In a June 7, 2010 article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan, columnist Nabil Al-Fadli wrote that photos from the Mavi Marmara published June 6 in the Turkish press proved that the IDF soldiers had indeed been brutally attacked, and that the attackers were not peace activists but had been trained to fight commando soldiers. Therefore, he said, the Israeli soldiers had been justified in defending themselves.
Following are excerpts from the article:[1]
The Mavi Marmara Passengers "Were Not Civilians [Trying to] Help Their Brothers in Gaza... These Were Groups Trained to Confront Israeli Commandos, Seize Their Weapons and Take Them Hostage"
"The photos of the Israeli soldiers bleeding after being attacked by the passengers of the Mavi Marmara, published yesterday in the [Kuwaiti] daily Al-Anba, prove that the Israeli soldiers were justified in shooting [their attackers]. Clearly, the assault on the soldiers... occurred before they opened fire, and proves that the passengers on board the Marmara were not civilians [trying to] help their brothers in Gaza, as has been claimed. Rather, these were groups that had been trained to confront Israeli commandos and [even] seize their weapons and take them hostage.
"The [Al-Anba] report included three points that cannot be ignored. First, [it said that] 'the photos were retrieved from the memory card [of a camera] belonging to one of the passengers, after the Israeli authorities had deleted them.' In other words, there was a passenger who enjoyed the scene and photographed it using a digital camera made in Ankara. When the Israelis caught him and saw the pictures, they did not confiscate the camera and did not smash it [but only deleted the pictures]...
"That reminds us of an incident that occurred seven years ago, when Al-Watan covered the elections in the [Kuwaiti] city of Khaitan. An honorable [individual] attacked the Al-Watan reporters, grabbed the photographer's camera, smashed it and took it away. We hope the Israelis come to Khaitan for a course in proper conduct. We will help them gain admittance to this course in civilized [behavior]..."
"Though Israeli Soldiers Were Attacked... Israel Freed All [the Activists]... within a Few Hours"
"The second point is that, even though the Israeli soldiers were attacked, as shown in the photos from the Turkish camera, Israel freed all [the activists] and returned them to their countries within a few hours. [Here in the Gulf,] we are still waiting for Qatar to release the Bahraini seamen who have been detained there for weeks on charges of 'wandering' in Qatar's territorial waters.
"The third point is that most of the pictures [of the Mavi Marmara events] and the reports about them were published in the widely distributed Turkish paper Hurriyet. Why did the paper [publish them]? Was it to show that Israeli soldiers are weak and easily defeated? [Or] did [the paper] want to show the Turkish brutality, which we have witnessed throughout history and are still witnessing every day in Kurdistan, and which our friends the Armenians will never forget? Is there someone in Turkey who [actually] wants to prove that the Israelis were justified in shooting [these activists], who claimed to be civilians but [then proceeded to] capture the Israeli commando soldiers and beat them bloody?
"These questions I leave to the passengers of the new ship which is to set sail from Kuwait, loaded with goodies for the loyal people of Gaza and the honorable, clean-handed and innocent Hamas leaders, those heroes of the liberation of Kuwait [from Saddam Hussein's occupation in 1990]..."
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Watan (Kuwait), June 7, 2010.
