Guns and Poses: Mavi Marmara Humanitarian Volunteers Were Armed

Israel’s Yediot Aharonot published photos of unidentified flotillistas aboard the Mavi Marmara holding guns.

According to Nana 10 (Hebrew), the images came from cameras the IDF seized from the Mavi Marmara last year. Although the army had the damning images for a year, they were never released, nor were they seen by Israel’s Turkel Commission.

So what does all this mean? I’ll kick off the conversation with four points.

1. Despite IHH denials, there were “humanitarian volunteers” onboard armed with hot weapons.
2. The photos strengthen Israel’s argument that one of the commandos was wounded by a 9 mm bullet, a kind not used by the IDF.
3. MK Hanin Zuabi has some ‘splaining to do.
4. Despite the army’s success with getting its own Mavi Marmara footage on YouTube to go viral, these powerful images were somehow buried.  The IDF still has a lot to learn.

Paul McGeough and the Sydney Morning Herald, what do you have to say?

Images via IMRA.