When one listens, watches and reads the mainstream media in Norway these days, the message is pretty clear. Peaceful activists were trying to bring much needed medical and other supplies to starving children in Gaza. Unprovoked, the Israeli army shot dozens (later corrected to 12, again later corrected to 9) unarmed civilians. In the aftermath, one spokesman for the Free Gaza movement says that the soldiers were shooting before they came onboard, and the passengers were peaceful.
Unfortunately, there is this thing called internet. On YouTube you can see some original footage that makes you question the whole story. Here’s a spokesperson of the Free Gaza movement, stating towards the end that the passengers on board the ship did not, repeat: not, arm themselves prior to being boarded:
But looking at the footage from the survailleance camera onboard the turkish ship, tells a very, very different story:
In the same interview, the spokesperson states that the soldiers attacked the passengers first. Looking at the following footage, one can see the first soldier arriving, and he is immedeatly attacked, beaten with poles. Others soldiers are dragged to the ground, one is thrown down from the ship. First towards the end of the clip can you see that the soldiers have drawn their guns.
Also, it is repeated over and over again, that all passengers were peaceful civilians. Here’s an interview with one of those so-called peace-seekers:
And some of the replies the Israeli navy got from the “peace convoy” boats when asking them to change course, “Go back to Auschwitz”:
You can see more original footage from the incident by following this YouTube link.
Remember that Henning Mankell guy, who said the only weapon they found was his shaving razor? Well, he doesn’t look like the type that shaves very much. Although Israel is very capable of doing some highly questionable things, in this case I think they were in the right and the little hippie bastards did a lot of stuff to piss them off before they opened fire. The Israeli may have gone ‘overboard’, but after getting told they belonged in a concentration camp and had stuff flung at them I won’t really blame them for being angry about it, especially if all they originally intended to do was check out the cargo.
Thank you. Exactly how I felt.
“Unfortunately, there is this thing called internet”
Myeah. Unfortunately, there is this thing called video editing. Plus, you’re a moron for thinking everything on the internet is true.
Nerah. Thank you for setting the tone of this discussion by calling me a moron and thus closing the door for a constructive discussion. Your comment just adds to the discomfort I feel by being exposed to the one-sidedness of the reporting about this event.
And thank you for educating me about video editing. Are you suggesting that Israel managed to fake all that footage within a very short timeframe?