Demonstrators Use Violence Against Israeli Navy Soldiers Attempting to Board Ship, 31 May 2010
Early this morning, IDF Naval Forces boarded six ships attempting to break the maritime closure of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israeli Navy that were issued prior to the action. The Israel Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod where they would be able to unload their aid supplies which would then be transferred over land after undergoing security inspections.
During the boarding of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.
As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire.
According to initial reports, these events resulted in over ten deaths among the demonstrators and numerous injured, in addition, more than four naval personnel were injured, some from gunfire and some from various other weapons. Two of the soldiers are moderately wounded and the remainder sustained light injuries. All of the injured, Israelis and foreigners are currently being evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Israel.
Reports from IDF forces on the scene are that it seems as if part of the participants onboard the ships were planning to lynch the forces.
The interception of the flotilla followed numerous warnings given to the organizers of the flotilla before leaving their ports as well as while sailing towards the Gaza Strip. In these warnings, it was made clear to the organizers that they could dock in the Ashdod sea port and unload the equipment they are carrying in order to deliver it to the Gaza Strip in an orderly manner, following the appropriate security checks. Upon expressing their unwillingness to cooperate and arrive at the port, it was decided to board the ships and lead them to Ashdod.
IDF naval personnel encountered severe violence, including use of weaponry prepared in advance in order to attack and to harm them. The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail.
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Ah, so there is some comprehensive Israeli footage. Good. On first viewing it looks like a real donnybrook. I can see why they had to use their guns. I don’t know what careful analysis will reveal, but you can see attacks on soldiers and the throwing of objects. Gunfire isn’t obvious from either side to my untrained eye, but it is clear that the people on the ship are not cooperating and making an organized resistance.
I temper my previous remarks pending some analysis of whether or not the Israeli commandos had any choice of tactics to anticipate serious resistance. From what I know about such situations the ROE (Rules of Engagement) are a critical factor but this video looks to my untrained eye like the Israeli personnel got swarmed in such a way that it would guarantee triggering the ROE.
It didn’t take someone long to flag the video and have it restricted to people with Youtube accounts did it?
The video can also be found on the Jerusalem post page :
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177019
I really recommend Ron Ben-Yishai’s report — he was on one of the IDF ships:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896796,00.html
Thing I don’t get is that the Israelis must have known it was a set-up. Couldn’t they have handled things differently? Not fallen into the trap? Aren’t there other ways of turning boats around or heading them off? Why let this happen? For internal reasons? (Wouldn’t want to think so). Did the Israelis know something about what was (really) on the boats? But why walk into what was obviously gonna be a PR nightmare?
Implications re Obama, caling off tomorrow’s session, etc.?
On some level, of course, it doesn’t matter, if that’s not too cynical a comment — Israel never wins the PR wars, but still, why make things harder?
The time for anti- Zionist anti- Jew haters is coming to an end. But not soon enough!
Prayers to the wounded soldiers.
They should let the moslem squatters help those on the ships, Let the moslems take them to THEIR hosptials.
The IDF needs to arrest every last one of them and charge them with terrorism.
I’m glad that we got a military video from above, showing what happened. But it took a very long time to get that.
I still don’t get that the IDF could not understand that there were really bad guys on these ships. Someone I know well and whose judgment I trust has been living in Istanbul since the end of Jan. 20010, and with four months of Turkey, he was able to tell me that the turkish islamists are real bad guys, who train and do not fear a good little brawl. Moreover, he gave me an israeli reference to IHH, the organization which organized the flotilla :
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e105.htm
So now, come on, an amateur knows that the guys are bad guys, and a well-trained, well-organized army, with lots of intelligent personnel and lots of intelligence personnel does not know that these guys are bad guys?
Beats me.
It looks to me like yet another military failure, whichever way you look at it. And that should not be surprising for whoever has watched Zahal for the last 15-20 years.
And the more they show this to the enemies, the more they invite similar operations.
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incognito,
I don’t think so.
Those on the Mavri Marmara with Shahid ambitions have been bitterly disappointed. They’ve been denied the “heroic” battle and death they hoped for — as well as a triumphant entry near Gaza shores.
They’ve been exposed for what they are: a band of blood-thirsty Fanatics.
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Those on the Mavri Marmara with Shahid ambitions have been bitterly disappointed. They’ve been denied the “heroic†battle and death they hoped for — as well as a triumphant entry near Gaza shores.
They’ve been exposed for what they are: a band of blood-thirsty Fanatics.
They would have won either way: either they got to Gaza or they made Israel pay a heavy price. The exposure was ineffective because the MSM ignored it and its audience is already primed to disbelieve it.
Obama will exploit the ganging on Israel to blackmail it into dangerous concessions, including the lifting the blockade. That was always his intention — to weaken it until it would yield.
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