In Brief
- Ethan Floyd spent two days in Israeli detention before he was allowed to return to Australia.
- Six Australians were detained by the Israeli military while attempting to transport aid to Gaza earlier this week.
A mother has said she was both terrified for and proud of her son after he returned safely to Australia from Israeli detention.
Pro-Palestine activist Ethan Floyd arrived at Sydney Airport on Monday evening to his tearful family and a few dozen cheering supporters.
Floyd had participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla of more than 100 boats that was intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea attempting to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
After his boat was captured, Floyd spent two days on an Israeli prison ship before he was allowed to return home from the Greek island of Crete.
His mother Marissa defied warnings at the arrivals hall to go and tearfully embrace her son.
"As his family, we are so proud of everything he's done," Marissa Floyd told reporters.
"We are in awe of his strength, his bravery ... and his convictions."
Despite supporting her son's quest, Floyd admitted she had moments when she did not know whether he would return.
"We were terrified when he left but we're not as terrified as Palestinian parents are," she said.
"Our child came home and we were fairly certain he would come home ... Palestinian parents do not have that certainty."
Ethan Floyd arrived in Sydney with no baggage and wearing clothes borrowed off a kindly Greek stranger after his belongings were stripped upon his detention.
Even though it was expected the flotilla would become the second mission to be intercepted before reaching Gaza's shores, Floyd — secretary of the NSW Young Greens — was proud of the outcome.
"If any social movement in world history only tried anything once, we would never have seen the massive change we've seen over the last few hundred years," Floyd told reporters.
"The flotilla has shown itself to be effective at challenging the legality of Israel's navy."
Among those waiting for Mr Floyd's arrival were Greens politicians Mehreen Faruqi, Sue Higginson and Jenny Leong.
All spoke of their desire for further sanctioning of the Israeli government.
"We are so proud of Ethan and the others who have had the guts ... to step up where our government has miserably failed," Senator Faruqi said.
"With Australian civilians on a lawful, peaceful mission to provide aid ... Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong have been MIA."
Other Australian flotilla participants have remained in Greece to help further missions while two other participants, one Brazilian and one Spanish-Palestinian, continue to be detained by the Israeli authorities.
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