Israel Matzav

Breaking: Israel Navy fired on Moonbats in the Mediterranean; UPDATE Boat towed to Ashdod, Israel

Citing an al-Jazeera report, Israel Radio reports that the Israeli Navy fired upon and boarded the 'humanitarian aid' ship headed for Gaza that it attempted to turn back last night. More details to follow.

UPDATE 11:09 AM

Israel Radio just played the al-Jazeera report (in Arabic, which I do not speak). It consisted of a woman (reporter?) screaming that (according to the translation) the Israeli Navy had fired on the ship, boarded it, and was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the crew in order to arrest it and prevent the ship from reaching Gaza.

What did these morons think was going to happen? They're lucky we didn't just send the air force to sink it from the air.

UPDATE 11:45 AM

This is from JPost.

Reporters from Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera TVs say the Israeli navy fired three times on the ship. the shooting caused no casualties. The local Al-Jadeed station says Israeli troops then boarded the ship and threatened the crew.

It says the ship was surrounded by 18 Israeli gunboats demanding the crew turn back.

The IDF would neither confirm nor deny the report.

I would guess that the report is credible, except for the part about 'threatening' the crew. The IDF is not going to yield on this. Not after the last month.

UPDATE 1:00 PM

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has confirmed that the Navy boarded the boat and has towed it to the port of Ashdod in southern Israel.

UPDATE 1:34 PM

Here's more from JPost.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed the incident. The ship, he said, had initially been turned back and, after stating that it would sail to Egypt, tried to "crawl" back to Gaza.

The ship was now being led to Ashdod, Barak said. He did not say what would be done with its crew and cargo.

Earlier, reporters from Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera TVs said the navy fired three times on the ship. The shooting caused no casualties. The local Al-Jadeed station said IDF troops then boarded the ship and threatened the crew.

It said the ship was surrounded by 18 Navy gunboats demanding the crew turn back.

The IDF confirmed that soldiers had boarded the ship, saying it was necessary since Israel did not know what cargo it was carrying and as it had set sail from Lebanon, a hostile country.

Haaretz adds:

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Barak said that the navy "prevented the ship from entering Gaza waters. The ship was directed to Al-Arish in Egypt, but the crew decided to turn and try again to reach Gaza." He said that "the navy stopped the ship, and it was being transported to Ashdod port."

On board the vessel, dubbed the "Brotherhood Ship," were nine people, including the former Greek-Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, said the organizer of the Lebanese delivery, Maan Bashour.

Earlier, an Al-Jazeera correspondent on the ship said that Israeli forces had assaulted those on board.

"They [the navy] are opening fire towards the vessel ... there are Israeli soldiers who have actually boarded the vessel," said Salam Khoder.

"Three of them are pointing their weapons at us ... They are beating those on the vessel, they are beating and kicking us," Khoder said in a frantic voice before the telephone interview was terminated.

Al-Jazeera said attempts to re-establish contact with Khoder had failed. It did not say how many people were on board the boat.

If these people actually thought they were going to be allowed to reach Gaza, they were quite mistaken. But reaching Gaza was not as important a goal for them as creating an international incident. Let's see if any non-Arab countries say anything about this.

Finally, a word about Hilarion Capucci. Capucci was convicted in the late 1970's of running guns for the PLO and was eventually deported to Brazil as part of an agreement with the Vatican. The other part of the agreement was that Capucci would never again be involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But the Vatican has long since violated that agreement.

1974 Archbishop and Apostolic Vicar Hilarion Capucci is found to be using his official car to run guns and other weapons to the PLO, to be used in terrorist attacks on Jewish civilians. The Archbishop is arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison.

The Vatican expresses distress -- not that an Archbishop should be a party to terrorism but that he should be sent to prison for it. The Vatican promises that if Israel releases the Archbishop, he will be sent to a monastery in South America and never permitted to return to the Middle East or be involved in Middle Eastern affairs. Israel accepts this promise, and releases Capucci.

Within a short time, the Vatican breaks its promise to Israel and permits Capucci to return to the Middle East and resume his activities on behalf of the PLO. When Israel points out this breach of promise, a Vatican spokesman says, "We cannot prevent him from loving the Palestinian people".

Capucci later shows up in Teheran, as an accomplice to the imprisonment of U.S. diplomats.

Given our current state of affairs with the Vatican, it will be interesting to see if Capucci is treated differently than the rest of the moonbats. Here's one vote in favor of locking him up for life.
UPDATE 1:54 PM

Israel Radio reports that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora (pictured in his customary pose from 2006) has protested Israel's diversion of the Moonbats in the Mediterranean and said that he holds Israel responsible for the safety of those on the boat. He has asked Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit(!) to work for their release.

Here's more from Lebanon:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora called on the international community to press Israel to allow the vessel, which was carrying medical supplies, food, clothing and toys, to reach Gaza.

Yeah, that'll convince 'em.

UPDATE 6:42 PM

YNet is now reporting that there were no weapons on the boat.

An investigation of the ship revealed it contained no hidden weapons and it has been docked in the port of Ashdod.

Israeli sources said that the aid the ship was carrying would be transferred to Gaza via land. The passengers, who attempted to dock in Gaza illegally, were transferred to security forces for questioning.

...

The military said that a naval patrol spoke by radio to the Tali, told its skipper that it would not be allowed to enter Gaza and the two sides agreed that the vessel would instead sail to the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

But on Thursday morning, the ship tried to double back and slip past the navy, Israel said, raising concerns that it might be trying to smuggle arms into Gaza.

It was placed in a remote location in the Ashdod port, usually reserved for security-related cargo.

"As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, an Israel Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the cargo boat, directing it toward (the port) of Ashdod, Israel," the statement said. "No gunshots were fired on board during the boarding and capturing of the cargo boat."

Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be until the 'Palestinians' try this again. I say a week.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:00 AM