David Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
A second flotilla with 145 passengers, including L.A.-based journalist Emily Wilder, set sail toward Gaza at the end of September.
Several people who sailed in the flotillas have made statements online that they were attacked outside Israel’s jurisdiction — in some cases far outside Israel’s declared blockade zone — before being detained and abused by the Israeli government.
Flotilla members from the U.S., along with their families and some U.S. members of congress, say they saw a lack of basic support from the U.S. State Department.
Back in the U.S., some California elected officials were trying to get more help for the flotilla members.
U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Oct. 5. He urged Rubio to “use the full diplomatic resources of the United States” to secure the U.S. citizens’ release.
Gomez is the congressman for California’s 34th District and journalist Emily Wilder lives within his L.A. district. Wilder was detained in the most recent flotilla to Gaza and released on Oct. 10.
Gomez criticized the Trump administration’s response to the U.S. citizens’ detainment, saying his office found the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., was more forthcoming than America’s own State Department.
“ They tend to look at party before country,” Gomez told LAist, referring to the Trump administration.
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avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
avid Adler, a 33-year-old political economist from Los Angeles, has returned to the U.S. after more than two weeks at sea and five days in an Israeli prison.
Adler told LAist his upbringing in a Los Angeles Jewish community motivated him to help organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, a step that eventually led to his detention by the Israeli government.
“Here comes a Jewish kid from California, raised and reared in the Jewish community of the San Fernando Valley, who's speaking on behalf of Jewish principles,” he told LAist. "We became objects for humiliation and abuse and treated as ‘animals’, in their language.”
Adler was one of about 450 people from more than 40 countries, including four Californians, who sailed with the flotilla that first departed Barcelona, Spain, at the beginning of September. The flotilla set out to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and open an aid corridor to the war-ravaged population.
