Following an armed boarding in international waters, Israel has released the majority of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists in Greece. Officials expressed frustration at having to deploy elite commandos to manage a civilian publicity campaign.
PIRAEUS, Greece — The salt-heavy breeze off the Saronic Gulf mingled with the exhaust of idling ferries as the released members of the Global Sumud Flotilla drank lukewarm Nescafé from paper cups. The activists had just been deposited on the docks after Israeli naval forces intercepted their Gaza-bound aid ships, an operation the Israeli Foreign Ministry formally categorized as the disruption of a public relations stunt.
Officials in Jerusalem expressed mild irritation that the flotilla's organizers had forced the deployment of elite naval warships merely to handle a publicity campaign. While the activists described the armed boarding in international waters as piracy, Israeli representatives maintained they were simply enforcing basic broadcast standards.
We cannot have civilian vessels conducting unlicensed public relations events in waters where we are trying to maintain a serious, professional military blockade.
The two remaining activists are currently being held pending a review of their broadcast licenses. Greek port authorities, accustomed to the seasonal influx of intercepted maritime traffic, continued processing the arrivals under the glare of the mid-morning sun.