Published June 17, 2010

One of the Bay Staters on that “Free Gaza” flotilla, seized by Israeli commandos three weeks ago, is still trying to get her wallet in order.

Pro-Palestinian activist Kathy Sheetz, of Woods Hole, made it back home with nothing but her passport and the clothes on her back, since the Israeli authorities took all of her belongings, including her bank cards and video camera.

She discovered her cards had been blocked due to fraudulent activity, and she is still waiting for replacements.

Sheetz talked with WBUR’s Rachel Rohr yesterday. Sheetz has attempted three trips to Gaza — one successful — and she is willing to go again, even after nine of her shipmates were killed in a raid on her third and most recent trip. Sheetz still believes this is the best way to peacefully bring attention to the humanitarian issues in Gaza.

Sheetz and her husband, Steven Greeves, are considering suing for lost property. Her camera, seized in the raid, was worth thousands of dollars, she said. She said the journalists on board lost all their laptops, cameras and other recording equipment. Sheetz’s belongings were seized but eventually returned after her second attempted trip, she said.

There are legal complications to suing, she said, since she was on a U.S. vessel raided by Israeli police in international waters. (She thinks this is the equivalent of being inside the United States).

The son of a Brewster man was also aboard the ship.