For the record, it is necessary to note the events in the eastern Mediterranean last night, arising after six "aid" ships, carrying more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of supplies, had left for Gaza on Sunday. Defying a radio warning from the Israeli navy not to approach the region, the ships then ignored Israeli government instructions to steer for the port of Ashdod, their crews stating their intention to land in Gaza and disembark cargo.

View full article here

Clearest footage of Hamas supporters instigating the attack against Israeli commandos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjkLUcb ... r_embedded

Commando being stabbed:
http://www.wikio.com/video/peace-activi ... er-3367334

Overhead footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-X ... r_embedded

Haven't seen any of this on the BBC....

Thanks for link Richard - much appreciated.

Are we not lucky that we have a fair and balanced-reporting press?

And I will not pass comment on the response from our Cleggeron government!!!

Forgive me if these questions sound naive but why did they not wait until they were no longer in international waters? Why did they leave themselves so vulnerable when boarding?

Good question.

If it had been down to me, I would have issued the scum with a barely audible warning, waited until they were inside territorial waters, then blown their boats to bits, waited 20 minutes for things to settle down and then gone in to rake any survivors with machine-gun fire.

Loads of dead muslimes. Great. A big round of applause. Job done. Beers all round. Rum if you prefer.

Thank you Richard,
You once again show us the extent the' Palestine Publicity Stunt Council' will go to. when it comes to the unpacking time the MSM will be conspicuous by it absence, 15,000 tons of medical and humanity supplies ?

I think you will find that they were inside the Israel defense zone, try sailing 100km off the coast of North Korea, Iran, for 2.

Here is a pro-flotilla press item from a week ago: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palesti ... a-1.631381
To me, it suggests the people aboard the boats knew what they were getting into, and put themselves in danger. Previous attempts were already thwarted by Israel.

Perhaps it is time for Israel to send aid shipments into Kurdish enclaves in eastern Turkey and make demands that the UN Security council finally investigate the millions of Armenians slaughtered, murdered by Turkish troops.

Maybe then the Turkish Islamofascists could be kept busy defending their century of genocides rather than causing trouble shipping contraband to the Palestinian terrorist organization called HAMAS.

Serioulsy.

By the way, did anybody spot Mr. Green Helmet guy yet?

Has he made his cameo appearance . . . ?

When Turkey joins the EU all these people will be our 'partners'!

Just watch. Worldwide enlightened opinion will denounce the Israelis for defending themselves. This is forbidden.

If I had been the first to decend onto that vessel from the helo I would NOT have been so restrained as to drop into such a hostile 'welcome'. I would have locked my descender and then gone through at least three magazines-worth of prophylactic fire to ensure that I dropped into a sterile LZ. Either that ot half-a-dozen frag grenades to clear the deck below me.
I admire the courage of the lads who dropped onto that ship whilst showing incredible restraint.

Yes, but if they allow themselves to be killed, is that a proportionate response?

Guest wrote:

As the Turkish & Arab activists' operation was strongly suspected of being intended for propaganda purposes, the Israeli assault was conducted before first light to avoid photos being taken of the kind of incident occurring that actually developed. The Mavi Marmara was expected to arrive in Israeli waters in daylight, so this is why the heli-borne assault occurred at the time it did & outside Israel's territorial waters. Also presumably conducted early while the activists were thought likely (wrongly as it turned out) to still be asleep. Also lightly armed to avoid being provocative - an unwise decision bearing in mind Arab hot-headedness, & the strong (& as it turned out correct) suspicion that this was all a propaganda exercise. And the strong possibility that the activists would also put up an Islamist-style resistance for the benefit of their camera-crews! Ie to inspire the converted by fighting back against the Jews, as much as to deceive "useful fools" among falsely guilt-ridden Western-handringers - such as the EU & other easily deceived Western governments etc.

That's what I've surmised from general news sources, particularly this one:
http://www.debka.com/article/8824/

Watchet

First of all, Melanie Phillips indicates that European governments were present in Cyprus and fully aware of the presence of terrorist elements.

Second, I would like to know whether the Turkish government was involved in any way. I seriously doubt Erdogan himself wasn't at least aware of the assault on Israel.

Lastly, are not European leaders concerned about the growing power of Turkey? The idiots in Greece have actually sided with Turkey in this crisis. How effin' stupid can they be? Turkey, buttresed by friends in Iran and Russia, looks more and more likely to exert influence in the Meditteranean and in southeastern Europe. At what point do the French, Italians and Spanish wake up and begin to worry about a return to the era of Lepanto?

Make no mistake, the Gaza flotilla was, effectively, a Turkish naval operation. The Americans have not yet condemned Israel, because even Obama is smart enough to understand the threat posed by Russian/Iranian/Turkish naval power in the Middle East and, more importantly, in the Meditteranean.