The Maine man caught up in the Israeli raid on aid ships trying to reach the Gaza Strip is in Turkey and could return to the U.S. tomorrow or Saturday, his father said.
Moe Hamann said his son, Scott Hamann, was deported from Israel Wednesday, along with scores of Turks and Americans who had been aboard a flotilla of ships trying to get through the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains that the blockade is needed to prevent the Hamas group from obtaining weapons and it backed up the blockade buy sending commandos to take over the aid flotilla Monday.
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Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed in a clash between the commandos and those aboard the ships. Scott Hamann of South Portland, who had been hired to document the attempt to run the blockade, was aboard an American-flagged ship and most of the violence was onboard one of the Turkish-flagged ships.
Scott Hamann suffered a minor injury when a grenade landed near his foot. Moe Hamann said it was apparently a “stun grenade” designed to produce a loud noise and flash rather than one designed to kill or injure, he said.
Moe Hamann said he talked to his son briefly Wednesday. Scott Hamann was in Istanbul, he said, and has a ticket to fly to New York’s JFK airport Friday and then onto Maine, although his schedule is still a bit unclear. Moe Hamann noted that his son was still wearing the same clothes he had on when commandos boarded the ships and his film and computer equipment is still being held by Israel.
“He was elated to know that their efforts have not fallen on deaf ears,” Moe Hamann said, and “the Turkish people have been marvelous to him.”
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