country as well as the state of Darfur in the West contained most of the country's natural resources.
Limited access to education in the South as well as feelings of discrimination towards Christians and black people by the predominantly Muslim and Arab political and financial elite lead many southerners to feel marginalized.

As the situation progressed, the mineral-rich and predominantly Christian population of South Sudan felt that their resources were being exploited to the benefit of the North and that they were not being compensated. In short, people in the South felt that Khartoum was selling their oil, natural gas and minerals and keeping the money for the benefit of the North, with little, if any, of the wealth trickling down to Juba.

The perceived inequality of their situation led the population of what is now South Sudan to demand independence from the North. This resulted in two civil wars and tens of thousands of deaths followed by the signing of a “comprehensive peace agreement” in 2005 and the eventual the ratification of the South Sudan autonomous region.

A welcome sign in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Independence and regional relations

The population of this region was given the right to a vote for independence as part of the peace agreement and after an overwhelmingly pro-separation vote (98.83 per cent of the population) the country became an independent state on the July 9, 2011. South Sudan's elected president Salva Kiir Mayardit ratified the nation's new constitution on July 7, 2011, replacing the Interim Constitution that had been in effect since 2005. The youngest nation in the world quickly moved to UN membership status and joined the African Union.

Relations between Juba and Khartoum have been predictably tense since independence, with violence erupting in the border region of Abyei. The Republic of Sudan took military control of Abyei in May of 2011, leading to the South Kordofan conflict between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (from the South) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (from the North) centered in the Nuba Mountains. While the Abyei region was hypothetically scheduled for a referendum to decide whether to remain in the Republic of Sudan or join the newly independent South, nothing concrete has materialized.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir retracted his pre-election offer of dual citizenship between the two Sudans after independence was declared. Al-Bashir has also proposed a partnership with the South following the “EU model.”
Egypt's current President, Essam Sharaf visited both Juba and Khartoum prior to the South's secession. Israel, which hosts a large population of South Sudanese refugees, was one of the first nations in the Middle East to recognize statehood. The Arab League confirmed that South Sudan would be eligible for member or observer status should it wish to apply. The nation has announced its intention to join a number of other establishments such as the Commonwealth of Nations, the East African Community, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The United States removed political and economic sanctions from South Sudan after independence. However because it continues to impose these sanctions on the nation's neighbour to the north, analysts have speculated that the sanctions will still effect the South, whose oil exploitation, financial sectors and transport industries remain linked to Khartoum.

Demographics

Religious, ethnic and cultural differences between North and South Sudan have been attributed to “geographical barriers” that stopped the spread of Islamic culture in the region and enabled it to hold on to its original demographics. There are over sixty distinct languages spoken in South Sudan, with five predominant ethnicities comprising the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Azande and Bari. While the official language of South Sudan remains English, in August South Sudan's ambassador to Kenya recommended introducing Swahili as the new lingua franca in an effort to replace Arabic and showcase the Nation's commitment to the East African Community over the North African and Arabic speaking world. Nomadic tribes of Baggara Arabs reside in the border regions of South Sudan—some permanently, some temporarily—and Arabic remains widely spoken. There is a community of Spanish speakers, numbering about six hundred who were raised in Cuba during the wars. These “Cubanos” have settled mainly in Juba since their return. Religions practiced in the country include Christianity, Animism and Islam.

Soldiers from the Sudanese People's Liberation Army.

Future outlook

Despite the spirit of optimism expounded by politicians in the new nation, South Sudan continues to face many challenges. The nation's capital, Juba, doubles as the state capital of the Central Equatoria region. It is not centrally located and suffers from over-crowdedness as well as a number of other issues related to urban planning, transport and infrastructure. As a result a project has been adopted by the government to build a new “planned” capital city.

The country's health situation is apalling. Infant mortality is high, at a rate of 112 children per 1,000 dying before the age of five and the country holds the worst maternal mortality rate in the world. In the wake of conflict with the North, South Sudan boasted a total of three surgeons and three hospitals, which equated to one doctor for every 500,000 people in some areas. HIV is reported at 3.1 per cent and over 90 per cent of the population is reported to live on less than one dollar per day. Famine is said to have caused deaths in 2011 however the local governments in the affected areas deny such allegations.

South Sudan continues to wage war against about seven armed guerilla groups that are represented in over 90 per cent of its territory. The rebels accuse the government of corruption and say that they want better representation for all people as well as balanced funding in rural and urban areas.

In a report credited to Al-Jazeera the current government has had difficulty transitioning into its new role and members on the nation's largest newspaper The Citizen alleged harassment from authorities. This is despite the government having promised media freedoms as a part of the new mandate.

As is to be expected from such a young nation, South Sudan faces economic uncertainty. Above the mainly agricultural subsistence farming practiced in the rural areas looms the specter of increased logging of the forests as well as oil and mineral exploration. The nation has potential in terms of natural resources, a rich and diverse habitat and is home to the second-largest wildlife migration on earth.

The challenge of striking the delicate balance between economic development and preservation of the country's natural habitat remains in the hands of the new government, which during its tenure as the SPLA was accused of war crimes as well as humanitarian atrocities including systematic torture, rape and other forms of violence against civilians.

The wave of optimism that was felt across South Sudan following the momentous referendum and secession has died down and the mood has become more practical. Many feel that it is now time for the government and the people of the republic to work together in order to overcome the numerous challenges they face as the world's youngest nation.

Photos: Steve Evans, fieldreports, United Nations Photo (Flickr)

The Second Line

Michael Bramadat-Willcock — 2010-10-02T03:58:02Z

"We went through the same routine at the El Salvador border, and since there were a few other buses travelling the same route I met a tourist from Iceland who was on a volunteer mission. He ran into trouble when the customs official didn't believe that Iceland was a real country."

It was a hot and muggy day in San Jose, Costa Rica and I was waiting for the bus to Mexico. I had a return ticket to Canada leaving from Mexico City. There was only one other North American on the bus, a journalist named George, who said he was working for an English language weekly newspaper based in Mexico City. He had been covering the 2006 Costa Rican presidential election.

“Can't wait to get back to Mexico, you know you and I, we're probably the only two guys on this bus with a chance in life. Look around you; half of these guys are going to die in the desert, they want a better life. Americans like us, I mean me,” he laughed, “You're Canadian I forgot. Well anyway we were both pretty damn lucky to have been born north of the Rio Grande, I'll say that much.”

I looked around and saw what he meant, men and women in their early twenties with sombre looks on their faces. A couple of them looked over at us, having noticed that we were speaking English. My new friend was right. They were heading for the Mexican/American border. Once there they would find a guide or “Coyote” to whom they would pay a fee in exchange for passage into the United States. This was only the first part of their journey, and it was by far the easier part.

The first border we crossed was the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border. I knew the routine and it wasn't much of a hassle, the bus stopped overnight in Managua I visited my father and had a drink with a friend. The bus left in the evening of the next day for Honduras.

At the Honduran border I showed my documents to the customs official and he smiled “I have a cousin in Canada, don't worry about anything” and he ushered me past the caged German shepherd which snarled at every passenger who walked by. “That dog is there to sniff for cocaine, George told me, if it stops at you, you get some extra attention.” He pointed at a cement cell behind the grimacing dog.

We went through the same routine at the El Salvador border, and since there were a few other buses travelling the same route I met a tourist from Iceland who was on a volunteer mission. He ran into trouble when the customs official didn't believe that Iceland was a real country. The customs official suspected the passport was a fake and gave the Icelander an amused look while scrutinizing his documents “You think you're funny Gringo? Just show me your American passport and you'll save us both a lot of time.” Finally the man was shown a map, Iceland was found and the only Icelander in El Salvador was given a Visa.

Crossing from El Salvador into Guatemala was surprisingly trouble free, but the lines at customs were noticeably longer. “Closer to Mexico, closer to North America” I thought.
Once in Guatemala things changed drastically and the bus was stopped several times by police checking our papers. They checked at random based on who they thought looked like an illegal. I was asked for my passport once and the policeman laughed “not what I expected” he said in Spanish, “You look more Cuban than Canadian to me.” The man sitting next to me explained that there were a lot of Cubans trying to get into Mexico and the U.S through Guatemala. In Guatemala City we were joined by a young French couple who seemed terrified of me until I spoke to them in French. George made fun of them for this the entire way, “You never can be too careful with these Latino looking Canadians,” he warned mockingly.

We arrived at the Mexico, Guatemala border at night. Men were standing around the cement compound in cowboy hats smoking. Directly inside the building there was a sign in Spanish “Please leave your guns here” and a follow up sign reading “no guns past this point.” George assured me that their guns would be returned on the other side of the border. “They bring the guns through separately, check them and give them back on the other side.” The sign might as well read, “Have Gun Will Travel.” Everyone who looked like tourists were escorted through customs by two armed Mexican guards who looked worried about our safety, our bags were opened and closed as a matter of protocol and our passports stamped.

It was a long day on the bus between the border and Mexico City; I was checked a few times for my papers, eliciting the same bemused reaction from police officers. Upon arrival I saw a few of my fellow passengers get onto the backs of pickup trucks and drive away. On their way to find a trail to the United States, a younger woman came up to me and said “I will see you in your country one day, I don't care how many times I have to try, it is my only hope.”

I wanted to warn her about the coyotes, tell her that they were more likely to leave her in the desert alone than guide her safely to the U.S. I wanted to tell her that even if she made it, without papers she would be treated as a second-class citizen. But she already knew all this.

After three days in Mexico City I got on a plane headed for GW Bush international airport in Houston Texas. The plane landed and I stood in the airport at the back of a long line waiting to go through customs, talking to a Mexican couple who were going to Miami on business.

A voice came over the loudspeaker, “All Canadians please move to the second line.” There were a total of six Canadians. We were ushered to a second line, created spontaneously on our behalf, and had our passports stamped. A friendly staff member apologized for any inconvenience. The other line didn't look as comfortable.

Michael Bramadat-Willcock is a filmmaker and student journalist at Concordia University.

Photo: flickr/ zug55

In the Shadow of Sandino

Michael Bramadat-Willcock — 2010-09-02T05:35:51Z

“The election looms in the coming days; it is an amazing scene of lies and manipulations. If Ortega wins there may be a civil war here. It is quite tense,” my father warned me before my last visit to Nicaragua in 2006.

Nicaraguans struggle to make ends meet in the wake of political upheaval and natural disaster in what remains second only to Haiti among the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.

After my father picked me up at the airport we drove to his home in Masatepe, a small town in the Nicaraguan highlands near Managua that I had not seen since I had visited him four years earlier. “There are more and more North Americans coming here,” he said. “ Nicaragua is being toted as the place to be. Funny, I hope someone is telling them that we don't have water or electricity these days. ”

After a week in Masatepe I went to stay with my friend Ronaldo in the small jungle town of Escalante, when I had visited in 2002 it had been inaccessible to cars and the only way to get there was by ox cart or horse. Now there was a road leading up to the village.

On our way, my father and I stopped in at a garage in the outskirts of town. The mechanic asked me if I spoke Spanish, I said I did, he laughed, “I know sixteen year old girls who can put together an AK47 faster than you can count to ten in Spanish.” I laughed; this was exactly the kind of humour I remembered.

Ronaldo's father is missing an arm, “It was cut off by the contras,” he told me. Stories of senseless killing abound, “During the conflict, night curfews were imposed and if we left our homes we would be shot.” He explained how men and women were forced to fight for whatever side controlled the area where they lived, “families were torn apart and sons were made to kill their own fathers, mothers and daughters were raped by both sides.”

The day after I arrived, a neighbour of Ronaldo's asked if I wanted to see something uniquely Nicaraguan. Although it's illegal in most countries, the sinister sport of cock fighting was and still is a popular pastime here with old men betting on the outcome of every match. Curiosity got the better of me. I went to visit the roosters who would be fighting in the next day's tournament. Opening a small box, the man showed me a set of sharp blades shaped like talons. He explained that these blades are attached to the feet of roosters before a fight. I declined to attend the match.

The gap between rich and poor in Nicaragua is remarkable. The nation was the richest in Central America prior to the revolution and American intervention, but it is now amongst the world's poorest. Maria Loaiza Arroyo works with a Latin American organization called Un Techo para mi Pais which operates 15 countries in Latin America. According to Arroyo, the number of Nicaraguans living under the poverty line is approaching 2.5 million. Almost half the population.

Many people in rural communities are disillusioned with the bitter fruits of their own blood and tears. However many still idealize Augusto Sandino, the revolutionary socialist leader who waged a guerrilla war against US occupation in the 1920s and 30s. His political descendants went on to form the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional and overthrew the government of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, which opened another generation of conflict that has yet to heal.

Daniel Ortega, long-time leader of the FSLN, fought off an American-funded insurgency of “contras” in the 1980s, and remains a controversial figure. Ortega stands accused of sexually assaulting his adopted stepdaughter and his property redistribution program was seen by some as a giant land grab. That didn't stop him from winning the election in 2006.

Billboards reading ‘Cristiana, socialista, solidaria' in the colours of the Sandinista Party, others with Daniel Ortega's face, and many commemorating the Sandinista revolution abound in the capital, says Arroyo, “The signs that say ‘we are all sons of Sandino' show that the ideals of the revolution are very much alive, but the people who are enforcing them are as corrupt as the next politician. It is getting harder and harder everyday to remain happy with the status quo.”

Although she paints an overall picture of Nicaragua as a country with severe economic and social problems, Arroyo has some hope for the future. The hurricane in 2009 had a disastrous effect on the economy, but she believes that the country has great potential, “if it is developed in a conscientious way, which in my book means not much interference from greedy Americans and Europeans— and more government investment on small and medium local enterprises.”

A week after I left Nicaragua I was walking down a street in San Jose, Costa Rica. A construction worker stopped me and held a machete to my head. When I didn't respond, he broke out into fits of insane laughter. I was terrified. Only after did I realize how close I had come to death, but my then-girlfriend's reaction made me uneasy, “He must have been Nicaraguan. They are violent and dangerous people.”

My father often refers to Nicaragua as striking in its realism. He describes the Nicaraguan personality as “light and dark, but with the heart always seeking the light. It is why I am so in love with this part of the world.”

Michael Bramadat-Willcock is a filmmaker and student journalist at Concordia University.

Photo: Maria Loaiza Arroyo

Free Gaza Movement and Mavi Marmara

Michael Bramadat-Willcock — 2010-08-02T16:21:41Z

Canadian activists talk about their experiences onboard the Mavi Marmara and announce North American ships to depart for Gaza.

Addressing a mixed crowd including Palestinian and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish supporters at a conference in Montreal on Sunday, Canadian activists Kevin Neish and Farooq Burney, who participated in the “Free Gaza” flotilla, announced that they are planning to join another convoy aimed at bringing an end to the Israeli embargo on Gaza. Only this time, they say, ships will also sail from Canada and the United States.

Hoping to garner support in Quebec, the activists say that they are currently raising $30,000 in order to send a Canadian ship to Gaza with Canadian citizens onboard.

Relating their experiences during the Israeli boarding of the Mavi Marmara on May 31, Burney said that he saw two people killed. “They were right next to me and I saw them die.” He said it gave him a new perspective on life in Gaza, “Palestinians go through this every day.”

Neish concurred, saying, “We learned what it is like to live as Palestinians.” He stressed the nature of the deaths of nine Turkish activists on board the Marmara and claims that some were killed in the manner of an execution. “I saw one man who was shot directly between the eyes,” he said. He also mentioned that the flotilla would not have gotten as much media attention had it not been for the deaths of those on board, saying that it had only strengthened their resolve to breach the blockade. Neish then asserted that before boarding the flotilla en route to Gaza all passengers were searched for weapons, “They [the organizers] found a small pocket knife in my backpack, and tossed it overboard…”

Neish said that once the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was on board the Marmara, certain Turkish activists improvised using parts of the ship itself as weapons. “They were courting death,” he said, stressing to the Turkish that the Israelis were armed with guns and “live ammunition,” and saying that he had warned them not to resist violently. A few activists had also smuggled makeshift slingshots onboard, which they used to launch nuts, marbles, and bolts at the soldiers.

While he admitted that the activists had captured two guns from the IDF, he claims that these weapons were not used against the soldiers as was alleged by Israeli sources.

Neish saw one Turkish passenger make threatening gestures at an injured Israeli soldier and speculated that he may have wanted to kill him, but was prevented from doing so; he said the organizers of the flotilla made sure that no captured Israeli soldiers injured in the fighting would be killed.

Suggesting that the IDF may have targeted specific activists for execution, he claims to have seen what he thinks could have been a “hit list”— with names and pictures of specific activists— in the bag of an injured Israeli soldier.

Neish stated that the IDF was “committing an act of piracy” by boarding the Marmara while the ship remained in international waters.

According to the activists, the flotilla rendezvous point was in international waters. Their plan was to approach Gaza during the daytime to facilitate media coverage of their attempt at crossing into Gaza.

As they had been informed by the Israelis that the blockade had been extended from eight to sixty kilometres from the coast, they adjusted their course in order to buy time and avoid being boarded at night. Burney said that they expected to encounter the IDF as far as eighty kilometres from the coast.

They were contacted by the IDF and asked not to continue on to Gaza. They refused, and say that they were pursued by Israeli ships while still in international waters.

They claim to have been surrounded by Israeli naval vessels, called Zodiacs, right after the morning Muslim prayers (at around 4:10 according to Neish). Burney claims to have seen the first Zodiacs approach while helicopters simultaneously descended from above the ship. He saw smoke grenades, though he could not determine the source.

Spotlights and water cannons were turned on the IDF vessels by the Turkish organizers, who Neish says also launched nuts and bolts at the small zodiacs. The activists claim to have heard gunshots but said that they didn't know where they were coming from, “One guy who was very close to me got hit in the chest. You could clearly see a gunshot wound on his chest… soon after the individual passed away,” said Burney.

According to Burney the skirmish lasted anywhere from half an hour to forty-five minutes. He said it ended with an announcement over the loudspeaker stating that the bridge had been taken by the IDF and the passengers should return to the sitting area. After hearing the words “We are not going to Gaza” over the loudspeaker, Burney claims there was no further resistance to the Israeli soldiers. “We went down to the main area and blockaded ourselves in,” he said.

“At this point there were three dead bodies where I was stationed,” said Burney,
“Finally they opened the door and delegated two women to start bringing the injured out.”

After being searched, Burney said they were taken to the deck and had their hands tied behind their backs. “We were told to kneel down and face the wall,” he said.
‘We were made to remain in that position for about six hours as IDF helicopters removed the dead and wounded, “They made it a point to remove all the people with gunshot wounds… “They had ransacked the whole place,” he said.

By Burney's account, the Marmara approached the Israeli port of Ashdod at about 6:00 in the morning and docked at 7:00. They were then handed over to the Ministry of Interior and Immigration. He says they spent five more hours on the ship. As they debarked from Ashdod, Neish said a crowd had gathered to applaud their capture.

Having recently been refused a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Neish says that he received little help from Canadian officials while in Israeli custody, apart from being allowed to call home. He claims that were it not for Turkish assistance he “might still be sitting in Tel-Aviv.”

Michael Bramadat-Willcock is a filmmaker and student journalist at Concordia University.