9 Killed/Hundreds Kidnapped by Israeli commandos who stormed Gaza Flotilla

[grapecrusher1]

Gaza Freedom Flotilla attacked by by Israeli Navy in International Waters — 2 confirmed dead–over 30 wounded

[trailhound]

no link, wtf?

[grapecrusher1]

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS

http://noliesradio.org/

no link, wtf?

I'm working as fast as I can there, chief.

[grapecrusher1]

(Cyprus, May 31, 2010) At 11:00 pm Cyprus time and in international waters off the coast of Israel, the boats were contacted by the Israeli navy. “Who are you and where are you going?” Our reply was that we were part of a flotilla and we were going to Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies. On the radar, the boats could see three Israeli war ships shadowing us, and 15 minutes later, a silent aircraft hovered over the flotilla. One of our Hebrew speakers had found Israel’s strategy and posted it to us. It stated, “You will be boarded by highly trained, very efficient and very SILENT commandos. They will use silent inflatable boats to get to our boats and both try to board our boats directly from the inflatables and by dropping divers into the water to climb onto the boats,” so people were preparing for them to come up and over the sides of the ships. Our SPOT locator has sent out several HELP messages at www.witnessgaza.com. Lubna Marsawa, Free Gaza’s organizer on the Turkish passenger boat said in outrage, “Very few times in history has a flotilla delivering humanitarian goods been welcomed by military war ships.” This is a call to the world from the people on the boats. “We are a civilian people doing what our governments have refused to do, challenge Israel’s right to collectively punish 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza by blockading their right to their own sea. This flotilla is bringing construction and educational supplies the people of Gaza and are being met by Israeli warships.” Check out this site, find the Israeli embassy nearest you and let them know how you feel.

[tritonman]

This is not good at all.

[spangler]

There's a feed here. Don't know whether it's live. Anyone speak Arabic? There are reports of casualties.

[grapecrusher1]

you can see the commandos dropping out of the helicopters

[spangler]

you can see the commandos dropping out of the helicopters

The Israelis are so good against unarmed civilians 

[Optimus]

Gaza aid flotilla attacked, two killed
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128420&sectionid=351020202
Mon, 31 May 2010 03:06:44 GMT

Israeli forces have attacked the international aid convoy Freedom Flotilla en route to the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least two people and leaving more than 50 injured.

The attack came on Monday morning after Israel deployed warships and threatened to stop the flotilla from reaching Gaza.

There were not immediately more details about the raid or the casualties.

The convoy carries 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of politicians, activists and journalists.

The flotilla seeks to break Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza and deliver basic necessities to the impoverished Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

[grapecrusher1]

The Israelis are so good against unarmed civilians 

Their favorite enemy/target.

I cant find any other news about this.  Internet filtering?

[tritonman]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-several-casualties-in-clash-between-gaza-aid-flotilla-israel-navy-1.293089

    *  Home
    * News
    * Diplomacy & Defense

    * Published 00:18 31.05.10
    * Latest update 00:18 31.05.10

Report: Several casualties in clash between Gaza aid flotilla, Israel Navy
Pro-Palestinian activists aboard six-ship convoy sailing for Gaza Strip ignored orders by Israel to turn back.
By Anshel Pfeffer, Avi Issacharoff and The Associated Press Tags: Gaza aid Freedom flotilla

The Gaza aid flotilla changed course to avoid a confrontation with Israeli warships, Al Jazeera reported shortly after midnight Monday.
Boats at the Gaza port a day before a flotilla of aid ships is expected to try to sail into the bloc    

Boats at the Gaza port a day before a flotilla of aid ships is expected to try to sail into the blockaded territory May 30, 2010.
Photo by: AP
The Israeli naval  vessels reportedly made contact earlier with the six-ship flotilla, which is carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid and supplies to Gaza.
 
The Israeli navy was operating under the assumption that the activists manning the boats would not heed their calls to turn around, and Israeli troops were prepared to board the ships and steer them away from the Gaza shores and toward the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

Huwaida Arraf, one of the flotilla organizers, said the six-ship flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of Cyprus Sunday afternoon after two days of delays. According to organizers, the flotilla was expected to reach Gaza, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) away, on Monday afternoon, and two more ships would follow in a second wave.

The flotilla was fully prepared for the different scenarios that might arise, and organizers were hopeful that Israeli authorities would do what's right and not stop the convoy, one of the organizers said.

"We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us," Arraf said. "They are going to have to forcefully stop us."

After nightfall, three Israeli navy missile boats left their base in Haifa, steaming out to sea to confront the activists' ships.

Two hours later, Israel Radio broadcast a recording of one of the missile boats warning the flotilla not to approach Gaza.

"If you ignore this order and enter the blockaded area, the Israeli navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade," the radio message continued.

The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger ships, is trying to draw attention to Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. The boats are carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.

The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that after a security check, permitted humanitarian aid confiscated from the boats will be transferred to Gaza through authorized channels. However, Israel would not transfer items it has banned from Gaza under its blockade rules. Palmor said that for example, cement would be allowed only if it is tied to a specific project.

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.

Israel has let ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009. The flotilla bound for Gaza is the largest to date.

Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists are on the boats, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor.

The mission has experienced repeated delays, both due to mechanical problems and a decision by Cyprus to bar any boat from sailing from its shore to Gaza. The ban forced a group of European lawmakers to depart from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern part of the island late Saturday.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the seaside territory in June 2007.

Israel says the measures are needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel, from building up its arsenal. But United Nations officials and international aid groups say the blockade has been counterproductive, failing to weaken the Islamic militant group while devastating the local economy.

Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.

Israel has condemned the flotilla as a provocation and vowed to block it from reaching Gaza.

Israeli military officials said they hope to resolve the situation peacefully but are prepared for all scenarios. Naval commandos have been training for days in anticipation of the standoff. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under official guidelines, said the forces would likely take over the boats under the cover of darkness.

Palmor said foreigners on the ships would be sent back to their countries. Activists who did not willingly agree to be deported would be detained. A special detention facility has been set up in Ashdod.

[spangler]

Their favorite enemy/target.

I cant find any other news about this.  Internet filtering?

Route posted this link

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128420&sectionid=351020202

You can bet there'll be a substantial, if not full, MSM blackout on this and it won't be limited to the internet. You'll have to go to Al-Jazeera, PressTV, and Russia Today, for news on this as well as (pro) Palestinian sources.

Alex should be covering this. He never does. I don't know why. He should be doing an emergency broadcast about this right now.

[tritonman]

This from above article from Haaretz.  
Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.

 

[tritonman]

You really need to read the Israel haaretz article posted above for the spin.

[Optimus]

"Two dead, at least 30 wounded" as Israel opens fire at Gaza activists
Israel opened fire at a Turkish aid ship sailing for the Gaza Strip, Turkish TVs reported early Monday.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=59257
Monday, 31 May 2010 05:54

World Bulletin / News Desk

Israeli troops attacked international aid ships in a bloody operation.

Israel opened fire at a Turkish aid ship sailing for the Gaza Strip, Turkish TVs reported early Monday.

Two aid activists have been killed, at least 30 people have been wounded, Turkish television NTV said.

Israeli soldiers used live bullets at the aid activists, the report said.

Reports have not said which nationalities the dead have. There are no reports about the other aid ships.

Live video footage from one of the boats showed activists wearing life vests.

Turkish media also said, Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Israeli envoy to condemn the bloody action.

Turkey had urged Israel to allow it safe passage and says the 10,000 tonnes of aid the convoy is carrying is humanitarian.

There are not any official statement about the casualties yet.

The Ministry has set up a crisis desk as well, the report said.

The reports said, there are protests in front of the Israel embassies in Istanbul and Ankara.

Israel has been imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip since 2007 and killed up to 1500 Palestinians in an offensive, with a third of them women and children.

[spangler]

This from above article from Haaretz.  
Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.

That's right, because everybody knows that a sure sign of a thriving free nation is its reliance on a hostile nation's permission to transport commodities basic to survival across its borders, and on smuggling them through tunnels.

[Optimus]

http://media.theage.com.au/world/world-news/confrontation-on-the-high-seas-1524714.html

[XR500Final]

The media will have to cover it.  Jeepers I feel bad in a previous post I joked that they had to run the blockade and shed blood to get media attention and that just happened, and who knows if they died in vain.  However it will have to get covered by MSN its too big not to do it especially if 30 are wounded.  Unfking believable if this is true the Israeli's have just shot and massacred unarmed protestors to basically send a strong message that they will force their will.

This will be front page tomorrow because the Arabs will make total cashin of the political currency and force western media to cover it for of course their benefits.  All the 'jew haters' will be in overdrive who ever and where ever they are.

Protestor pawns down, Israeli Political bishop about to be taken out.

[grapecrusher1]

PRO ISRAELI NY Times article on CUE

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/world/middleeast/31flotilla.html
Israeli Navy Approaches Gaza Flotilla
By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: May 30, 2010

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JERUSALEM — The Israeli navy made its first contact with a flotilla carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and thousands of tons of supplies for Gaza shortly before midnight on Sunday, surprising the boats in international waters, according to activists on one vessel.

Israel has vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway, putting the activists and the Israelis on a high-profile public relations collision course. Named the Freedom Flotilla and led by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi, the convoy of six cargo and passenger boats represents the most ambitious attempt yet to break Israel’s three-year blockade of the Palestinian coastal enclave.

Three Israeli navy missile boats left the Haifa naval base in northern Israel a few minutes after 9 p.m. local time, planning to intercept the flotilla.

After asking the captains of the boats to identify themselves, the navy told them they were approaching a blockaded area and asked them either to proceed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, or to turn around and go back to their countries of origin.

The activists responded that they would continue toward their destination, Gaza.

Speaking by satellite phone from the Challenger 1 boat, which has foreign legislators and other high-profile figures on board, a Free Gaza Movement leader, Huwaida Arraf, said, “We communicated to them clearly that we are unarmed civilians. “We asked them not to use violence.”

Earlier Sunday, Ms. Arraf said the boats would keep trying to move forward “until they either disable our boats or jump on board.”

Flotilla organizers flotilla had said they expected to confront the Israelis on Monday morning, in an effort to avoid an encounter in the dark.

Israel insists that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, contrary to grim reports of the international organizations operating in the area. It says that the blockade is necessary because Hamas tries to smuggle weapons into the territory, sometimes by sea. But it has offered to transfer the 10,000 tons of aid on the ships from Ashdod to Gaza through official Israeli-controlled land crossings.

“If they were really interested in the well being of the people of Gaza,” said an Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, said in a statement, “they would have accepted the offers of Egypt or Israel to transfer humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, along with the other 15 thousand tons sent every week. Instead they have chosen a cheap political stunt.”

The flotilla organizers dismissed the Israeli offer as “ridiculous and offensive.” In a statement over the weekend they said that the blockade and the “official channels” were “directly causing the humanitarian crisis in the first place.”

[tritonman]

link for Al Jazeera English
http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english
this is the live story now.

[blues]

Contact the American State Department to feed the starving Gazans at:

(202) 647-4000 (24-hour number)

They take a short LIVE message, then send you to a typical phone maze. (I did it.)

Also send an email to:

publicaffairs@panet.us.state.gov

This is real time.

[XR500Final]

They couldn't of did this at a better time, it gives the media the night to have their front page stories in for news print in the morning. Perfect timing as well by the protestors.  Pretty strategic move on their part, because Israel is about to wear a pile of egg face and humble pie on this one.

[Optimus]

"We Have Three Dead!" Gaza Flotilla: Communications Lost During Urgent Cry for Help from Turkish Ship Mavi Mari
http://pacificfreepress.com/news/1/6307-qwe-have-three-deadq-gaza-flotilla-communications-lost-during-urgent-cry-for-help-from-turkish-ship-mavi-mari.html
by C. L. Cook

A live feed from Turkish TV aboard the lead ship, in the nine ship Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Mavi Mari was interrupted shortly after a frantic call for help from the ship was issued.
 
The last things heard from the Turkish TV live feed from the Mavi Mari: "We have 3 people killed." Then it goes dead.
 
Bethlehem-based Canadian journalist, Jon Elmer reports he is following the progress of the flotilla on a maritime tracker, and through live feeds reports:
 
"It [Mavi Mari] goes from fullspeed, does a hard 90 degree turn, then stops. Then they get boarded. The live feed went back up with only audio...a woman is yelling; "We need help! People are hurt."
 
Elmer is monitoring Turkish television, who report three killed and 20 injured, though details of casualties on the Mavi Mari, and what the situation on the other ships cannot be verified at this time.
 
This is a breaking story, and as Elmer reports, Turkish television is airing pictures of bodies, presumably killed aboard the Mavis Mari.
 
Meanwhile, news of the killings and a reported 30 people wounded are being disseminated via Twitter at the Israeli blogger site, Mondoweiss.
 
Live images here...

[Viper]

They couldn't of did this at a better time, it gives the media the night to have their front page stories in for news print in the morning...

Also the last print for uk papers was about one hour ago, no coverage in uk papers today.

[XR500Final]

Live Twitter Feed, http://twitter.com/Mondoweiss

1000's of Turks marching on Israeli Consulate, this is going to be a BIG story tomorrow

[grapecrusher1]

People are already taking to the streets in Turkey.

Live Twitter Feed, http://twitter.com/Mondoweiss

1000's of Turks marching on Israeli Consulate, this is going to be a BIG story tomorrow

I wonder if anyone is in the embassy?

[Viper]

link for Al Jazeera English
http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english
this is the live story now.

Storming the consulate now, ha ha.

[XR500Final]

Maybe Israel will borrow a page from the American President's play book and start a distractionary war just to get people's minds off of what they did (or just a car bomb or something small...)

[grapecrusher1]

More thinly veiled PRO Israeli pandering.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10195838.stm


Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla, says Hamas

Page last updated at 3:51 GMT, Monday, 31 May 2010 4:51 UK

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One of the vessels waits to leave Famagusta, northern Cyprus, on 29 May 2010 The flotilla sailed from Cyprus on Sunday

The Palestinian movement Hamas says the Israeli navy has intercepted a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.

Hamas says the interception took place in international waters, more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza. Israel has made no comment.

The organisers say all communication with the flotilla has been lost.

The ships are carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid to the Gaza Strip in an effort to break an Israeli blockade.

The six-ship flotilla left international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and was expected to arrive in Gaza later on Monday.

Israel has said it would stop the boats, calling the campaign a "provocation intended to delegitimise Israel".

An economic blockade was imposed by Israel after the Islamist movement Hamas took power in Gaza.

Israel says it allows about 15,000 tones of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week.

But the United Nations says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.

Hamas, a militant palestinian group that controls the Gaza strip, has fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past decade.

[grapecrusher1]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-05-30-23-41-27

May 30, 11:59 PM EDT

Reports: Israeli ships attack aid flotilla, 2 dead

By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press Writer
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HAIFA, Israel (AP) -- Israeli warships attacked at least one of the six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for blockaded Gaza, killing at least two and wounding an unknown number of people on board, an Arabic satellite service and a Turkish TV network reported early Monday.

The Israeli military refused to comment on the report.

The al-Jazeera satellite channel reported by telephone from the Turkish ship leading the flotilla that Israeli navy forces fired at the ship and boarded it, wounding the captain. The Turkish NTV network also reported an Israeli takeover with gunfire, and at least two people were killed.

The al-Jazeera broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"

The reports came just after daybreak, with the flotilla still well away from the Gaza shore. Israel had declared it would not allow the ships to reach Gaza.

The head of the Gaza Hamas government, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the "brutal" Israeli attack.

"We call on the Secretary-General of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, to shoulder his responsibilities to protect the safety of the solidarity groups who were on board these ships and to secure their way to Gaza," Haniyeh told The Associated Press.

On Sunday, Huwaida Arraf, one of the organizers, said the six-ship flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday afternoon after two days of delays. She said they expected to reach Gaza, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) away, on Monday afternoon, and that two more ships would follow in "a second wave."

The flotilla was "fully prepared for the different scenarios" that might arise, and organizers were hopeful that Israeli authorities would "do what's right" and not stop the convoy, she said.

"We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us," she said. "They are going to have to forcefully stop us."

After nightfall Sunday, three Israeli navy missile boats left their base in Haifa, steaming out to sea to confront the activists' ships.

Two hours later, Israel Radio broadcast a recording of one of the missile boats warning the flotilla not to approach Gaza.

"If you ignore this order and enter the blockaded area, the Israeli navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade," the radio message continued.

The al-Jazeera satellite channel reported that the ships changed course to try to avoid a nighttime confrontation, preferring a daylight showdown for better publicity.

The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger ships, is trying to draw attention to Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. The boats are carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials. The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that after a security check, permitted humanitarian aid confiscated from the boats will be transferred to Gaza through authorized channels. However, Israel would not transfer items it has banned from Gaza under its blockade rules. Palmor said that for example, cement would be allowed only if it is tied to a specific project.

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.

Israel has let ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009. The flotilla bound for Gaza is the largest to date.

Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists are on the boats, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor.

The mission has experienced repeated delays, both due to mechanical problems and a decision by Cyprus to bar any boat from sailing from its shore to Gaza. The ban forced a group of European lawmakers to depart from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern part of the island late Saturday.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the seaside territory in June 2007.

Israel says the measures are needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel, from building up its arsenal. But U.N. officials and international aid groups say the blockade has been counterproductive, failing to weaken the Islamic militant group while devastating the local economy.

In particular, the ban on building materials has prevented Gazans from repairing thousands of homes that were damaged or destroyed in an Israeli military offensive, meant to stop Hamas rocket attacks, early last year.

Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.

Israel has condemned the flotilla as a provocation and vowed to block it from reaching Gaza.

Palmor said foreigners on the ships would be "sent back to their countries." Activists who did not willingly agree to be deported would be detained. A special detention facility has been set up in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.

At Gaza's tiny port, meant for small fishing boats, Hamas officials, activists and foreign nationals prepared to welcome the flotilla, sitting in some 40 small boats that were bobbing in the sea and decorated with the flags of the countries of the pro-Palestinian activists, including Turkey and Algeria.

In other boats, Gaza boy scouts played music, while on shore, other activists released balloons with the faces of Palestinian civilians and militants killed in battles with Israeli forces.

In Syria, eight Damascus-based Palestinian groups urged Arab and Muslim states to work to support the flotilla and warned Israel against committing any "foolishness to impede the vessels"

"This could create more tension and trigger unpredictable reactions," said the groups, which included Hamas and the militant Islamic Jihad.

---

Associated Press writer Menalaos Hadjicostis contributed to this report from Nicosia, Cyprus.

[Optimus]

Report: Protesters try to storm Israeli consulate
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15196260?nclick_check=1
The Associated Press
Posted: 05/30/2010 09:02:43 PM PDT

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish television stations say police have blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul over Israeli attack on at least one aid ship in international waters.

CNN-Turk and NTV televisions show dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police, guarding the Consulate in downtown Istanbul.

The protesters shout "damn Israel." Turkish state-run television and news agency say the Israeli military operation left at least two dead and 30 wounded.

[grapecrusher1]

Al jazeera -- with a video of the cruise ship
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053133047995359.html


Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza, according to a Turkish aid agency being quoted by Turkish media.

At least two people were killed and more than 30 people injured, the report said early on Monday.

Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, appeared to show armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.

Earlier, the Israeli navy had contacted the captain of the Mavi Marmara, asking him to identify himself and say where the ship was headed.

  Shortly after, two Israeli naval vessels had flanked the flotilla on either side, but at a distance.

Organisers of the attempted siege break, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, then diverted their ships and slowed down to avoid a confrontation during the night.

They also issued all passengers life jackets and asked them to remain below deck.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and several European legislators, are with the flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.

But Israel has said it will not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal Palestinian territory.

The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed to reach Gaza by Monday morning.

Israel said the boats were embarking on "an act of provocation" against the Israeli military, rather than providing aid, and that it had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza.

It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers rejected.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             

Still haven't figured out if those injured and killed were shot or what?

[InfoArsenal]

Hate to say this, but if they don't kill anybody notable it will be swept under the rug as general mid east violence.

IE, imagine if Michael Jackson were on the ship.

[tritonman]

Al Jazeera is showing the boat with people injured laying on the floor.  They also are confirming the use of both gas and guns.

[tritonman]

Reports of the Israels shooting civilians before they even hit the deck , they were shooting on the way down the ropes from the copters.  The flotilla was in international waters therefore it ignored the Israeli warnings to stop.

[grapecrusher1]

http://www.ipadio.com/phlogs/Gaza_TVNews/2010/05/31/Gaza-TVs-phlog-3-Confirmed-Dead

3 Dead.

Reports of the Israels shooting civilians before they even hit the deck , they were shooting on the way down the ropes from the copters.  The flotilla was in international waters therefore it ignored the Israeli warnings to stop.

So bullets -- deaths were anticipated.

They had to have cover of darkness so they assumed the flack over the international waters minor detail.

[Viper]

maybe 10 murdered.

http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english

[tritonman]

Israel threatened to kill the flotillas organizers according to interview on Al Jazeera before some of their previous  attempts to import goods.   Co founder of the free Gaza movement just stated that there are ten dead.

[Libertarian Perspective]

I think we need to get people organised and march on Israeli consulates all over the world in response to this outrage. If I was a leader of a country which had citizens injured in this attack I woulkd send the Israeli ambasador home and close down ther embassy!  

[tritonman]

yes the word is now 10 dead on the unarmed ship.