From
the News Media it
would seem that
Israel attacked
helpless aid
workers who were
just trying to get
supplies into Gaza.
What
really happened?
A few minutes before
the takeover attempt
aboard the Mari
Marmara got
underway, the
operation commander
was told that 20
people were waiting
on the deck where a
helicopter was to
deploy the first
team of Navy
commandos. Officials
estimated that
passengers will show
slight resistance,
and possibly minor
violence. The first
rope that soldiers
used in order to
descend down to the
ship was wrested
away by activists,
most of them Turks.
Navy commandos slid
down to the vessel
one by one, yet then
the unexpected
occurred: The
passengers that
awaited them on the
deck pulled out
bats, clubs,
[knives] and
slingshots with
glass marbles,
assaulting each
soldier as he
disembarked. The
fighters were nabbed
one by one and were
beaten up badly, yet
they attempted to
fight back.
However, to their
misfortune, they
were only equipped
with paintball
rifles used to
disperse minor
protests. One
soldier who came to
the aid of a comrade
was captured by the
rioters and
sustained severe
blows. The commandos
were equipped with
handguns but were
told they should
only use them in the
face of
life-threatening
situations. When
they came down from
the chopper, they
kept on shouting to
each other "don't
shoot, don't shoot,"
even though they
sustained numerous
blows.
The Navy commandos
were prepared to
mostly encounter
political activists
seeking to hold a
protest, rather than
trained street
fighters. The
soldiers were told
they were to
verbally convince
activists who offer
resistance to give
up, and only then
use paintballs. They
were permitted to
use their handguns
only under extreme
circumstances.
At one point, the
attackers nabbed one
commando, wrested
away his handgun,
and threw him down
from the top deck to
the lower deck, 30
feet below. The
soldier sustained a
serious head wound
and lost
consciousness. Only
after this injury
did troops ask for
permission to use
live fire. The
commander approved
it. The soldiers
pulled out their
handguns and started
shooting at the
rioters' legs, a
move that ultimately
neutralized them.
Meanwhile, the
rioters started to
fire back. "I saw
the tip of a rifle
sticking out of the
stairwell," one
commando said. "He
fired at us and we
fired back. We
didn't see if we hit
him."
It appears that the
error in planning
the operation was
the estimate that
the passengers were
indeed political
activists and
members of
humanitarian groups
who seek a political
provocation but
would not resort to
brutal violence.
PRO-Palestinian
Press
Reuters
Crops Out
Peace
Activist
Weapon Again
The
originals
come from
the
Peace
Activist
Website
where they
proudly
publish
pictures of
themselves
beating and
stabbing
their
unarmed
hostages.
Note: the
weapons are
cropped out
of the
pictures
published by
Reuters.
Israeli
Warnings to
Mavi Marmara
(Turkish
vessel) not
to pass
through
the Israeli
blockade
Israeli
soldiers
report on
conditions
as they drop
to the deck
of the Mavi
Marmara
Night vision
view of
events
TOP Night
vision view
of events
Israeli
soldiers
after THEY
were attack
Navy: Activists tried to kidnap 3 commandos
during Gaza aid flotilla raid
During Israel's takeover of a Turkish ship in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla this week, some passengers tried to take captive three commandos who lost consciousness as a result of the activists' blows, according to early findings of a navy investigation. The three were dragged into one of the passenger halls below deck and were held there for several minutes.
After dozens of other commandos began searching the ship, the Mavi Marmara, the three soldiers regained consciousness and managed to join their comrades.
As seen on a video documenting the takeover, the first four commandos to rappel onto the deck were attacked by activists with bars, axes and knives. The fourth commando, K., saw his team leader on the deck, with a Turkish activist holding the pistol he had grabbed from him and pointing it to his head. K. jumped from the rope and managed to shoot the activist holding the gun. This happened 20 seconds after the first soldier landed on the deck.
The commanders of the first unit were hit by the mob as they landed. One of the soldiers managed to fix another rope, after there were problems with the original one, for 10 more soldiers to land. The commandos cared for the wounded and took over part of the upper deck of the ship.
At this stage, six minutes into the operation, another force landed from a second helicopter, led by a major. At that point they realized that three commandos were missing and they began looking for them. A short while later the naval commando chief landed along with dozens more soldiers, some of whom climbed from boats. Others landed from a third helicopter.
The soldiers reported that the activists had fired on them during the confrontation and that at least two commandos suffered gunshot wounds. After the incident, 9mm bullet casings were found - a kind not used by the naval commandos. The captain of the ship told the naval commando chief that the guns were thrown overboard before the ship was completely taken over.
The navy says it needs to look into whether the psychological preparations of the force were sufficient, and whether it had emphasized an easier scenario that did not take place.
"The main gap between preparations and intelligence was that we did not know we would face dozens of rioters," a senior officer involved in the operation said. "This was not a disturbance that went awry. It was a planned ambush."
Tutu condemns
Israel
"We as elders
condemn Israel
utterly for this
attack. The
actions of the
Israelis is
inexcusable,"
said Tutu.
He was
speaking at the
conclusion of a
meeting of the
group formed in
2008 to
highlight
humanitarian
issues. Members
include former
UN secretary
general Kofi
Annan and former
US president
Jimmy Carter.
Reading a
statement, Tutu
said the Elders
wanted an urgent
investigation
into the "tragic
incident" after
Israeli forces
boarded the Mavi
Marmara as it
sailed with a
flotilla to
Gaza.
He said it
should draw the
world's
attention to the
"terrible
suffering of
Gaza's 1.5
million people,
half of whom are
children under
the age of 18".
The Elders
considered
Israel's
blockage of Gaza
illegal
collective
punishment of
its inhabitants
and said it was
also
counterproductive.
"This is
because it
creates
unacceptable
suffering, in
the process
empowering
extremists and
undermining
moderate forces
in Gaza", they
said.
Reaction
from Helen
Thomas
(White House
press
correspondent)
Obama
told
Netanyahu:
Go
Home,
Don't
Explain From
Here
In
the
hubbub
surrounding
the
“battle
of
the
flotilla,”
Netanyahu’s
quick reversal of his decision to remain in the United States
has
been largely ignored. It turns out that Obama told him to
leave
because he didn’t want Netanyahu to use the White House as a
stage on which to present Israel’s side of the story.
The flotilla violence caught Netanyahu in the midst of a diplomatic trip to North America. He was in the Canadian capital of Ottawa at the time, about to leave for Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. The meeting was to have been a way for Obama to make up for the humiliation he dealt Netanyahu on his last visit, when he refused to be seen with the Israeli leader in public.
Netanyahu announced immediately after the flotilla news broke that he would remain in North America and would meet with Obama as scheduled. However, within minutes after media reported Netanyahu would continue with his trip as scheduled, he abruptly announced a change of plan and set off immediately for Israel to “deal with the flotilla crisis.”
Behind the scenes, it was Obama officials who caused the turnabout. Globes cites sources in both Jerusalem and Washington who say that Obama officials gave a clear message to Netanyahu’s people: “Don’t come.”
Officials in both Washington and Jerusalem deny that this was the case.
Some sources said that it was precisely the high-profile nature of the visit that scared the Americans. The White House did not wish Obama to be seen sharing the stage with the leader of the country that was under international attack for having “attacked peace activists.”
Netanyahu, for his part, was looking forward to explaining to the world from Washington that the violent activists on the boat in question were “terror activists” with ties to Hamas and Al-Qaeda, who attempted to lynch the minimally-armed soldiers as they rappelled down down their helicopter.
Netanyahu:
This was No
Love Boat
Prime
Minister
Binyamin
Netanyahu
addressed
the Israeli
public on
live
television
at 8:00 p.m.
Israel time,
regarding
the attempt
by a
terror-sympathizers'
flotilla to
break the
blockade of
Hamas-controlled
Gaza.
"This was no
Love Boat,”
he said.
“This was a
boat of
hatred. It
was a
terror-supporting
flotilla”
"The state
of Israel
faces an
international
campaign of
hypocrisy,”
Netanyahu
said. “This
is not the
first time.
Two years
ago, we
operated
against the
missiles
that Hamas
fired
against
Israel.
Hamas fired
at civilians
and hid
behind
civilians.
The IDF
operated
against
Hamas in an
effort to
avoid
hitting
innocent
civilians.
Despite
this, the UN
accused
Israel of
war crimes
and
regretfully,
I must say
that this is
what is
happening
now too."
"Hamas
continues to
arm, Iran
continues to
smuggle
weapons into
Gaza. The
previous
[Israeli]
government
placed a
military
blockade on
Gaza to
prevent
weapon
smuggling to
Hamas. The
purpose of
the flotilla
was to break
the naval
blockade of
Gaza. If the
blockade had
been broken,
this
flotilla
would have
been
followed by
hundreds of
ships. The
amount of
weapons that
can be
brought in
by boat is
far greater
than what is
brought in
through the
smuggling
tunnels. An
endless
amount of
weaponry can
be brought
in. It is
our right
and duty to
inspect
every ship
that tries
to reach
Gaza, to
remove the
weapons and
let the rest
of the cargo
enter.”
If Gaza
turns into
an Iranian
port,
Netanyahu
said, other
countries
beside
Israel will
be
threatened.
The naval
commandos
were
attacked
with knives
and clubs
and thrown
off the
deck, he
said. “Their
weapons were
snatched and
they were
shot. There
was an
attempt to
lynch IDF
soldiers
here. These
are not
peace
activists.
They are
violent
terror
activists.”
Hamas
refuses
to allow
aid supplies into Gaza
Goods
brought
by
flotilla
pile up
in army
warehouses.
Despite
international
criticism
against
Israel
following
a
calamitous
IDF
raid
on
an
aid
flotilla
to
Gaza,
it
appeared
Monday
that
Hamas
was
the
one
preventing
the
goods
brought
by
the
flotilla
from
entering
the
Strip.
The
army
announced
Monday
that
the
humanitarian
aid
brought
by
the
ships
had
been
mostly
unloaded,
and
estimated
that
the
task
would
be
completed
in
the
next
few
days.
Tzrifin
warehouse
overflows
with
supplies
(Photo:
Avi
Mualem)
However
Hamas
continues
to
insist
that
the
shipment
not
be
brought
in
through
the
land
crossings,
and
in
the
meantime
the
goods
continue
to
pile
up
in
the
army's
warehouses.
Major
Or
Elrom,
of
the
office
of
the
Coordinator
of
Government
Activities
in
the
(Palestinian)
Territories,
said
there
was
nothing
on
board
the
flotilla's
ships
that
Gaza's
residents
did
not
already
have.
"All
of
these
goods
have
been
previously
conveyed
there,
and
we
hope
we
can
do
the
same
in
this
case,"
she
said.
A
Defense
Ministry
facility
adjacent
to
the
Tzrifin
army
base
has
been
turned
into
a
temporary
warehouse
over
the
past
few
days,
containing
beds,
mattresses,
couches,
medical
supplies,
shoes,
clothing,
and
medicine
–
some
of
which
has
reportedly
expired.
Eitan
Kosto,
who
heads
the
Defense
Ministry's
logistics
corps,
said
the
cargo
had
not
been
loaded
onto
the
ships
according
to
professional
guidelines
and
therefore
some
of
the
goods
were
damaged
during
the
unloading.
"We
had
to
work
for
a
long
time
and
devote
many
resources
to
unloading
it
all,"
he
said.
"The
fact
that
it
wasn't
properly
organized
caused
damage
to
some
of
the
goods,
but
finally
we
succeeded
in
organizing
everything
so
it
could
be
transferred
to
the
Strip."
Much
of
the
equipment
so
far
unloaded
from
the
ships
–
mostly
shoes
and
electric
carts
–was
secondhand,
while
other
products
were
apparently
donated
by
various
organizations
and
civilians,
Kosto
said.
