After the IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara, accusations and rumors flew fast and thick. Highly edited videos released by the IDF and activist supporters did little to inform what actually happened that night. Now, a one hour long, high definition, and unedited video has been released (also available here). The footage was taken by Cultures of Resistance director Lara Lee.
I am not a surface warfare expert and I have not watched the video all the way through yet, so I will refrain from making uneducated comments. There is plenty of room for USNI readers to do that in the comments section. To get what I suspect will be a vibrant discussion started, here are the time codes for some moments of interest:
10:00 Al Jazeera reporter summarizes what has happened to the flotilla up until that time. Namely, that the Mavi Marmara was being tracked by the IDF and that the organizers changed the flotilla’s course to avoid a nighttime confrontation.
16:00 On being asked will happen when the IDF comes, a man off-camera says that the IDF soldiers will be thrown off the ship. Pressed further by the interviewer, he mentions that there is a group of people “not like us, [they don’t] come from an easy life… they are always ready for these things” and that they are ready to fight.
36:00 IDF small boat attack is repelled. Despite earlier reports to the contrary soldiers did not fire live rounds, they are indisputably firing paintball guns (shown in the screen capture below, I have adjusted the contrast and brightness to get a clear picture).
36:17 Something (firearm, flaregun, firework) appears to be fired from the Mavi Marmara towards the IDF small boat. A screen capture is provided below. It looks like fireworks to me, but I encourage you to watch it and decide for yourself.
39:00 That infamous red “blood” on the ladder is shown, used as proof the IDF fired live rounds before boarding. However, when asked a passenger says that they are from IDF paintballs and not blood (his comments are suspiciously absent from an earlier edited video made from the same footage by Lara Lee).
40:00 IDF Fast-roping from helicopter onto top deck.
42:00 Slingshots shot at helicopter, screen capture is below.
43:00 Gunshots can be heard from off-camera. Wounded man shown carried down staircase into what appears to be the medical area. Passenger mentions that two wounded IDF soldiers had been carried down just before.
50:00 Activists armed with pipes and other weapons make a stand at what looks like the top of the staircase shown before. IDF gunshots can be heard close by (maybe at one activist near the top of the stairs).
52:00 Activists on the staircase shows a helmet, presumably from a wounded IDF soldier.
53:00 Wounded activists, with what appears to be gun wounds, are shown.
55:40 Captain (I am assuming) makes an announcement of the PA system.
58:00 IDF small boat team appears to board. Captain makes an appeal in English for the passengers to stop fighting and go back to their cabins, warning that the IDF is using live ammunition.
60:00 Mavi Marmara is no longer moving. Announcement from female voice makes appeal to the IDF.
