However, unlike the President's intentionally belated response to the oil spill, the Israeli government and military have already released a video showing the passengers on board the flotilla brutally attacking IDF Soldiers as soon as they arrived on the ship.
From the IDF:
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 poles and chairs, and threw one soldier over the side of the ship. Some passengers grabbed pistols from the IDF soldiers and opened fire. During the boarding of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. As a result of the attacks, seven IDF soldiers were injured, and nine of the passengers were killed.
The interception of the flotilla followed numerous warnings given to the organizers of the flotilla before leaving their ports as well as while sailing towards the Gaza Strip. In these warnings, it was made clear to the organizers that they could dock in the Ashdod sea port and unload the equipment they are carrying in order to deliver it to the Gaza Strip in an orderly manner, following the appropriate security checks. Upon expressing their unwillingness to cooperate and arrive at the port, it was decided to board the ships and lead them to Ashdod. IDF naval personnel encountered severe violence, including use of weaponry prepared in advance in order to attack and to harm them. The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail.
The 'Free Gaza' Flotilla had publicly insisted on their non-violent intentions, however their violent attack on the IDF soldiers was clearly premeditated. They had knives, metal rods, firebombs and other items ready to use.
If you look closely, you'll see the passengers throwing dark objects at the troops, about 29 seconds into the video. These are the firebombs [which are clearly visible in a different video that the IDF posted on Monday]. It is quite evident that the lives of these troops were endangered. But I wonder if President Obama will be satisfied with the release of these videos, or whether he'll ask his good friends from BP to bring in their own video equipment to ascertain the facts.
In the meantime, the President, no doubt, will continue to send his cronies to negotiate with Hamas - covertly, of course, without anyone finding out about it.
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