Israel Raids Activist Flotilla Attempting to Run Blockade

[Guest SUNTZU]

Article

JERUSALEM – Israeli commandos rappelled down to an aid flotilla sailing to thwart a Gaza blockade on Monday, clashing with pro-Palestinian activists on the lead ship in a botched raid that left at least nine passengers dead.

Bloodied passengers sprawled on the deck and troops dived into the sea to save themselves during several hours of hand-to-hand fighting that injured dozens of activists and six soldiers. Hundreds of activists were towed from the international waters to Israeli detention centers and hospitals.

International condemnation was swift and harsh as Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went so badly awry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a planned meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington to rush home. The global reaction appeared likely to increase pressure to end the embargo that has plunged Gaza's 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty.

Most of the information about what happened on the single ship where violence broke out came from Israel, which cut off all communication to and from the activists and provided testimony and video evidence that its soldiers came under attack by activists armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops.

Passengers reached at an Israeli hospital and journalists aboard the ship accused the soldiers of using excessive force. One passenger, who identified himself as American, spoke briefly with reporters.

"I'm not violent. What I can tell you is that there are bruises all over my body. They won't let me show them to you," he said before he was pushed away by a security escort.

A soldier identified only as a sergeant told reporters at a military briefing that the activists on board "were armed with knives, scissors, pepper spray and guns." He said he was armed only with a paintball rifle. "It was a civilian paintball gun that any 12-year-old can play with," he said. "I saw my friends on the deck spitting blood."

The high-seas confrontation was a nightmare scenario for Israel, which insisted its soldiers were simply unprepared for what awaited them on the Mavi Marmara, the ship carrying 600 of the 700 activists headed for Gaza. Instead of carrying their regular automatic rifles, the Israelis said they went in with non-lethal paintball guns and pistols they never expected to use.

Israel intercepted the six ships carrying some 10,000 tons of aid for the isolated seaside territory, which has been blockaded by Israel for three years, with Egypt's cooperation. The Israeli government had urged the flotilla not to try to breach the blockade before the ships set sail from waters off Cyprus on Sunday and offered to take some aid in for them.

Israel has allowed ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.

Key regional ally Turkey withdrew its ambassador on Monday, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session, the British foreign secretary demanded an end to the blockade of Gaza, and Jordan called Israel's raid a "heinous crime."

An al-Jazeera journalist delivering a report before Israel cut communications said Israel fired at the vessel before boarding it. In one web posting, a Turkish television reporter on the boat cried out, "These savages are killing people here, please help" — a broadcast that ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"

The military said naval commandos descending from a helicopter onto the deck of a Turkish-flagged ship were assaulted by armed activists. Military footage showed activists swarming around the commandos as they rappelled from a helicopter one by one, hitting them with sticks until they fell to the deck, throwing one off the ship and hurling what the military said was a firebomb.

Speaking alongside the Canadian prime minister, Netanyahu expressed "regret" for the loss of life but said the soldiers "had to defend themselves, defend their lives, or they would have been killed."

Activists said Israeli naval commandos stormed the ships after ordering them to stop in international waters, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Gaza's coast.

A spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, which organized the flotilla, said the group's goal — beyond just bringing supplies to the impoverished territory — was to shatter the blockade.

"What we're trying to do is open a sea lane between Gaza and the rest of the world," Greta Berlin said in Cyprus. "We're not trying to be a humanitarian mission. We're trying to say to the world, 'You have no right to imprison a million and a half Palestinians.'"

Israel's international image had already taken a beating from allegations that it committed war crimes during its 2008-2009 winter war in Gaza, and from widespread global opposition to the blockade. Hamas was also accused of rights violations in that conflict.

Relations with Turkey, a key supporter of the aid flotilla but also until recently Israel's staunchest ally in the Muslim world, were badly damaged by Monday's events, possibly irreparably. Ankara announced it would recall its ambassador and call off all military exercises with Israel. Around 10,000 Turks marched in protest.

At the U.N., Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the raid "murder conducted by a state" and demanded an immediate Israeli apology, international legal action and an end to the blockade.

The bloody showdown came at a sensitive time for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Netanyahu had hoped to receive a high-profile expression of support from Obama after months of strained relations over Israeli settlement construction.

Obama voiced "deep regret," over the raids, and the White House said he and Netanyahu agreed by phone to reschedule White House talks. The U.S. recently began mediating indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians following a 17-month breakdown in contacts.

Israel's immediate concern on Monday was what to do about the boats and their passengers. It ferried the wounded to hospitals by helicopter and towed the six ships to port, giving each of the activists a choice of deportation or detention.

By late Monday, about 150 of the activists — most from Turkey — had been taken off the boats, Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said, adding the process would continue into Tuesday. She said about 30 had agreed to be deported, and the rest would be detained.

A commando who spoke to reporters on a naval vessel off the coast, identified only as "A," said he and his comrades were taken off guard by a group of Arabic-speaking men when they rappelled onto the deck. He said some of the soldiers were stripped of their helmets and their pistols and some had jumped overboard to escape the violence.

A high-ranking naval official displayed a box confiscated from the boat containing switchblades, slingshots, metal balls and metal bats.

Turkey's NTV network showed activists beating one commando with sticks as he landed on deck. Dr. Arnon Afek, deputy director of Chaim Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, said two commandos were brought in with gunshot wounds. Another had serious head wounds, Afek added.

At Barzilai hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, a few activists trickled in under military escort, claiming they had been beaten during the assault.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli "massacre" and declared three days of mourning across the West Bank.

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the rival Hamas government in Gaza, condemned the "brutal" Israeli attack and called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to intervene.

After nightfall, Hamas-linked militants fired a rocket that exploded in Israel, the militants and the Israeli military said. Nobody was hurt. The militants said the rocket attack was in response to Israel's raid on the flotilla.

___

Associated Press Writers Tia Goldenberg aboard the Israeli warship INS Kidon, Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The activists say they were attacked first.

YouTube - Close-Up Footage of Mavi Marmara Passengers Attacking IDF Soldiers

That's exactly what I see.

[tntnixon]

Why try a raid on a boat when you have perfectly good torpedoes?

[Raoul]

In international waters?

[greenego]

They were told to dock and let Israel search the ship for weapons. If none found they could have gone on. There was either weapons on this ship or they were trying to cause an incident.

[Raoul]

They were told to dock and let Israel search the ship for weapons. If none found they could have gone on. There was either weapons on this ship or they were trying to cause an incident.

Source?

[SHbicycle]

Resistance is futile

[Raoul]

Resistance is futile

[leroy]

Thanks for posting the article Suntzu. I believe that this is another case of the Israelis sending a message. They established a blockade at Gaza. A blockade is, by definition, an exclusion and inspection zone. Gaza has been a continuing trouble spot for the Israelis. As the great character Homer Stokes so eloquently said in the great movie "Oh Brother": ..."We intend to pull up evil by the roots..." That is exactly what I think the Is Israelis did in Gaza and they don’t intend to have any more bad seed land or build any infrastructure to give them trouble.

Having said that, you may have a quibble with the methods employed; but you have got to admire the thinking used. It is bold and exceedingly brave. The Hebrews know exactly what they are up against. When it comes right down to it; they don’t care about "world opinion". They had enough "world opinion" ... (...which is always against them anyway...) during the run up to run up to WW2. The average Jew in Israel is not too religious (...with some notable exceptions...). He (...or she---they both serve in the IDF...) is, however, very aware that the world has been against them since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD by the Romans. The Romans got tired of the pesky Jews giving them trouble. They marched from one end of Israel to the other, destroying and killing as they went, and simply got rid of the Jews. They RENAMED the country PALESTINE (...interesting aint it...). The PALESTINIANS in PALESTINE are squatters who resettled the area after the Romans cleared it out for them.

By the way, the "poor Palestinians" displaced by the returning Jews in "Palestine" would have been made full citizens of the only democracy in the Middle East (...unlike the American Indian here in the USA...) if they has simply accepted the Jewish offer of citizenship. Their land wasn’t stolen; it was bought from rich ARAB absentee land owners in large tracts. They didn’t accept the offer for a couple of reasons. The first is that they were intimidated into not accepting it by hardliners and thug Palestinian political operatives who threatened to kill them (...and did in many cases...) if they did. The second is that they were encouraged to resist by their no count Arab brothers in the countries surrounding Israel for political reasons.

I always like to watch the middle east, Israel in particular. It is the barometer of the times.

Leroy

[daddyo]

I just read that the UN has condemned the "raid" on the so-called "peace activist" vessel. Just one more reason for us to withdraw from the UN and tell them where to go.

What bull****...

[Mr. Brooks]

"peace activist" ..

Yeah they looked real peaceful to me. You gotta be face ****ing me.

These "activists" got what they deserved.

[Guest HvyMtl]

This is what the "activists" wanted. They were told well in advance there is a UN sanctioned way to send aid... Instead they intentionally went up against the Israeli Navy, to get this type of outrage.

[USMCJG]

This is what the "activists" wanted. They were told well in advance there is a UN sanctioned way to send aid... Instead they intentionally went up against the Israeli Navy, to get this type of outrage.

+1 I believe that is exactly what happened.

[daddyo]

This is what the "activists" wanted. They were told well in advance there is a UN sanctioned way to send aid... Instead they intentionally went up against the Israeli Navy, to get this type of outrage.

The "activists" were prepared, indicating that they were looking for a fight - why else would they have metal rods and other weapons ready when the Israeli commandos boarded the ship?

[molonlabetn]

Hmmm, who to believe... Israel, or the UN and a bunch of rabid activists?

Not a hard choice from where I'm standing.

[Guest gts]

FACT: Episode took place in international waters. There were no firearms in the possession of the civilians on board. The only weapons used against the Israeli's were those commandeered by the civilians from the IDF soldiers that had stormed the ship.

OPINION: This was an act of self-defense by the people on board the ship. If any other nation on earth behaved the way Israel repeatedly has over the past 50 years, there would be an outcry by Americans for the U.S. to intervene. However, since our economy, politics and media are controlled by Israeli interest, no such outcry has ever manifested. Amazingly enough, many "conservatives" point out the outright bias and deception of the mainstream media concerning internal/national politics, yet completely ignore and/or deny any such bias concerning the State of Israel and its apartheid stance.

It would behoove the world for the U.S. to remove itself from Middle Eastern affairs. We should allow those nations to handle their matters the way they see fit. If that means they all go to war with one another, so be it. Let the victor, rather it be Israel or the Arab nations, be the outright victor by conquest.

Another FACT: Most Americans have never taken to the time to study the history concerning how Israel obtained statehood. They simply just believe and regurgitate what they have been told or taught without any scrutiny. Nor do most Americans bother to look further into more recent events concerning the State of Israel, but rather blindly support it because they are told to by the media, pastors, and other influences and mainly do so for fear of being labeled anti-semitic.

SIDE-NOTE: Here is a site run by a group of Jews that offers factual information concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: If Americans Knew - what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine

Furthermore, Israel apparently has been caught lying again...

In raw video, reporters claim Israelis fired on activists before boarding ship

Raw Story

In what could be a serious blow to Israel's narrative on the killing of at least nine humanitarian activists making their way to Gaza through international waters, raw video by an Al Jazeera producer, who was filming during the raid, appears to provide evidence that the IDF opened fire on the flotilla even before boarding it.

Israeli forces assert they came under attack by the pro-Palestine civilian group, and video released by the IDF appears to show one soldier being tossed overboard amid a scuffle with unidentified individuals wielding melee weapons, like clubs and chairs.

However, in raw video captured by an Al Jazeera producer and published to YouTube late Monday, two journalists provide a play-by-play of the harrowing event as pops and cracks echo in the background. Even before the Israeli forces were aboard, one says, they were pelting the boat with tear gas and stun grenades, injuring numerous people.

Then he confirms the first death, saying the individual was killed by "munitions," but not specifying whether it was a bullet or something else. Then he confirms that Israeli forces were boarding the ship.

Another of the reporters featured in the video works for the Iranian network Press TV. "We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades, we have navy ships on either side, helicopters overhead," he said. "We are being attacked from every single side. This is in international waters, not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone. We are being attacked in international waters completely illegally."

"The organizers are telling me now, they are raising a white flag -- they are raising a white flag to the Israeli army," the Al Jazeera reporter said. "This is after one person has been killed; a civilian has been killed by munition. That number could be more ... Despite the white flag being raised, despite the white flag being raised, the Israeli army is still shooting, still firing live munitions."

Early reports put the number of victims between nine and 19, with dozens injured. (Update: Figures from major wire services put the number at 10, but it may yet change.) The actual number has not yet been confirmed, as the IDF took all the Gaza aid flotilla participants into custody. Numerous victims were reported to be from Turkey. Palestinian leadership called the incident a "war crime." Israeli ally Turkey also pledged their regional neighbor will "face the consequences" for the killings and reportedly planned to send military escort with a future Gaza aid flotilla.

"At least four Israeli soldiers were wounded in the operation, some from gunfire, according to the military," The New York Times added.

"Our soldiers had to defend themselves, to defend their lives," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said. Other Israeli officials have called the charity organization responsible a group of "extremist supporters of terror." The IDF also alleged that weapons were found on board and that activists opened fire first, calling the the resulting violence a result of "provocation."

However, if these reporters' immediate accounting of the events proves accurate, the truth of Israel's claim that they opened fire in self defense would seem to be in doubt.

Portions of the raw video were

, although the beginning segment and the most clear allegations that Israel opened fire before boarding were not included in their entirety.

This video was published to YouTube by user WilliamTomg on May 31, 2010.

The action sparked protests around the world within hours.

In Turkey crowds took to the streets in several cities to vent fury after the storming of a Turkish passenger boat in the flotilla that left at least nine dead, most of them believed to be Turkish nationals.

"Damn Israel!", "A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, revenge, revenge!" yelled protesters in Istanbul where about 10,000 people converged on the central Taksim square after marching from the Israeli consulate.

"Turkish soldiers to Gaza," shouted some, as others torched Israeli flags.

"I call on the government to expel the Israeli consul... And if necessary, we are ready for war," Seref Mangal, 40, told AFP. A banner carried by the crowd read: "Close down the Zionist embassy."

In the capital Ankara about 1,000 people gathered outside the residence of Israeli ambassador Gabby Levy and shouted "Damn the Zionist murderers!" and "Israel will drown in the blood of the martyrs!".

They threw eggs and plastic bottles into the garden of the residency. Reports said demonstrations were held in dozens of cities across the country.

In London more than 1,000 people -- some of whom had friends on the ships carrying aid to blockaded Gaza -- protested outside the residence of British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Israeli embassy.

Chanting "Free Palestine" and brandishing the Palestinian flag and banners condemning Israeli "war crimes", activists blocked a major route through the capital. Hundreds of police stood guard outside the embassy.

"We have close friends on the boat on which people were killed and we are here waiting for news," said Kate Hudson, the chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

In Paris about 500 people joined a noisy protest near the Israeli embassy, waving Palestinian flags and shouting "Palestine will survive, Palestine will conquer".

Scuffles broke out when a dozen rival protestors waving Israeli flags approached, prompting police to fire tear gas, but calm was soon restored. Another 1,300 people rallied in the city of Lille.

Greek police used tear gas to force back around 1,500 protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Athens, while another 2,000 people rallied in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

In Lebanon thousands of Palestinian refugees and activists waving Palestinian flags and banners marched in the country's 12 refugee camps.

"Where is the international community? Where are human rights?" they chanted in the Al-Bass camp in the southern coastal city of Tyre.

In Beirut hundreds gathered in the city centre called on Israeli embassies in the Arab world to be shut down and for Israeli ambassadors to be expelled.

At a demonstration of about 3,000 people at the Beddawi camp in the northern city of Tripoli, anger also turned on Israel's traditional ally, the United States.

"God is great and America is the greatest evil," they chanted. "Give us weapons, give us weapons and send us on to Gaza."

There were even demonstrations inside Israel, where hundreds of protestors flooded the streets of the northern Arab city of Nazareth as Israeli police raised the level of alert across the country and deployed reinforcements.

More than 2,000 people in Amman protested what Jordan's Information Minister Nabil Sharif dubbed a "heinous crime".

Demonstrators included Islamist opposition leaders and carried banners that read "We Will not Surrender" and "Break Gaza Blockade." They also demanded that Jordan shut down the Jewish state's embassy and expel the Israeli ambassador.

In Iran's capital Tehran, dozens of people pelted stones at the UN office chanting: "This savage regime of Israel must be wiped out."

They burnt the Israeli flag and tore up pictures of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In Pakistan politicians, lawmakers and journalists staged a peaceful protest in Islamabad, denouncing the killings and calling on the United Nations and the United States to intervene.

Hundreds of Bosnians marched through Sarajevo, brandishing Palestinian flags. "We wanted to raise our voice to denounce a new attempt at genocide in modern times," one of the organisers, Edvin Cudic, told Srna news agency.

Around 200 people demonstrated outside the UN's European headquarters in Geneva demanding an inquiry into the raid, while in the Netherlands 400 rallied outside the Israeli embassy in The Hague.

There were also protests in Egypt while in Kuwait activists were planning rallies.

After Israeli PM Netanyahu canceled a planned meeting with President Obama, the White House stressed the importance of "learning all the facts" before jumping to conclusions.

[tntnixon]

Furthermore, Israel apparently has been caught lying again...

In raw video, reporters claim Israelis fired on activists before boarding ship

Raw Story

You need to check you sources before you start throwing this guy, Stephen Webster, out there as a teller of truths. You might as well had Adolph Hitler give us a story about Israel. This guy, wrote this crap, is 27yrs old, has not actually done any investigation his self and takes random facts from other news storys and melts them together in untrue manners

[E4 No More]

I bet you could find a website by a group of Americans saying similar things, but that doesn't mean that it's factual or simply out of context.

[Guest gts]

You need to check you sources before you start throwing this guy, Stephen Webster, out there as a teller of truths. You might as well had Adolph Hitler give us a story about Israel. This guy, wrote this crap, is 27yrs old, has not actually done any investigation his self and takes random facts from other news storys and melts them together in untrue manners

Did you bother watching the video?

[USMCJG]

GTS, Before you accept everything from ifamericansknew.org as fact, you should follow your own advice and do a little research yourself. Just calling yourself non-partisan doesn't make it so. Alison Weir, the person who runs the website, is a self-proclaimed expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs. She has said, in her own words, that she IS BIASED against Israel. And her bias is abundantly clear if you do the research. It's almost like getting your info directly from Hamas.

[Guest gts]

GTS, Before you accept everything from ifamericansknew.org as fact, you should follow your own advice and do a little research yourself. Just calling yourself non-partisan doesn't make it so. Alison Weir, the person who runs the website, is a self-proclaimed expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs. She has said, in her own words, that she IS BIASED against Israel. And her bias is abundantly clear if you do the research. It's almost like getting your info directly from Hamas.

Of course she's biased. Look at the site she is running...duh. However, the statistical information is factual. You can conclude what you want from it. But, numbers are numbers and numbers don't lie. Yes, they publish their own opinions based on the facts they have accumulated, as we all tend to do. IMO, a look at the stats speaks volumes concerning Israel's practices and America's position. Both are inherently flawed, IMO.

ADDED: P.S. I have done the research. I have spent the past 4 years studying Israel, the Zionist, movement and its impact on the U.S. And, yes, my conclusions have result in me being biased, based on fact. Directly from Hamas...really?...as opposed to directly from Israel or parties with their interest in mind?

Edited June 1, 2010 by gts
added content

[E4 No More]

Of course she's biased. Look at the site she is running...duh. However, the statistical information is factual. You can conclude what you want from it. But, numbers are numbers and numbers don't lie. Yes, they publish their own opinions based on the facts they have accumulated, as we all tend to do. IMO, a look at the stats speaks volumes concerning Israel's practices and America's position. Both are inherently flawed, IMO.

The statistics show that the Palistinians are losing and nothing more. It doesn't take a genius to know that doing things like launching an bunch of un-guided rockets into Isreal is going to elicit a deadly response. It's kind of that, "Don't spit into the wind" type of thing. I suggest that you talk to Palistinians who have escaped the world of the P.L.O. before taking a side. They might tell you what is really going on over there.

[SHbicycle]

If someone was jumping out of a car with a gun in front of your house yelling I'm going to kill your children would you let them get to the front door?

[Guest gts]

The statistics show that the Palistinians are losing and nothing more. It doesn't take a genius to know that doing things like launching an bunch of un-guided rockets into Isreal is going to elicit a deadly response. It's kind of that, "Don't spit into the wind" type of thing. I suggest that you talk to Palistinians who have escaped the world of the P.L.O. before taking a side. They might tell you what is really going on over there.

Losing? Yep, that's right. Not hard to lose when the opposition is financed and armed by the U.S...at a rate of 7 million a day, is it? As a matter of fact, I have a close friend who was born, raised and spent most of his adult life (lives in Memphis now) under the PLO, and he'll be the first tell you that the PLO is not representing the interest of the vast majority of Palestinians. Hell, Arafat was Egyptian, not Palestinian. The whole thing is a concocted mess to suit the Zionist agenda.

Edited June 1, 2010 by gts

[SHbicycle]

"Zionist agenda"

This tells me all I need to know.

Oh ya I'M A COWBOYS FAN TO

Edited June 1, 2010 by SHbicycle

[E4 No More]

Losing? Yep, that's right. Not hard to lose when the opposition is financed and armed by the U.S...at a rate of 7 million a day, is it? As a matter of fact, I have a close friend who was born, raised and spent most of his adult life (lives in Memphis now) under the PLO, and he'll be the first tell you that the PLO is not representing the interest of the vast majority of Palestinians. Hell, Arafat was Egyptian, not Palestinian. The whole thing is a concocted mess to suit the Zionist agenda.

Dude! Step away from the crack-pipe.