A day before the confrontation with Israel a university lecturer revealed on Hamas TV that the Gaza flotilla’s commander had announced that the participants were planning to use “resistance,” the Palestinian euphemism for violence, against “the Zionists.” He added that the participants sought to die as Martyrs, even more than they wanted to reach Gaza.
By Leslie Gelb, Daily Beast Israel had every right under international law to stop and board ships bound for the Gaza war zone late Sunday. Only knee-jerk left-wingers and the usual legion of poseurs around the world would dispute this. And it is pretty clear that this “humanitarian” flotilla headed for Gaza aimed to provoke…
by Alan Dershowitz Now is the time to assess the flotilla situation carefully and methodically. The deaths and injuries on board the Gaza flotilla once again demonstrate how easy it is for radical supporters of terrorism to provoke a democracy into committing acts that will incur the condemnation of the international community. Let there be…
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…
During a search aboard the maritime vessel Mavi Marmara, IDF forces uncovered a cache of weapons including many knives, slingshots, rocks, smoke bombs, metal rods, improvised sharp metal objects, sticks and clubs, 5KG hammers, firebombs and gas masks in case IDF forces fired riot dispersal means at the activists as they violently attacked the soldiers.…
By Mordechai Kedar, Ynetnews.com It is clear to anyone with eyes in their head that the battle taking place off the Gaza shore is in fact a clash between an Islamist coalition which Turkey attempts to head – and which includes Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah on one hand – and forces with a liberal Western…
Video taken by IDF naval boat shows the passengers of the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the ‘Free Gaza’ Flotilla, violently attacking IDF soldiers who were trying to board the ship after having sent repeated requests for the boat to change course. Large groups of passengers surrounded soldiers and beat them with metal…
by Jonathan Schanzer, The Weekly Standard (online) The Turkish organizers of the Gaza Strip-bound flotilla that was boarded this morning by Israeli commandos knew well in advance that their vessels would never reach Israeli waters. That’s because the organizers belong to a nonprofit that was banned by the Israeli government in July 2008 for its…
By Mordechai Kedar, Ynetnews.com It is clear to anyone with eyes in their head that the battle taking place off the Gaza shore is in fact a clash between an Islamist coalition which Turkey attempts to head – and which includes Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah on one hand – and forces with a liberal Western…
By Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynetnews Ron Ben Yishai recounts the bloody clash aboard Gaza-bound vessel: The lacking crowd-dispersal means, the brutal violence of ‘peace activists,’ and the attempt to bring down an IDF helicopter Our Navy commandoes fell right into the hands of the Gaza mission members. A few minutes before the takeover attempt aboard the…