Greg Stoker, an Austin veteran and well-known anti-war activist, has been released from Israeli prison after that country’s armed forces captured him last Wednesday on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.
In a video update posted Monday to his Instagram, Stoker — who served in the U.S. military as an Army Ranger and Special Ops from 2009 to 2014 — said he was released along with a Marine Corps veteran he identified as “Moe.”
Stoker added that he doesn’t know what’s become of the rest of the United States delegation captured on the flotilla. However, according to Stoker’s caption, many remain in Israeli prison.
“Conditions inside are basically what you would expect from a terror gulag,” Stoker said in the video. “Basically, no showers, food scarcity. A lot of people are on hunger strike in protest to them withholding insulin from some of our detainees. And, yeah, we were told there are ‘no doctors for animals.'”
Stoker said the activists’ captors told them the rest of those imprisoned may be released in the next 24 to 48 hours. “But there’s no transparency, none of us have seen lawyers,” he added.
Stoker went on to credit elected officials from Austin for applying pressure to prompt his release.
“I think the only reason I was released is because of the pressure from some of my own local representatives in Texas,” Stoker said.
“Thank you Rep. Lloyd Doggett for supporting Greg — now let’s make sure everyone else gets the same support!” stated another post to Stoker’s Instagram by a friend trusted to manage his account during his capture.
Doggett, an Austin Democrat, confirmed in a Facebook post that Stoker had been released from his imprisonment following days of advocacy from the congressman’s office and coordination with officials in Washington and Israel.
“To the many concerned about Austinite Greg Stoker, a participant in the flotilla intercepted by the Israeli Navy as it attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, our office has been communicating since Thursday with U.S. officials in Washington and Israel as well as the Israelis,” Doggett’s post said. “Greg and other participants were just safely flown out of Israel.”
Stoker said he left Israel on a charter flight arranged in coordination with the Slovakian government.
“This whole process is insane,” Stoker said. In addition to organizing with anti-war veterans group About Face, Stoker is also a journalist with Mint Press News and commenter on the Colonial Outcasts podcast.
Another post to Stoker’s Instagram story by his friend cautioned that U.S. delegates from the flotilla are receiving limited access to lawyers and are being asked to sign additional paperwork, a process allegedly intended to draw out their release.
“We need ALL HANDS ON DECK contacting reps and the state department to demand the remaining U.S. delegates be given access to Adalah Legal Center layers and are immediately released,” the post stated.
In his Monday video update, Stoker took the focus off of himself by reminding viewers that what he has experienced is “less than a tenth” of what Palestinian people experience daily.
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