The captain and crew of the Is######### Galim were home today, weary after 94 days of imprisonment in ######### where they were beaten, robbed of their personal possessions and ######## in the wilderness of the Gaza strip where they were ordered to walk ######### Israel border, a considerable distance away.Just before noon, yesterday, an Israel Army patrol spotted the captain # nine sailors, all tired and shivering in summer clothes, shuffling toward # der. An ammunition carrier was summoned and, just as soon as the ten # men reached the border, they were taken aboard. By the time they reached # est settlement, at Kissufim, hundreds of Negev settlers had gathered to greet # with songs, flowers and congratulations. They were immediately given warm c###ing, then taken to this city where they were met by their families.
Zvi Shidlo, captain of the Bat Galim, declared on his arrival here that the Egyptians had taken from him and his sailors all their rings, watches and other valuables, including $1,400 in cash.
“Our men were put in separate cells after we were taken to Cairo, “Shidlo said. “Our hands were chained behind our backs, and we were beaten at regular intervals–in my case, every 15 minutes, in the cases of the men, about every hour. The soldiers who entered our cells to beat us did not question us–they simply beat us, and they seemed to be expert at the job.”
Capt. Shidlo told how some of the crew members were left bleeding after these beatings, yet all were left on bare floors for two days without any medical attention. It was not until several days later when they were taken to another jail, and were to be visited by United Nations observers, that the men were given medical treatment, the Bat Galim’s master said.
The captain had not seen his ship since it was seized by the Egyptians in the Suez Canal early on the morning of September 28. The Egyptians have announced, since, that they will release the ship–provided it is sailed southward, away from the Suez Canal, instead of through the Canal toward Haifa, which was its original destination.
The Israel Foreign Ministry charged this week-end that Egypt’s refusal to let the ship continue its voyage to Haifa is a violation of a resolution adopted three years ago by the United Nations Security Council on freedom of passage through the Suez. In accordance with that resolution, Israel is pressing its complaint against Egypt which is scheduled to come before the Security Council at UN headquarters on Tuesday.
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