"It Was Pure Hell"
KUALA LUMPUR:: Three days after the horrific raid on the Freedom Flotilla by Israeli commandos, the 12 Malaysians who were on board the aid ship MV Mavi Marmara were freed yesterday.
And hours after arriving in Jordan from a prison in Israel, the two-man news crew from Astro Awani recounted how they had stared death in their face.
In a telephone interview from his room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Amman, journalist Ashwad Ismail said he thought “this was it” as he stared up the barrel of a gun.
"For some reason, after shooting the two Turkish activists I was interviewing, the commandos trained their guns at me, but did not open fire.
“
I crawled through a pool of blood, and went down to the lower deck from where I heard more gunfire and screams coming from above,” the 24-year-old said.
The attack began just after 4am on Monday but hours before that, the 600-odd activists suspected trouble was looming as the Israeli Navy had began to surround the ship.
Ashwad claimed there were four ships, 19 boats and three Apache helicopters that were circling their ship.
“And when they stormed the ship, it was pure hell. People were being shot without provocation. It was so easy for the Israelis. In less than an hour, they had total control of the ship,” he said.
Ashwad and the rest of the people on board were then rounded up and kept under guard while the rest of the commandos ransacked the ship for weapons and documents.
“There were no weapons. We were not armed and yet we were treated like criminals. Even criminals are not shot on sight.
“We were in international waters. How can they board our ship and open fire?”
According to reports, at least 10 people on board the Mavi Marmara were killed and dozens, including seven Israeli soldiers were injured.
A clearly upset Ashwad said the Israelis were not bothered about the injured. They were left on the ship for about 12 hours before they were taken to the navy hospital at the Ashdod Detention Camp in Israel.
The rest of the passengers were interrogated.
“They wanted to know why we were heading to Gaza.”
After questioning, the Israelis separated them into groups. No group contained nationals from one country.
They were then taken to the Beersheba prison where they were given wheat bread and vegetable soup.
“We felt like we were cut off from the world. We were defenceless and were clearly bullied.”
Ashwad is now on a mission to tell the world the cruelty of the Israeli navy.
“They attacked unarmed people who were simply going out of their way to help others. They acted like thugs.
“Now we understand the six decades of torture the Palestinians have been enduring,”
Astro Awani cameraman Shamsulkamal Latip was asleep when the raid began.
“I was on the lower deck. I heard the gunshots and screams and knew at once what was happening.
“And at that moment, I started praying. I kept thinking of my 11-year-old son, wife and other family members,” said the 44-year-old.
Both journalists knew the risks involved when they accepted the assignment but nothing prepared them for this.
Yesterday morning (11.20am Malaysian time), the 12 Malaysians were released at the King Hussein Bridge at the Israel-Jordan border.
The group, accompanied by Malaysian Ambassador to Jordan Datuk Abdul Malek Abdul Aziz, were said to be in good spirits.
Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman who flew to Jordan yesterday morning, thanked the Jordanian government for securing the release of the Malaysians.
The Malaysians were released with only the clothes on their backs. Their passports and mobile phones were also taken by the Israelis.
Ashwad and Shamsulkamal were part of a multinational group of activists in the Flotilla Freedom on their way to Gaza to send supplies.
Another six Malaysians are on another aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie. They have been identified as lawyer Matthias Chang, Parit member of parliament Nizar Zakaria, activist Ahmad Faizal Azumu, TV3 journalist Halim Mohamed, TV3 crew member Jufri Junid and Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal.
Also on board are former United Nations assistant secretary-general and advisory panel member of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation Denis Halliday and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire.
The ship left Malta on Monday and is expected to be at the point of the interception either tomorrow evening or Saturday morning.
The Rachel Corrie is a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003,
It is carrying supplies sponsored by groups in Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland and Britain.
