Link

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the incident "murder committed by a state" and said Israel had "lost all legitimacy".

A relationship under strain before today, however a supporter in times past.

But Israeli UN representative Daniel Carmon told the Security Council that some on board the ships had motives other than providing humanitarian assistance, and had tried to lynch Israeli soldiers.

The six-ship convoy had set out to carry 10,000 tonnes of aid from Cyprus to Gaza, despite repeated Israeli warnings that it would not be allowed to reach the territory.

Organisers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says 10 of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.

Aussie wounded in Israeli ships raid

ONE Australian has been wounded during a deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Two other Australians, Fairfax journalists Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty, were on board but were not hurt and are being detained in an Israeli detention centre.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said at least one Australian was wounded in the attack, in which at least nine people died,

Israel says activists aboard nine ships, taking tonnes of supplies to Gaza, attacked its commandos yesterday, while the flotilla's organisers said the Israeli forces opened fire first.

Australia is demanding Israel conduct a credible investigation subject to international scrutiny over the incident, which Mr Smith described as “terrible and shocking”.

He said one Australian was shot in the leg during the attack and was being treated in an Israeli hospital, but did not identify the person.

“We don't have any information that any other Australians have been caught up either injured or killed at this stage,” Mr Smith told ABC Radio.

Consular officials were working “very actively” and “strenuously” to determine the welfare of other Australians who may have been aboard the flotilla.

“It's a terrible and shocking incident and people have genuinely been shocked by it,” Mr Smith said, adding it was appropriate for Australia to deplore the violence and deaths.

“But we do need to proceed very calmly, there's always claim and counter-claim.”

Australia wanted Israel to effect “a credible investigation that needs to be subject to the scrutiny of the international community through the (United Nations) security council”.

“The onus is on Israel to provide a detailed explanation as to these matters,” Mr Smith said.

Israel also would have to explain its use of force and possible use of disproportionate force, Mr Smith said.

Australia maintained its view that Israel should ease its blockade of Gaza to allow aid and humanitarian assistance through.

Mr Smith acknowledged there was great concern in the international community over the incident.

Australian officials “at every level” in Canberra and Tel Aviv were in close contact with their Israeli counterparts.

“They're putting our view which goes to the easing of restrictions or access to the Gaza for aid and humanitarian assistance and also for a credible response to this shocking incident,” Mr Smith said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world...o-1225873869612

There is video of the activist terrorists attacking the soldiers with metal pipes. knives and metal poles as they landed on the ship. They shot these lying creeps in self defence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgVA5TPf6o8...player_embedded

Fox is the only one showing the actual videos of what happened. The mass media is lying about it in the same way that they lied about the situation in Thailand.

CLOSE UP VIDEO:

For any defenders of those murderous bastards of the IDF.....what would you do if your ship was stormed by blindly shooting thugs whilst you were in international waters? I know what I would have done; pick up the nearest iron bar and start flailing.

If some simmilar thugs, AKA known as pirates, illegally boarded a ship in ANY other situation, in ANY other piece of the international oceans, all self defence measures by the victims/passengers would have been hailed as heroic by you one-eyed <deleted>.

It is a lie that the soldiers shot before being attacked and can clearly be seen on the video. A large number of pretend "peace" activists started hitting them with metal poles as they repelled down a rope with no guns in their hands.

These "peace" criminals - with strong ties to terrorist organizations - knew there was military blockade of Gaza which is controlled by Hamas - which is legal in International waters under article of 51 of the UN charter - and they announced to the whole world that they would ignore it even though Israel volunteered to distribute the supplies they claimed to be bringing.

The "peace" phonies attacked the soldiers and now want to whine about them firing in self defense. They wanted violence and they got it.

It is too bad that some people are willing to make excuses for them, but the same kind of people make justifications for attacking innocent women and children, so what else is new?

as heroic by you one-eyed <deleted>.

Theres no need for that sort of rubbish in bedlam. You need to go take a cold shower Harcourt.

I feel it is very difficult to make a decision on what actually occurred out there without some more reliable evidence. I don't know who did what first or what their motives for doing such might have been.

In my mad impetuous youth I was in a thing called the RAF Regiment for a time a bit like the Army and have been a Colonial Policeman for nearly twenty-five years. I am currently a Divisional Commander In the Marine Police where forced boarding is a necessary evil. In my time in more covert parts of the then RHKP I had the chance to meet and train with some IDF Naval Commandos, so I may have a touch of relevant experience, albeit historical.

The IDF Naval Commando's are without a doubt, a tough, formidable bunch. If they wanted to have stormed those vessels guns blazing, I can categorically tell you there would not be one pipe/knife wielding protester left alive and this would have been accomplished without the Israeli casualties.

I post this without any political comment into the rights or wrongs of the assault, just an observation that the claim that the Commandos went in shooting is fundamentally floored from my personal experience. It simply does not hold water with common sense.

As neverdie states, none of us were there so the truth is not absolute, but hand on heart I can tell you that the Fox account will be nearer the truth ( and for the record I agree that God strangles a puppy every time someone watches Fox news, they usually stink ).

Fox is the only one showing the actual videos of what happened. The mass media is lying about it in the same way that they lied about the situation in Thailand.

And so now Fox is suddenly a reputable source and the rest of the mass media are liars. Why? It all seems to depend on whether or not they are saying what you want them to say.

This clips that you posted, to me, show a few minutes of the soldiers being attacked by demonstrators. Nothing more, nothing less. They do not show what happened before that and for all we know they could have been provoked and they may have been in fear of their lives

I don't take sides in any of these events because as far as I am concerned they are both as guilty as each other. That video is inconclusive, for more solid evidence we would need to see the ENTIRE event.

Egypt also agreed to off-load the "humanitarian" goods in Egypt to prevent a confrontation.

The Turkish NGO refused the offer of both Egypt and Israel for a peaceful delivery.

My bet is Hamas was behind this as a PR stunt. They wanted the violence and, unfortunately, Israel took the bait.

___________________________________________________

As an aside, I must agree with Suiging's assessment that, had the Israelis wanted to come in with guns blazing, there would have been no iron bar wielding peace lovers left standing. Having been involved for many years with an Arab country's military, I know they lived in fear of the IDF.

____________________________________________________

Harcourt:

I see your vast vocabulary failed you yet again.

"all self defence measures by the victims/passengers would have been hailed as heroic by you one-eyed <deleted>."

Harcourt:

I see your vast vocabulary failed you yet again.

"all self defence measures by the victims/passengers would have been hailed as heroic by you one-eyed <deleted>."

And this is why is stopped posting in OTB.

I see nothing has changed, I shall take my leave again. I had might as well be reading the news clippings section.

Fox is the only one showing the actual videos of what happened. The mass media is lying about it in the same way that they lied about the situation in Thailand.

And so now Fox is suddenly a reputable source and the rest of the mass media are liars. Why?

How about because the rest of the media offered no proof of ANY kind and did not even bother with the Israeli side of the story. They just parroted the usual left-wing platitudes and ignored this video which showed exactly what happened as the soldiers decended to the ship and were attacked before their feet hit the deck.

For any defenders of those murderous bastards of the IDF.....what would you do if your ship was stormed by blindly shooting thugs whilst you were in international waters? I know what I would have done; pick up the nearest iron bar and start flailing.

Yeah, right. If you, me or any of us here were on the deck of the ship, unarmed - except for pipes and chairs - and commados boarded with guns blazing those that weren't shot dead in the first place would either have hit the deck or jumped overboard.

Hey, swing a pipe or chair at a guy with a gun, expect to get shot. Throw rocks at a guy with a gun, expect to get shot. Threaten a gun-carrying cop with a fire extinguisher (Genoa), expect to get shot. It's Darwinism at its best. Stick to verbal insults, the survival rate is higher.

WHAT HAPPENED on the Mavi Marmara was tragic. But it did not justify the international response. Israel left Gaza in 2005, removing every civilian and every military remnant. It would have no quarrel with Gaza if it had not faced relentless missile attacks from the Strip, and if the Hamas government there were not arming itself at every opportunity in pursuit of its declared goal of Israel’s elimination.

Israel’s restrictions on the flow of people and material into Gaza stem solely from the need to prevent the arming of Hamas and its terrorist allies. That was why the “Freedom flotilla” was intercepted, and that was why Israel had offered to transport the supplies aboard the six vessels over land once they had been checked.

The premeditated refusal of those aboard one of the ships to act peacefully when confronted by IDF troops was the trigger for the violence at sea. Confronted with such violence when they had been expecting non-violent protests, or at worst, low-level clashes, it is doubtful that the soldiers of any of the nations that rushed to criticize Israel would have acted any differently. Indeed, it is likely that the consequences would have been considerably worse.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Ar....aspx?id=177085

I guess Al Jazzera doesn't have the rights to show the video of the IDF getting beaten by the people on the boat because they aren't showing it. They do have plenty of still pictures and video of the evil Zionists commados standing on the deck holding their guns. No shooting though.

From an Al Jazeera interview with one of the people arrested, "We told them we were unarmed. Our only weapon was water".

AJ and Fox two sides of the spectrum. The truth will lie somewhere in between ( lie , pardon the pun ).

From an Al Jazeera interview with one of the people arrested, "We told them we were unarmed. Our only weapon was water".

Euronews had this same guy, he wasn't arrested, he was one of the Turks on the boat. At least Euronews also showed the Israeli's beating video.

Take part in the Euro-poll! http://www.euronews.net/news/you/

Do Israel's security concerns justify its actions against Gaza?

yes (24%)

no (74%)

i don't know (2%)

What an awful way to live though.

First sign of weakness and they would be set upon and torn apart by the Arab world with no mercy. Kinda explains their somewhat Un-PC approach to diplomacy.

UN urges enquiry

I think it is quite clear that if any trained unit went in with guns blazing, people armed with sticks and rocks will be hurt in great numbers.

Timesonline

Medvedev & Rompui

There was further confirmation of the attacks from President Medvedev of Russia, who said that the loss of lives was “absolutely unjustified,” while the European Union President Herman Van Rompuy called the events “inexplicable”.

UN Security Council

After 12 hours of negotiations that stretched into the early hours, the UN Security Council issued a statement demanding an “impartial” investigation of the deaths and condemning the “acts” that led to it.

Jakarta Post

China has condemned Israel's deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip in which at least nine people were killed and dozens wounded.

Israeli convoy raid: What went wrong?

There is widespread agreement in Israel and around the world that, whatever the rights or wrongs about the Gaza flotilla, something went badly wrong with the operation to stop it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10203333.stm

LaoPo

NATO Wants Probe Of Israeli Raid

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/01/n...e_n_596366.html

LaoPo

Rachel Corrie

Israel’s elite naval Shayetet 13 criticised over botched operation

June 2, 2010

Israel’s elite naval unit faced intense criticism yesterday after the botched operation against a pro-Palestinian flotilla on Monday.

Shayetet 13, the Israeli equivalent of Britain’s Special Boat Service, is one of the most decorated units in the Israeli military. The group was responsible for a number of high-profile operations, including the seizure of a cargo ship last year, that the Israelis said was carrying Iranian-financed weapons to the Gaza Strip.

But Israeli military experts have questioned whether it was wise to send a unit trained in covert operations behind enemy lines into a scenario with so many civilians present.

continues here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle7142188.ece

LaoPo

Rachel Corrie

Oh boy.....

LaoPo

before the raid i was telling my wife about the blockade and how the floatilla was determined to ignore the offer to dock the ships and have the aid inspected and transported to the gaza strip. she shook her head and said the boats are like the red shirts, they are looking for a fight and want to be victims.

If this blockade is in International Waters then it should be blown out of said International Waters by any means & by any & all countries capable.

What racist remark? I never mentioned any race at all did I?

None contacted me about that post & to edit it & call it "racist remark removed" is calling me a racist.

In light of what I wrote I would say that is wrong because I did not write any racist remark

Thanks

before the raid i was telling my wife about the blockade and how the floatilla was determined to ignore the offer to dock the ships and have the aid inspected and transported to the gaza strip. she shook her head and said the boats are like the red shirts, they are looking for a fight and want to be victims.

Very wise woman your wife

If this blockade is in International Waters then it should be blown out of said International Waters by any means & by any & all countries capable.

Would it have made any difference to any of the anti-Israeli lobby here if Israel waited until the ships left int'l waters? We all know the answer to that one.

It turns out the ships weren't carrying weapons. This reminds me of how in Iraq the insurgents would force innocent families to drive fast at a road block so that they would get blown to hel_l just to cause an incident to use against the coalition forces.