Former Welsh newspaper editor says being kidnapped by Israel was worse than being imprisoned by the Taliban

Martin Shipton

A former editor of the Wales on Sunday newspaper has said she would rather spend two months in a Taliban jail than two days imprisoned by Israel.

Yvonne Ridley was speaking after being released from Israeli custody after she and nearly 500 other activists involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla were kidnapped in international waters as they tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Ms Ridley, who is originally from County Durham, edited Wales on Sunday in the mid-1990s before going to work on UK-wide papers in London.

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Afghanistan

She made headlines around the world in 2001 after being captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. She had crossed the border from Pakistan intending to report undercover as the US-led invasion took place.

Ms Ridley, 67, was released by the Taliban following international pressure and she later converted to Islam. Having settled in the Scottish Borders, she has since become an activist recognised throughout the Muslim world.

🚨 Yvonne Ridley @yvonneridley makes her first video appearance since being released from Israel

She thanks people for their support, apologises to the children of Gaza & says she'd rather spend 2 months in a Taliban prison than 2 days with the Israelis

🗣️ 'We will sail again' pic.twitter.com/VKusIMRC8g

— Lucy Jackson (@LucyAJackson_) October 8, 2025

After being taken into custody by Israel last week, she was imprisoned with others in the notorious Ketziot prison, where activists reported being subject to degrading conditions, torture, and a lack of access to food and water, among other things.

Concerns had been raised about Ms Ridley’s health after the Israelis took her medicine from her and she went on hunger strike.

She criticised the UK Government for refusing to pay for her to be repatriated to the UK. Instead she was flown by private jet by the Libyan government to Tripoli, where the boat she had been travelling on as part of the flotilla had previously docked.

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Freedom

In a video she said: “I just want to thank every single one of you who campaigned, who prayed, who petitioned, who protested for the freedom of myself and my fellow flotilla crew members.

“It’s wonderful just to be away from that horrible prison and with my husband in Istanbul.

“I have a solid knot in my heart for the little girl from Gaza who was waiting on the beach every day saying that she was looking out for our sails, looking out for us, and all she wanted was a bar of chocolate. We didn’t deliver and I’m so sad for her and all the children in Gaza.

“That was the reason for our mission. We just wanted to open a humanitarian corridor on the Mediterranean Sea so that we could get our aid into Gaza. I’m sorry we failed you. But I think it was Nelson Mandela who said: ‘Look at your failures and it’s how you pick yourself up afterwards that matters. So guess what - we are already talking about sailing again, and come hell or high water we are going to sail into Gaza.

“We’re more determined than ever, in spite of the horrible treatment by the Israelis. On another note, many of you who know me know that I spent 11 days in prison under the Taliban regime in 2001. But I’ll tell you something now, and this is straight from the heart: I would rather spend two months in a Taliban prison than two days with the Israelis. The Israelis were savage, they were brutal, they were misogynistic, the women prison officers were part of the patriarchy and they made our lives utter hell. So that’s something to think about - that I would rather do two months in Afghanistan than one more day in Israel.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “The FCDO supported a number of British nationals involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla who have now left Israel.”