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At 6:10 AM, commandos stormed the ship, took it to Ashdod, imprisoned its passengers, confiscated their possessions and the cargo. No one on board was killed, nor on other vessels who were treated like Defne's, all personal property and aid items seized, the entire ordeal (from boarding to imprisonment to deportation) made as uncomfortable and painful as possible, a lesson Israelis hoped would intimidate others from coming, an experience emboldening participants to come back, undaunted by their intimidating experience.
Eight of the nine known dead were Turks. The ninth was a Turkish American. Most of those wounded were also Turks or of Turkish or Arabic origin. Clearly they were identified in advance. Commandos had names and photos of assassination targets, ordered by top Israeli officials, including IDF commanders to commit cold-blooded murder.
A Final Comment
Besides violating maritime law in international waters, Israel massacred as many as 15 or more passengers in cold blood, injured dozens more, some seriously. In addition, ship communications were cut off, participants illegally arrested, repeatedly interrogated, initially denied consular contact, intimidated, imprisoned, and treated horrifically for two - three days, including harassment, humiliation, and physical abuse involving beatings, in some cases torture.
Further, their passports and personal possessions were stolen. Permission "to fulfill their basic needs" was denied. Humanitarian aid cargo was confiscated. Individual testimonies bore witness to Israel's lawless, callous, and degrading treatment.
Mevlut Yurtseven, the Mavi Marmarra's doctor, said dozens were wounded, at least 20 seriously. "They forced the wounded to stand up and tried to make them walk. They did not bring stretchers. Because I protested (I) was handcuffed."
Press TV - UK's Hassan al Banna Ghani said "They set attack dogs against me and another (UK) volunteer. They gave us nothing to eat for 20 hours on the ship. They stole our personal belongings and damaged them." Volunteers were treated violently.
UK emergency aid worker Nur Choodhury explained "We were physically abused: kicked, slapped, pinched, and elbowed. Our hands were tied tightly with cables; this was extremely painful and caused us to lose feeling in our hands." They were prevented from using toilets or phoning families.
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