It's a good thing that Israeli Defense Forces video-taped their boarding of the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara and recorded what happened as their soldiers dropped down on deck from helicopters. Below is footage from the IDF blog. Watch as each soldier is attacked with clubs and/or steel rods as soon as they hit the deck.
Prior to boarding, the IDF warned the flotilla. See below video (Hat tip to Fausta's Blog):
(IDF Spokesperson blog)
Here are some of the weapons used by those on board.
(IDF Spokesperson blog)
And you question why some people got shot?
Here's the thing: even IF the activists attacked first, the IDF still provoked the entire chain of events by boarding the ships in the first place. They could have handled this whole situation in a much better way and no one would have gotten killed.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeletePrior to boarding, the IDF gave the boats a choice; either disembark at an Israeli port, allow their cargo to be inspected with genuine relief supplies being delivered to Gaza or turn back.
The boats rejected both choices.
Five of the 6 boats surrendered peacefully. The Turking boat chose to fight.
Was Israel supposed to let it go though without making sure there were no arms aboard?
How would you have handled it?