Flotilla activist: 'Go back to Auschwitz'
A BBC investigation into the fatal raid on a Turkish ship by Israeli soldiers has revealed that an activist shouted "Go back to Auschwitz" after being told five times not to proceed ,and most of the medicines being transported to the Gaza Strip were out of date.
On Panorama's Death In The Med, which aired on Monday night, the leader of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH), Bulent Yildirim, admitted that his members had "gone beyond passive resistance" , onboard the Mavi Marmara.
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This was denied by Israeli major general Giora Eiland, who said it was not possible to abseil from a helicopter while shooting and that they only switched from non-lethal weapons to live fire when they were shot at by the activists.
"We have very clear evidence that in at least four cases the other side did use live fire," said Eiland, who carried out the investigation into events on board the ship.
"In some cases they used Israeli weapons stolen from our soldiers, in at least one case they used their weapon because we found bullets and shells not used by Israeli forces."
He added: "These people came to kill and be killed." He also said the IHH is linked to Hamas, which the IHH denies.
Ken O'Keefe, a London-based former US marine, who appears in the programme defending IHH activists' use of force, had earlier admitted to the Jewish News that he and other activists had, "decided we had to fight for our right to deliver our mission once we knew Israel was going to attack our boat. About 200 people were prepared to fight if necessary. I'd guess at least twenty of us were from military backgrounds."
He had also told how three commandos were under IHH control: "I and a fellow 'brother' disarmed an Israeli commando. We wrestled him to the ground and then had him under our control inside the boat." O’Keefe then fought with another commander and wrestled him under his control.
"They were frightened we would kill them," he added: "We were never going to. We simply wanted to go about our mission peacefully, which the Israeli army didn’t allow us to do."
A member of the elite unit Naval Commando 13 that performed the raid said on the programme that, "I saw a knife in my abdomen and pulled it out. The beating was continuous, and the cries of Allah Akbar."
Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.
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