Order 227: Free Gaza!

'Six of the nine passengers killed in an Israeli raid on an aid convoy bound for Gaza were shot by a single Israeli commando, who is being considered for a medal of valour for saving his injured comrades as passengers attacked them with clubs, knives and even guns they had taken from downed Navy Seals.

There were reports that passengers who attacked the Israeli boarding party had been dragging three captured commandos into the hold of the ship when the shooting broke out. And a British passenger who witnessed the deadly pre-dawn encounter in international waters said that some of the more peaceful activists on board had tried to protect captured Israeli soldiers being set upon by a hardcore of passengers, most of them believed to be Turks linked to an Islamic charity accused by Israel of having links to extremists.

The Israeli commando who killed six of the passengers of Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ferry owned by the IHH charity, said that he had been the last of 15 soldiers to rappel down the rope from an overhead helicopter on to the decks of the ship, which he described as “a battlefield”.

Identified for security reasons only as Staff Sergeant S, he said that contrary to initial Israeli Army reports, the shooting had started within minutes as he and his comrades were set upon by a “mob of mercenaries”.

As he landed on the ship’s top deck, he said he saw three of his superior officers who had landed ahead of him lying wounded, one with a bullet wound to the stomach, another shot in the knee and the third beaten unconscious.

Taking charge, he formed his men in a perimeter around the wounded, pulled his 9mm Glock pistol and opened fire on passengers he accused of shooting at the boarding party with guns taken off the first soldiers, who had been overwhelmed as they landed one by one.

“When I hit the deck, I was immediately attacked by people with bats, metal pipes and axes,” the sergeant recalled. “These were without a doubt terrorists. I could see the murderous rage in their eyes and that they were coming to kill us.”

He said he saw one of the passengers holding a seized pistol to another Israeli commando’s head.'

HAMAS is refusing to accept inspected cargo from the Rachel Corrie because it docked at Ashodod and not Gaza. Why would they prevent this humanitarian aid from reaching their people who are "starving"?

HAMAS closes down UN and NGO offices responsible for distributing humanitarian aid to it's people:

June 3 (Reuters) - A top United Nations official voiced concern on Thursday over the closure by the Hamas Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip of several non-governmental organisations in the Palestinian enclave.

"This targeting of NGOs, including U.N. partner organisations, is unacceptable, violating accepted norms of a free society and harming the Palestinian people," Robert Serry, the U.N.'s special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said the offices of six organisations, including care centres for women and children, were raided by members of Hamas's security forces between May 31 and June 1.

"The de facto authorities must cease such repressive steps and allow the re-opening of these civil society institutions without delay," Serry said.

Hamas officials were not available for comment.

Youssef Abu Amr of the Sharek Youth Forum in the southern city of Rafah said Hamas security men gave them no reason for closing the office of his organisation.

"They just told us the office would be closed and employees should stop all activities," Abu Amra said.

He rants on Israel, but ignores the question: Why is HAMAS blocking the transfer of goods to Gaza?