Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Missiles, Mortars, and Iranians, oh my

New York Times:
“We know the meaning of allowing these boats to reach Gaza,” Silvan Shalom, an Israeli minister, told Army Radio, warning that they could bring “missiles, mortars and Iranians who will help them arm and train.”
[. . .]
Israel began transferring to Gaza the cargo it had unloaded from the six-boat flotilla at a naval base in the Israeli port of Ashdod. The military said it included toys, some wheelchairs and a lot of used clothes.


Israel News, Ynet:

A brutal ambush at sea


[. . .]
Navy commandoes slid down to the vessel one by one, yet then the unexpected occurred: The passengers that awaited them on the deck pulled out bats, clubs, and slingshots with glass marbles, assaulting each soldier as he disembarked. The fighters were nabbed one by one and were beaten up badly, yet they attempted to fight back.

However, to their misfortune, they were only equipped with paintball rifles used to disperse minor protests, such as the ones held in Bilin. The paintballs obviously made no impression on the activists, who kept on beating the troops up and even attempted to wrest away their weapons.

One soldier who came to the aid of a comrade was captured by the rioters and sustained severe blows. The commandoes were equipped with handguns but were told they should only use them in the face of life-threatening situations.


[. . .]

During the commotion, another commando was stabbed with a knife. In a later search aboard the Marmara, soldiers found caches of bats, clubs, knives, and slingshots used by the rioters ahead of the IDF takeover. It appeared the activists were well prepared for a fight.
New York Times:
Israel began transferring to Gaza the cargo it had unloaded from the six-boat flotilla at a naval base in the Israeli port of Ashdod. The military said it included toys, some wheelchairs and a lot of used clothes.
Something tells me that if they'd found weapons in that cargo they would have mentioned it. No guns. Toys. Wheelchairs. Used Clothes. Right. So where did those guns come from? Oh, yes. It says right here. The "armed with only paintguns" commandos brought them onboard themselves. But they could use them only in life threatening situations. Apparently they did.

Nine dead—none of them Israeli commandos, in international waters. Pirates are Pirates.

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