Israel to flotilla activists: Syria is thataway

Israeli naval commandoes on Monday boarded a boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to sail to Gaza and redirected it toward the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, calling the interception “uneventful.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the activists for trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza which is designed to keep rockets and other military supplies from being shipped to Hamas.

The Prime Minister’s Office penned a letter to be given to the some 50 people on the boats:

Welcome to Israel!
It seems you got lost. Perhaps you meant to sail to a place not far from here – Syria. There the Assad regime slaughters his people every day with the support of the murderous Iranian regime.

Despite that, here in Israel we are dealing with a situation where terror organizations, such as Hamas, are attempting to harm innocent civilians. Against attempts like these we are defending the citizens of Israel in accordance with international law.

Despite that, Israel assists with the transport of humanitarian supplies to Gaza – 800 truckloads a day, more than 1.6 million tons of supplies this past year. The equivalent of 1 ton per resident of Gaza.

By the way, the volume of equipment that has been sent from Israel to Gaza is more than 500,000 times larger than the your boats that you are arriving on.

Israel assists in hundreds of humanitarian projects via international organization including the establishment of medical clinics and hospitals.

But we are not willing to allow in weapons to the terrorist organizations in Gaza, as they have tried to do in the past, by sea.

Just a year ago, we stopped an attempt to bring in hundreds of weapons by sea, that were meant to harm innocent civilians.

There’s no closure on Gaza, and you are welcome to to transport, via Israel, any humanitarian supplies.

The sea blockade is in accordance with international law, and has received backing from the UN Secretary General.

If human rights were truly important to you, you wouldn’t be sailing in solidarity with a terror regime that executes, without trial, residents of Gaza, and uses the children of Gaza as human shields.

If you were to come to Israel you would be able to be impressed by the only democracy in the Middle East that is concerned with equality for all its citizens, and freedom of religion for all faiths. A state that operates in accordance with international law in order to provide its residents a secure life and its children to grow up in peace and serenity.

Frankly i expected this flotilla thing to turn into a mess like in 2010. But is seems no body got hurt.
The activists did their thing. The IDF did it's thing.
Till the next time.

The sea blockade is in accordance with international law, and has received backing from the UN Secretary General.

Would this be the same UN Sec Gen that has been calling for Israel to lift the blockade since 2011?
UN Secretary-General Calls for More Israeli Steps to Lift Blockade of Gaza

But we are not willing to allow in weapons to the terrorist organizations in Gaza, as they have tried to do in the past, by sea.

Unlike the flotilla that Israel in a act of piracy boarded the ship in international waters and murdered some of the people on board. How many weapons were found on that ship Benny?

There’s no closure on Gaza, and you are welcome to to transport, via Israel, any humanitarian supplies.

If there is no closure on Gaza then why is it necessary to go through Israel? Does the prison warden want to make sure they get their cut?
These people organizing these flotillas need to learn if you want to see people in a prison first you have to grease the palms of the wardens.

a reply to: buster2010

Would this be the same UN Sec Gen that has been calling for Israel to lift the blockade since 2011?
UN Secretary-General Calls for More Israeli Steps to Lift Blockade of Gaza

Yeah, I would like to know where they came up with this one...
Ban Ki-moon is definitely not backing up the blockade on Gaza.
Same goes for the flotilla -
UN Secretary-General Slams New Gaza Flotilla

If there is no closure on Gaza then why is it necessary to go through Israel?

It is not necessary to go through Israel. Why not to go through Egypt?

a reply to: buster2010



I think I found what they meant by:

The sea blockade is in accordance with international law, and has received backing from the UN Secretary General.

Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry

The fundamental principle of the freedom of navigation on the high seas is
subject to only certain limited exceptions under international law. Israel faces
a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade
was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons
from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the
requirements of international law.

Source

Well, what do you know...

One last headline from this incident:

Israeli Defense minister: There was no aid on intercepted Gaza aid ship

“There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Ya’alon told reporters. “Seven hundred trucks enter the Strip every day.”

The Marianne of Gothenburg ship, the defense minister argued, was just “provocation,” and it was not an honest attempt to help the people living in the Gaza Strip.

“There was no aid on board,” Ya’alon stated.

Source

If you want updated on this situation you can follow the following site :shiptogaza.se...


Updates on twitter: Freedom Flotilla

@GazaFFlotilla

The latest tweet :

Most of Marianne crew now in Givon prison, Israel. #SOSFreedomFlotilla
Activists of the Marianne, excluding MK Ghattas & Dr Marzouki, who were already released, now at Givon prison in Israel