Unseen Footage of Gaza Flotilla Raid

Nearly 15 minutes of unseen footage shot aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in an aid flotilla raided while en route to Gaza, has been posted to YouTube. Much of the video shot by passengers on the aid ships was confiscated by Israeli government officials; some of it was edited by and later released via the Israel Defense Force Spokesman's YouTube channel.

These images offer a fuller account of the May 31 raid, and present in graphic detail the injuries of some passengers. The full one hour of footage from filmmaker Iara Lee can now be seen here on YouTube.



User name: stimulator
Location: Mediterranean Sea
Date uploaded: June 10
Event date: May 31
Views: 612
User notes: Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely.
Despite the Israeli government's thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Above is 15 minutes of footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli commandos' assault on the Mavi Marmara.
Synopsis: At 0:31, clear views of Israeli soldiers on ships running alongside the Mavi Marmara. At 3:20, soldiers drop by rope from a helicopter onto the deck of the Mavi Marmara. At 3:36, activists fire slingshots at the soldiers. Beginning at 4:32, medical personnel treat wounded passengers.

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.



User name: stimulator
Location: Mediterranean Sea
Date uploaded: June 10
Event date: May 31
Views: 310
Synopsis: Injured passengers are treated aboard the Mavi Marmara. At 4:15, Israeli vessels in the waters around the ship, and activists throwing something at a military vessel.

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

​B’Tselem: Documenting Gaza through the eyes of of those who live there

Citizentube is at the third annual Alliance of Youth Movements Summit, a convening of youth activists from all over the world who are using new media and technology to achieve advance social justice missions, in London this week.

Yesterday, I met Yoav Gross, the Israeli Video Director of B’Tselem, a human rights organization documenting the plight of Gaza/West Bank civilians through video. The organization has distributed 150 cameras to Palestinian civilians with the hope of seeing the conflict through their eyes. It’s a view, Gross says, many global citizens never see.

In this video, for example, a handcuffed Palestinian man is shot with a rubber-coated bullet by a soldier:



The video was shot by a Palestinian youth through the window of her home, and given to B’Tselem, who turned it over to the Military Police Investigation Unit. An investigation was opened into the matter. This is another goal of distributing cameras - so that they can provide proof to police about the incidents taking place in these areas.

In this video, one of the most-viewed on the B’Tselem YouTube channel, a settler from a Jewish settlement in Hebron is seen harassing women from neighboring home. In the video you can see the metal cage that the family built around their home to prevent attack:



Western mainstream media has picked up on some of B’Tselem’s footage (see this NBC Nightly News piece about the organization) but much of it - like this video uploaded in January, which documents teens working under poor conditions in the Rafah Tunnels, a main passageway for food, medicine and weapons into Gaza due to border restrictions - have received less widespread attention.

For more footage from B’Tselem, please see www.youtube.com/btselem.