Who Sank the Flotilla?

One thing is clear: Nothing was a breeze for Israel about operation "Sea Breeze," the infamous military operation that took place four days ago in front of Gaza's coast.

Nine dead civilians and seven injured Israeli soldiers? Yes and yes. Destroyed reputation and an angry world? You got it. Damaged connections with one of its only Islamic allies? Yep. Hamas gaining more publicity and positive PR? Indeed. So what happened? What were the Israelis thinking when they attacked the Mavi Marmara, seemingly unprovoked, full of peace demonstrators in international waters? What county would do such a thing? No country, including Israel.

The Goal of the Passengers 

The flotilla, a formation of six ships loaded with humanitarian supplies, set sail from Cyprus our days ago. Their primary goal was clear, as we can learn directly from their website: "We want to break the siege of Gaza." their secondary goal, as it turns out, was not to deliver the supplies to the needy Palestinians under siege in the city, but to die as martyrs:
"as much as they wanted to reach Gaza, the other option [martyrdom] was more desirable.."


(A better video clip, containing an interview with Mavi Marmara passengers, cannot be embedded, but can be found here.)

The people aboard the ships knew what was waiting for them, and sought to provoke a violent reaction from Israel. They were well prepared to fight and die, as evident from several videos just like the above one.

When a ship full of un-inspected cargo and people sails toward an area under naval blockade, it will be stopped before it reaches its destination. This is exactly what happened to the Flotilla. Can you imagine a ship sent from the Middle East toward the US would be allowed to dock in post-9/11 New York City without inspection and military intervention, humanitarian aid or not? Would you trust the kindness of its passengers, if you knew they were sponsored by an organization with ties to global terrorism? Would you even need any excuse at all to justify a military intervention? Probably not. When the Flotilla left Cyprus, the question was not rather or not a military conflict will take place, but when. 

Israel Repeatedly Warns the Mavi Marmara
Israel did not just storm the ship without warning. The Flotillas were intercepted after repeated efforts from Israel to stop them peacefully:



As a matter of fact, Al -Jazeera gladly broadcasted how "evil" Israel was preparing for the ships, sending them a clear message that they will be stopped, even before they set sail. Ignoring Israel's pleas and finally threats, The ships continued heading toward Gaza; the passengers made their choice.

The Flotilla was sponsored by the Turkish Insani Yardim Vakfi (The Foundation for Human Rights) [IHH], a terrorist organization through its connections to the “Union of Good,” according to Israel, the US and France (see link below). What was said to be medical supplies, could have been explosives. What was said to be construction materials, could have been pipes used to create more home-made Qassam rockets, and concrete to reinforce underground smuggling tunnels. The people who said they want to help could have easily joined the Hamas lines and fight Israel as terrorists. As a matter of fact, if to judge from the various evidence here, these passengers would probably enlist themselves happily.  Such possibilities are not inventions of a delirious mind. As a matter of fact, most of the aid delivered into the hands of the Hamas under the disguise of "humanitarian aid" is used to sponsor terrorism.

Above: Funds from the "union of good" used directly to fund terrorism. (source: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S))

Despite all of this, Israel was willing to allow the humanitarian aid to pass into Gaza. [It should be noted that at the time of this writing, the aid was already delivered to Gaza, and refused by the Hamas, which represents the Palestinians in Gaza.]

Passengers Attack the Israeli Commandos
Israel managed to capture five of the six ships with no use of force and no injuries among passengers or Israeli soldiers. The system Israel chose, intercepting the ships with as little resistance and violance as possible, worked five times out of six: such was the effectiveness of the well-trained Israeli soldiers who did their job quickly, professionally, and as ethically as possible.

But the passengers of Mavi Marmara transformed from peace-keeping humanitarians to a pack of warmongers, and lunched at the Israeli commandos with improvised weapons. Notice no shootings took place until a couple of soldiers have landed; they were under strict orders not to use their guns. Those of you who understand Hebrew can hear the shock and confusion in the radio once the commanders of the operations realized the passengers are shooting at them in the first video:

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Without provocation from the soldiers, who slid down the ropes with their backup pistols holstered, the blood-thirsty mob grabbed weapons which were prepared as soon as the ship left the harbor in Cyprus. A crowd of frightened pacifists would not have the time to prepare slingshots and gasmasks; they would not have the knowledge to use grenades and guns which were stored safely with the commandos. They would not flail chains, and toss an Israeli solider overboard. But these passengers did.



 

Even after the first solider was thrown overboard and another severely beatten, the soldiers did not open fire. Fighting against the crowd, they tried to protect their comrades. Only after it was clear the situation is out of control, the soldiers asked for permission to use live ammunition. After they were bitten, hit by metal rods and baseball clubs, and stabbed with knives. They had to fight for their lives, or they would have ended up dead by the hands of the "pacifists" aboard the Mavi Marmara.


Israel had no interest in starting a fight. After all, stoping the flotilla peacefully was in their favor. They only wished to stop and intercept a potentially dangerous cargo, delivered by a dangerous group with known terrorists connections.

As the world condemns Israel for its actions, we should consider: who did truly benefit from this situation? Not Israel with its wounded soldiers and destroyed global reputation. Not the dead “peace” seeking people on top of the Mavi Marmara, unless we consider their martyrdom. Who then? Ask the terrorist organization who is now using the unnecessary death of so-called innocent passengers to provoke the sympathy of people such as yourself.

And the aid? They won’t even deliver it to their own people, even though Israel has sent it to them:

Israel has filled 20 trucks with cargo from the captured ships, mostly medical supplies, clothes, blankets and toys, but has not been able to take them into the territory, military spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz told reporters.

"Unfortunately at this point the Palestinians are not willing to accept the cargo so the trucks that are loaded are not entering the Gaza Strip," she said.
"Our understanding is that Hamas is actually stopping the entrance of this humanitarian aid," she added.

Hamas is already busy demanding Israel releases all the "peace fighters" (Israel released almost all of them and sent them back to Turkey), among other things that has nothing to do with this incident. The Palestinian people and their aid? They can wait until Hamas is done negotiating.