Updated at 5:30 pm
.... The IDF soldiers went on board the ship with the expectation that they would be met with "non-violent resistance." The reason that they had those expectations was because the flotilla organizers made very clear that this is what they planned to do - as they said, "The only resistance that there might be would be passive resistance such as physically blocking the steering room, or blocking the engine room downstairs, so that they couldn't get taken over. But that was just symbolic resistance."
Because the IDF foolishly believed them, they dropped onto the Turkish ship armed with just riot-dispersal paint guns, plus personal handguns as a last resort.
And they fell into a well-planned ambush....
.... The bottom line is, if the IDF had known that they were meeting with a mob of violent, crazy, suicidal Islamists, they would have prepared better for it and there would have been less loss of life. But since the Free Gaza and other sponsors of the ships made very public statements about their "peaceful" intentions, the IDF was ill-prepared for the confrontation and things went awry....
Larger format is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-XyZE
See all the videos from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit at http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk
One of our soldiers said it reminded him of the Ramallah lynching.
Deja vu?
Thanking Gd that none of our soldiers were killed this time, and remembering that The IDF Never Forgets.

Posted by: Rick Richman | Tuesday, 01 June 2010 at 12:04 AM