Passengers recount mid-sea horror

[EFerrari]

Israel has started releasing some of the 700 activists it captured after it troops stormed a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

snip

Issam Zaatar, Al Jazeera cameraman

I was filming, and then he ran after me with a stun gun.

He could not catch me. One of his colleagues hit my hand from behind with a stun gun. My camera fell down. He ran to crush the camera with his feet.

I told him, don't break my camera. If you want the tapes, I will give them to you. I told him these are media equipment. They had no limits.

They used rubber bullets. They used tear gas bombs. It was an unbelievable scene.

more:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/2010/06/20106193546785656.html

[Name removed]

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[EFerrari]

6. There's something to that but the other ships all reported beatings

and clubbings, too.

[Name removed]

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[aquart]

4. RUBBER bullets? RUBBER BULLETS????

Al Jazeera says RUBBER BULLETS.

[aquart]

8. Oh, dear, who trained these people?

Here are excerpts of what some of the freed passengers had to say:

Mohamed Vall, Al Jazeera reporter



During that hour an half in the early morning everybody on board the ship thought that no-one would survive the Israeli attack because we saw about 30 war vessels surrounding this ship and helicopters attacking with very luminous bombs, the sound of them makes you think you are dead

That was a fear of war, complete war, on a ship that was full of men, women and even children.

I'M SORRY, WTF THOUGHT BRINGING CHILDREN WAS A GENIUS IDEA? HUMAN SHIELD, ANYONE?

The first soldiers on the ship were not killed, they were not shot at, they were captured by the defenders of the ship.

UH, HOW DO YOU CAPTURE AN ISRAELI COMMANDO? LURE HIM WITH CANDY? WHO ARE THEY KIDDING?

Moments later another bigger helicopter landed more troops and this time they fired immediately at people and killed as many as they could so that they could reach the cabin and take control of the ship.

YES, MOMENTS LATER! AFTER THE INITIAL TROOPS WERE "CAPTURED" WITHOUT GUNS OR KILLING (ISRAELI COMMANDOS ARE SO EASY TO "CAPTURE" IT WAS THE PEACEFULLEST THING IMAGINABLE) THE NEXT SOLDIERS OPENED FIRE.

I saw blood spilt on the ship and everyone knew that there was no weapons. we all knew the Israelis would intercept us and try to stop us, but we didn't think that they would open fire at the first moment.

STILL INSISTING ISRAELI COMMANDOS WERE CAPTURED WITH "NO WEAPONS," THE AUTHOR LIES ABOUT OPENING FIRE AT THE "FIRST MOMENT." THE REAL FIRST MOMENT WAS WHEN THE ORIGINAL COMMANDOS BOARDING THE SHIP WERE "CAPTURED" WITHOUT ANY WEAPONS AT ALL.

Sorry about the caps. Not sure about bold or italics. The Al Jazeera cameraman insists the Israelis were using rubber bullets and tear gas which means they did not intend to kill. The Al Jazeera reporter tells you flat out that the initial landing party was "captured." And now we know why the second landing party opened fire. What's the first rule of peaceful protest? No resistance. Give them NO EXCUSE. These geniuses gave an excuse. They died of stupidity.

[Arrowhead2k1]

5. I heard on the BBC that a doctor who was on the ship is claiming 16 dead.

All of the witnesses so far are describing their brutal experiences, continuing even after the initial incidents and while in detention.

[EFerrari]

7. Everyone should be out in the next 48 hours. We're going to hear

a lot of stories. These people must be exhausted. :(

[aquart]

9. I'm sure they are. It ain't easy to capture an Israeli commando without weapons.

And they captured the entire initial landing party. Ju jitsu? Karate? How did they do it?

THEY BROUGHT CHILDREN ON THE BOATS. If the intention was not to use them as human shields, then they must have believed the EVIL HORRIBLE MURDEROUS ISRAELIS were harmless. If they thought the children were in danger, then bringing them aboard was unconscionable.

[EFerrari]

10. Aren't you ever afraid that your soul will freeze in that position?

I would be.

[Chulanowa]

11. What a sight this thread is

Like a wasteland of deleted messages and ignored users.

Seems like a cheerful place.