Israeli Navy Makes Preparations To Stymie Flotilla

By Anshel Pfeffer (Haaretz) June 20, 2011

Israel’s navy is going ahead with preparations to stymie a planned flotilla slated to attempt to break the blockade on Gaza in two weeks, despite the fact that the Turkish group IHH has pulled out of the effort.

Israeli security experts believe that flotilla participants could violently oppose the navy’s effort to stop the ships and plan to bring photographers with them to document any resistance they face.

Last May a similar flotilla was raided by the navy and nine passengers were killed after soldiers said they were attacked. The IDF is hoping to quickly release images of the operation to the press to avoid a situation like last year, in which the only version of events available to world media for hours was that of the flotilla participants.

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