EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out from Mavi Marmara of Israel's Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla
American filmmaker and peace activist Iara Lee managed to smuggle about an hour's worth of documentation of the Israeali raid on the Mavi Marmara back to the United States.
Lee will be releasing her footage Thursday during a press conference with the United Nations. Smuggled out, the footage has never been seen before, but Lee gave the footage to Democracy Now for an exclusive that aired Thursday morning. Democracy Now showed portions of the footage while interviewing Lee about her experience. Lee had accompanied the flotilla aiming to break Isreal's blockade of Gaza in order to document the peace mission.
The footage is chilling, and it will be shown in its entirety during the press conference. It is not known if the footage will be widely available after the conference. In a portion broadcast by Democracy Now, viewers can see people caring for those who were shot. In one clip, a woman informs the Israeli navy that Mavi Marmara is full of unarmed civilians trying to take care of injured people. The woman clearly told Isreal they needed assistance.
At the press conference to take place Thursday at 4 pm, est., Lee will give a statement and answer questions from the press. From the clips shown by Democracy Now, Lee's footage appears to back up the Turkish autopsies that showed five of the passengers on board the Mavi Marmara were shot at close range from behind. Nine Turkish men died in the raid.
After Lee was released by Israel and back home in the United States, she wrote an opinion article that was published in the San Fransisco Chronicle, and posted on the Cultures of Resistance website. In that article, Lee said prior to setting sail to Gaza the aid ships had been inspected in Turkey by NATO and Turkey, and no weapons ahd been found. Lee emphasized the fact that Israel had alternatives open to it regarding the aid ships, but
"Instead, the Israeli military launched a nighttime assault with heavily armed commandos. Under attack, some passengers skirmished with the boarding soldiers using broomsticks and other items at hand. The commandos and navy soldiers shot and killed at least nine civilians and seriously injured dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll has yet to be determined."
Lee called Israel's actions illegal, saying the civilians aboard the aid ships had been kidnapped by Israel.
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