Family will not rest until Honley woman Paveen Yaqub is home

Jun 2 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Family will not rest until Honley woman Paveen Yaqub is home

A HUDDERSFIELD woman taken prisoner by the Israeli authorities following a raid on an aid boat bound for Gaza was ‘safe and well’ last night.

Paveen Yaqub, 39, of Honley, phoned her family from Be’er Sheva prison, Israel, where she and several other Britons were being held.

Her detention followed an attack by Israeli commandos in which nine people were killed.

Last night Paveen’s sister Nosheen Yaqub broke the news to a Palestinian support meeting organised by Huddersfield Stop The War Coalition, shortly after the phone call.

Nosheen said her sister was safe and well and had been joking about enjoying prison food.

She said: “I have just had a phone call from my brother to say that Paveen was finally allowed to make contact.

“She’s safe and well.

“The line was really bad so the conversation was brief. She was talking fast.

“She hasn’t lost her sense of humour and said she was enjoying her prison food!”

Nosheen, of Oldham, said the Israeli authorities were investigating formal charges for her sister.

She said the time of her release would depend on what charges the Israeli government made.

Nosheen, the youngest of seven siblings, added that while one Briton has been wounded none had been killed.

But yesterday Nosheen said she and the rest of the family desperately wanted her “happy and bubbly” sister back.

Aid worker Paveen is said to be among 31 British nationals and a further 11 with dual nationality now detained at a compound in Be’er Sheva for questioning.

British Consulate officials are “urgently seeking access” to the Britons.

Nosheen and nephew Tanveer Qamar yesterday met Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney to help the family make contact with Paveen.

She said before the call she and her family had been “worried sick” and unable to eat or sleep.

Nosheen said: “We won’t be happy or content until my sister is home safe. Until then we won’t be able to rest.”

Charity worker Paveen was on the Mavi Marmara, the lead boat of a flotilla carrying aid and activists to help people in the Gaza Strip.

The flotilla had been heading to Gaza with tens of thousands of tons of aid.