Zhohar Regev, 56, who was born and raised in the secular Kibbutz Kfar HaHoresh in the Lower Galilee, recounted in an interview with Al Jazeera her experiences aboard the flotilla and the reasons that led her to embrace Islam.
Although born Jewish, Regev said she never considered herself religious and did not observe Jewish commandments. According to her, she always had a strong inclination to fight for justice, and she found an expression of that outlook in Islam.
She told Al Jazeera that during the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, encouraged her to follow her convictions. She said she came to believe that the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict do not stem from the Six-Day War, but rather from the Zionist movement itself, which she described as racist and aimed at granting preferential rights to one group at the expense of another.
"I support an eternal struggle," Regev said, adding that during the flotilla she met activists, including Muslims, whom she found particularly inspiring because of their commitment to their faith, unlike others whom she viewed as motivated solely by humanitarian concerns.
She claimed that international criticism has focused on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom she accused of humiliating several international protest activists. At the same time, she argued that the international community continues to allow him to, in her words, harm the lives of Palestinians on a daily basis.
Regarding the flotilla itself, Regev alleged that during the Israeli military's interception operation, troops fired rubber bullets, injured one of the women on board, and physically assaulted and humiliated activists. She further claimed that she was forcibly taken to what she described as a "prison ship," where shipping containers were used to detain activists.