Bohemia mom says son, Eric Lein, held by Israelis after taking part in Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza

A man who grew up in Hicksville is being imprisoned by Israel after he and hundreds of other activists were captured aboard an aid flotilla en route to break the country’s blockade on Gaza by delivering food and medicine, his mother said.

His mother, Helen Lein, of Bohemia, 73, learned via an Instagram video that her son, Eric Lein, 39, had been among about 450 activists who were captured. That video was timed to be released automatically in case the flotilla failed to make it to Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid from entering.

Recalling his reasons for joining the Global Sumud Flotilla, she said he explained how he was horrified and heartbroken by videos of what has been happening in Gaza, where, the United Nations has said, there is "famine and widespread starvation."

“‘If the government won't do anything about it, we will do something,’" she recalled him saying. "They're gonna do something, even though the world is being silent about it."

She added, "He couldn’t be silent anymore."

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called the flotilla, which included the activist Greta Thunberg, "terrorists." He made the comment as he visited where the activists are being held. "Free Palestine" could be heard being shouted by the prisoners, according to a Reuters report.

The Israeli government couldn’t be reached for comment about Eric Lein's status.

His mom says that before volunteering for a crew position on the flotilla, he had volunteered in Cairo, teaching music to Palestinian kids, including orphans, who had been displaced by Israeli bombings.

In the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel by Hamas, then-Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza.

During the Oct. 7 attacks, Hamas and other groups killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including at least 38 children, according to the Israeli government. They abducted hundreds and injured thousands, the Israeli government has said.

Since Oct. 7, the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's air and ground campaign has exceeded 67,000, with about half women and children, as of last month, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and militants. In addition, nearly 170,000 more have been injured, the ministry says. According to the U.N., 42,000 of them have "life-changing injuries."

Israel has allowed varying amounts of humanitarian aid to enter during the war, but cut off the flow of all aid entirely for several months earlier this year. 

On Sunday, Helen Lein said, she was messaged on a text group by flotilla organizers for participants’ families that Israeli prison guards and police have allegedly denied some of the participants needed medical care, provided inadequate or no food, and placed some participants in overcrowded cells. Some flotilla participants are allegedly being subjected to harsh interrogations, including physical violence and blindfolding, according to the text group.

The Israeli government has denied that participants are being mistreated.

"The claims regarding the mistreatment of Greta Thunberg and other detainees from the Hamas—Sumud flotilla are brazen lies. All the detainees’ legal rights are fully upheld," the country’s foreign ministry posted Sunday morning on X.

But Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system, said: "I was proud that we treat the 'flotilla activists' as supporters of terrorism. Anyone who supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the conditions of terrorists," according to The Associated Press.

Desperate for information about her son, after failing to reach any authorities by phone, Helen Lein has emailed the United Nations, the White House, the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and both the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the embassy's branch office in Tel Aviv.

"I actually spoke with someone at Consular Affairs. I was assured that they were aware of the situation, but that was basically all," she said.

Some participants have been seen by a lawyer — Eric is one who has — but others have not, Lein said organizers told her by text.

Emailed about Eric Lein's case, an unnamed State Department spokesperson did not provide specifics about him but responded, "We remain in close contact with Israeli authorities about this matter" and "are aware of U.S. citizens recently detained by the Government of Israel." The email added, "The flotilla was a deliberate and unnecessary provocation."