http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176970
At least 15 activists dead, dozens hurt in flotilla clashes
By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
05/31/2010 09:18
IDF says soldiers were met by well-planned lynch, concealed handguns, knives, bats, metal pipes in Gaza flotilla raid; 5 Navy commandos wounded; Al Jazeera broadcasts footage
International activists aboard the flotilla of ships on their way to the Gaza Strip opened fire on IDF soldiers who boarded the ships to prevent them from breaking the Israeli-imposed sea blockade, the IDF said Monday.
According to the IDF, the international activists “prepared a lynch” for the soldiers who boarded the ships at about 2 a.m. Monday morning after calling on them to stop, or follow them to the Ashdod Port several hours earlier.
According to IDF reports, at least 15 activists were killed during the ensuing clashes and dozens were wounded. Some of the wounded were evacuated to Israeli hospital by Air Force helicopters.Five Navy commandos were also wounded, some of them from gunfire.At least 2 soldiers were seriously wounded.
In international reactions, Turkey, Sweden and Greece summonsed their Israeli ambassadors for discussions on the violence.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also responded to the clashes, which he called a “slaughter,” according to an AFP report.
Upon boarding the ships, the soldiers encountered fierce resistance from the passengers who were armed with knives, bats and metal pipes. The soldiers used non-lethal measures to disperse the crowd. The activists, according to an IDF report, succeeded in stealing two handguns from soldiers and opened fire, leading to an escalation in violence.
Al Jazeera on Monday broadcasted footage from the Gaza flotilla’s lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showing Israeli Navy commandos boarding the ship. Helicopters could also be seen flying overhead.
al jazeera Video at link. shows nothing. I am more interested in what it doesn’t show.
This entire flotilla was a deliberate provocation. The EU is already condemning Israel.
BBC is off the rails with this. Hysterical reporting at best, outright lies at worst.
You can always count on BBC to be anti-Israel:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10196420.
Reporters’ log: Gaza flotilla
Page last updated at 8:17 GMT, Monday, 31 May 2010 9:17 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version Reports from BBC correspondents after Israeli commandos board a convoy of ships carrying aid to Gaza.
0800GMT: TIM FRANKS, JERUSALEM
After the funerals and after the rage Israel will face two big questions: if, as Israeli officials insist, they are happy to channel all this aid into Gaza via Israeli ports - including the building materials which it claims Hamas could put to military ends - then what’s the point of the blockade?
And how far can it continue to stick to the line that “there are no shortages in Gaza”, when the United Nations, among others, describes the humanitarian situation as “grim” and “deteriorating”?
0730GMT: WYRE DAVIES, ASHDOD, ISRAEL
According to the Israeli army at least 10 peace activists were killed when navy commandos boarded the Gaza aid flotilla in the early hours of the morning.
An army spokesman said the activists refused an order not to go to Gaza with their boats laden with humanitarian aid and instead dock at the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The army says its troops were attacked by the activists with axes, knives and firearms.
At least four Israeli marines were injured, said a spokeswoman, including one who was shot when his gun was snatched by an activist.
There’s now a state of alert across Israel.
0700GMT: JON DONNISON, GAZA CITY
Israel had warned it was going to use limited force to stop the flotilla. It seems to have used more than that.
Television pictures from on board the ships show Israeli armed commandos storming the boats.
You can hear what sounds like gun shots and a number of people can be seen lying on the deck, apparently injured.
It took place around 60km out to sea in international waters. An Israeli government minister expressed regret for any loss of life.
Israel has said it will tow the ships to Ashdod where a special passport and detention centre has been set up.
It says from there the activists will be deported. Here in Gaza the Hamas prime minister has called the Israeli operation an act of piracy.
0630GMT: JONATHAN HEAD, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Within hours of the first clashes between Israeli forces and the Gaza bound convoy the Turkish government issued a strongly-worded condemnation of the Israeli actions.
Once again Israel has shown that it ignores human rights and peaceful initiatives, read the statement from the foreign ministry.
It accused Israel of violating international law by using such force on the high seas, and said its actions could have irrevocable consequences for relations with Turkey.
The main organiser of the convoy is a Turkish-based Islamic charity and most of the activists on board are Turkish citizens.
Pictures of the confrontation have been repeatedly broadcast through the morning on Turkish television stations and an angry crowd has surrounded the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.
If the reports of large numbers of casualties are confirmed, relations between Turkey and Israel, already badly strained over the blockade of Gaza, will plunge to a new low.
It's an old trick: Confront armed security forces with a murderous mob armed with improvised weapons (rocks, iron bars, boards, etc), then scream bloody murder when the security force use firearms to keep from being beaten or hacked to death. Many a soldier and policeman has been killed and mutilated over the years by mobs of savages because he hesitated to use gunfire to defend himself. Lethal force does not require guns and bombs, but it does merit a lethal response.