Posted on 06/05/2010 9:32:37 AM PDT by publana
n Ben-Yishai reports from the field: Five days after bloody raid on Marmara, Navy stages peaceful takeover at sea; female combat soldiers take part in quick raid on Rachel Corrie, fighters board ship using rope ladders
Ron Ben-Yishai
Published: 06.05.10, 16:35 / Israel News Just five minutes – this is the estimated time it took Israel's Navy to commandeer the Rachel Corrie Ship en route to the Gaza Strip.
The raid got underway with the vessel roughly 23 miles west of the Gaza shore, right on the boundary of the naval blockade imposed on the strip. Navy Chief Major General Eliezer Marom received the chief of staff's approval before proceeding. The top military officials were also in touch with Defense Minister Ehud Barak during the operation.
Navy boats approach ship (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)
The overall operation was headed by the commander of Israel's missile boat fleet, while the actual raid on the ship was led by the commander of the Flotilla 13 commando unit, Colonel A.
The decision to take over the vessel was taken roughly at 12 pm, when it became clear that the ship had no intention of complying with the Navy's messages and turn to the Ashded port for an inspection.
The vessel's captain was informed that Navy soldiers will board the ship in line with international law and without using force, and that the IDF expected personnel on the ship to behave similarly.
4 female fighters The captain made it clear to the forces he had no intention to offer violent resistance. He gathered the 11 passengers and crewmembers on the ship's deck, where they peacefully waited for the Navy's boats. The Navy dispatched three missile boats to the area, as well as several patrol vessels which have been accompanying the Rachel Corrie since Friday. Additional missile boats were deployed in case the operation turned violent.
Shortly before 12:30, two missile boats reached the Rachel Corrie carrying about 20 combat soldiers, including four female fighters belonging to the Navy's special security unit, in charge of securing ports and vessels. The females were brought in so that they personally handle the females on board, including Nobel Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire.
The Navy commander was on board a nearby missile boat along with Flotilla 13's commander during the operation. The fighters boarded the ship using rope ladders without facing any resistance, explained their demands to the captain, and ensured they were being met.
The operation took about five minutes, with activists on board the ship yelling slogans at Navy troops but refraining from any violence. The incident highlighted the difference between passengers on Board the Marmara, who planned a violent and lethal clash in order to smear Israel, and Rachel Carrie activists. The Navy said the latter activists were part of a "provocative sail", but made do with conveying their political message, thereby averting any kind of violent clash.
Don’t Bring a Knife to a gun fight. Great Work Israel.
Sink it.
I guess every windmill chaser on earth will be taking a virtual stab at this Al Jazeera passion play
“A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers”
The Peace queers knew this time that Israel would SHOOT them
this time no violence. Simple logic. 0dinga should learn from this that peace is from strength not weakness.
Yes o should learn, but he won’t. His ego and personal agenda preclude that.
Floptilla
I haven’t heard what they plan to do with the vessel. It would be unwise to return it to the “activists,” who are being deported as quickly as possible. I like the idea of sinking it, but I like the idea of keeping it and scrapping it to make more hardware better.
BTW, I read on the IDF twitter that Hamas is refusing the supplies from the other six ships from earlier in the week. I guess their shelves are full.
Yes, but they should add BO to it.
>>>I like the idea of keeping it and scrapping it to make more hardware better.<<<
Make bulldozers out it.
I added a talkback to the comments, but they didn’t publish it. LOL I can’t imagine why. hehehe
Where's Jackson and Sharpton. They be makin the voyage soon?
That’s the best idea yet. LOL
Good work. Everyone is treating the first episode as a disaster, but Israel should stand behind it. They were defending their territory, violated by invaders who were warned to stop. They were attacked violently, and two were actually kidnapped before the terrorists lost.
Why did the Rachel Corrie surrender so quickly? Obviously because none of the invaders wanted to suffer the deserved fates of their predecessors. If you know that force will be met with force, it makes you a lot more careful.
If you know that force will be met with apologies, Obama style, it encourages more such encroachments. Better some limited violence early in the game than major violence as the result of such encouragement.
Maybe the activists figured it out. It would only work once. This time there were missile boats, combat soldiers, and the thought on every Israeli mind that if the Jihadist lovers picked up so much as a salad fork the would be dining in hell.
That is the way to conduct a blockade. The answer was, is, and will be, no, you cannot cross the blockade.
I think we have the makings of a new reality show, only the stakes are suicidal.
Testing to see if Israel would back off after the bad publicity of the last blockage runner...Israel passed the test......
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