Red Cross visits wounded activists

Gilad Schalit, meanwhile, has yet to be visited by the int'l body.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
311_Gaza flotilla flag (photo credit: Associated Press)
311_Gaza flotilla flag
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross for Israel and Gaza went on Tuesday to hospitals where foreign civilians from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel who were injured in the Mavi Marmara ship conflict were being treated. They were also given access to detention centers where those who were not wounded were being held.
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Compared to this easy access, Israel’s abducted soldier, Gilad Schalit, has never been visited by an ICRC representative because Hamas terrorists have prohibited it, illegally, for nearly four years.
The Jerusalem Post learned from hospital sources that those visited include people from Lebanon, Indonesia and Qatar. In such cases, people from the ICRC’s protection department do not visit those from countries that do have diplomatic ties with this country.
The ICRC was extremely tight-lipped about the visits and said only that they were requested by families of the injured and those in detention to inquire about their condition.
En route to Europe, activists accuse Navy of 'extreme brutality'
Earlier Tuesday, pro-Palestinian activists returning to Europe accused Israeli Navy commandos of using stun guns on passengers and beating them during the raid on the aid flotilla that was trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. One woman said her aid ship "turned into a lake of blood."
Norman Paech, a former member of Germany's Left Party who was aboard the Marmara, said the ship was surrounded by small Israeli assault boats about 4:30 a.m. Monday morning.
"Moments later, we heard detonations and then soldiers from helicopters above us dropped down on board," Paech said. "The soldiers were all masked, carrying big guns and were extremely brutal."
The Israeli government said its soldiers were defending themselves, and has released video showing soldiers in riot gear being struck by activists with sticks — and one soldier appears to have been shoved into the water. Israel says the activists were armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops.