So, we have been lead to believe that the Irene, filled with Jewish and Israeli activists intent on breaking the siege of Gaza, was stopped and towed to Israel without the use of excesive force, right?
"Some of the soldiers treated us atrociously," Shapira said, adding that he felt there was a "huge gap between what the IDF spokesman is saying happened and what really happened."
Here's what we have heard so far, in many cases it seems courtesy of unquestioned Israeli government pronouncements:
The Israeli military’s blog added:
The boarding of the yacht was without incident, and no violence of any kind was used by neither the passengers on board nor the Israel naval forces.
Various sources are reporting that the "Irene," the catamaran carrying seven Jews to Gaza from Cyprus, was intercepted this morning by several boats in the Israeli navy, apparently in international waters, and forced to make course for Ashdod, in Israel. Reuters has an Israeli gov't spokesman complaining about the "surreal" mission to which Israeli forces were assigned today and noting the presence on the boat of a former uniformed Israeli officer, Yonatan Shapira.
IDF naval forces boarded the yacht "Irene," and it is currently being led to the Ashdod seaport along with its passengers.
The boarding occured without incident and no violence of any kind was used by either the passengers onboard or the Israel naval forces.
Israeli naval commandos have peacefully boardeda Jewish aid boat attempting to break a naval blockade on Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said at 11:30 A.M. Tuesday. "IDF naval forces recently boarded the yacht 'Irene', and it is currently being led to the Ashdod seaport along with its passengers," the military said in statement that branded the boat a "provocation yacht".
But this was all said and surmised before the actual detained passengers of the boat were released; now, what could they have to add to this?
Jewish Gaza-bound activists: IDF used excessive force in naval raid
Israeli activist and former Israel Air Force pilot Yonatan Shapira saying that there were "no words to describe what we went through during the takeover." Shapira said the activists, who he said displayed no violence, were met with extreme IDF brutality, adding that the soldiers "just jumped us, and hit us. I was hit with a taser gun."
"Some of the soldiers treated us atrociously," Shapira said, adding that he felt there was a "huge gap between what the IDF spokesman is saying happened and what really happened."
"They used a taser gun against Yonatan. He screamed and was dragged to the military boat," Usharov said, adding that both Yonatan and his brother Itamar were handcuffed. The Channel 10 reporter also said that the activists managed to have a serious heart-to-heart conversation with the troops once they were all placed on board the military vessel, and that "overall the atmosphere was good." Reuben Moscowitz, a Holocaust survivor who took part in the mission, expressed his disbelief that "Israeli soldiers would treat nine Jews this way. They just hit people."
So, who are you going to believe? Isn't a 'peaceful hijacking' still a hijacking? One things for sure, the occupation ain't over, but like the man said, it is if you want it:
'One future'
Reuven Moskovitz, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor among the passengers on the British-flagged vessel, is a founding member of the Jewish-Arab village Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace).
"We are two peoples, but we have one future," Moskovitz said in a statement on the Jewish Boat to Gaza website.
Another passenger was Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose daughter died in a 1997 suicide bombing at a Jerusalem shopping centre.
Eli Osherov, a reporter from Channel 10 in Israel, was also on board.
Andy David, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, described the voyage as "a provocative joke that isn't funny".
Secker, the Irene's captain, told Al Jazeera Monday that the organisers had "a particular point to make, as the voice of Jews who have an alternative opinion to that of the Israeli establishment".
UPDATE
keep checking Mondoweiss for more updates, my battery is dying!
Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the wife of Rami Elhanan, who was on the Jewish boat to Gaza. Peled-Elhanan passes along the following report:
Coming out of the police investigation, Yonatan [Shapira] looked like someone coming out of prisoners' camp: Long pale distorted face. It was the same monstrous soldiers who attacked the Marmara. They were all after him. They beat him up, kicked him and used a taser on him. The other passengers said he was palpitating and screaming like a wounded animal but the monster wouldn't stop. When Rami asked him for his name he said Gepeto.
Now Rami is accused of threatening a soldier because he said he would find out his name and press charges against him. Yonatan and Itamar [Shapira, Yonatan's brother], who were handcuffed and dragged and then thrown violently to another boat, are charged with assaulting the soldiers and resisting arrest. There were dozens fully armed comandos who attacked them on the boat, 4 navy war boats.
A very senior general, Amidror, head of research unit of the IDF said on the radio 2 days ago that Yonatan Shapira, an ex-pilot in the Air force is psychopath and should be locked away. I reacted to that so they interviewed me the day after. I told them this is the Russians did to Sakharov and that Yonatan is Israel's best son and an example to Young people of what they should be as well etc.