Gaza: Eyewitnesses Speak Out

Watching the MSM Media yesterday, I observed that the coverage presented Israel’s position almost exclusively.

Former Ambassador, Edward Peck, was on a smaller ship.

A former US ambassador who was on the flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces at it attempted to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip says "the people on the ship were defending" themselves when they attempted to fight off Israeli soldiers.

Edward Peck told the hosts of CNN’s American Morning on Wednesday, "The purpose was humanitarian. We posed no threat to anybody. We were unarmed."…

Inserted from <Raw Story>

The account of a member of the Israeli Parliament is more revealing.

An Arab member of the Israeli parliament who was on board the international flotilla that was attacked on Monday as it tried to take humanitarian aid to Gaza accused Israel yesterday of intending to kill peace activists as a way to deter future convoys.

Haneen Zoubi said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the flotilla’s flagship, the Mavi Marmara, and fired on it a few minutes before commandos abseiled from a helicopter directly above them.

Terrified passengers had been forced off the deck when water was sprayed at them. She said she was not aware of any provocation or resistance by the passengers, who were all unarmed.

She added that within minutes of the raid beginning, three bodies had been brought to the main room on the upper deck in which she and most other passengers were confined. Two had gunshot wounds to the head, in what she suggested had been executions.

Two other passengers slowly bled to death in the room after Israeli soldiers ignored messages in Hebrew she had held up at the window calling for medical help to save them. She said she saw seven other passengers seriously wounded.

"Israel had days to plan this military operation," she told a press conference in Nazareth. "They wanted many deaths to terrorise [sic] us and to send a message that no future aid convoys should try to break the siege of Gaza."

Released early yesterday by police, apparently because of her parliamentary immunity, she said she was speaking out while most of the hundreds of other peace activists were either being held by Israel for deportation or were under arrest.

Three other leaders of Israel’s large Palestinian Arab minority, including Sheikh Raed Salah, a spiritual leader, were arrested as their ships docked in the southern port of Ashdod. Lawyers said that under Israeli law they could be held and questioned for up to 30 days without being charged.

Contradicting Israeli claims, Ms Zoubi said a search by the soldiers after they took control of the Marmara discovered no arms or other weapons.

It was vital, she added, that the world demand an independent UN inquiry to find out what had happened on the ship rather than allow Israel to carry out a "whitewash" with its own military investigation… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

I consider Peck’s report to be completely credible.  Zoubi’s is, at worst, no more biased that the official Israeli line.  Given Israel’s track record of confirmed atrocities against Palestinians, I suspect the truth is closer to Zoubi’s version of the events.  I certainly support her call for a UN inquiry.  The UN Security Council has voted to conduct an investigation.  Israel refuses to cooperate.