SMU welcomes Gaza ship activist

Canadian was aboard the Mavi Marmara when it was raided by Israeli forces

Activist Kevin Neish in animated discussion (Photo: Ezra Black)

"Right-wing newspapers like the National Post have called me an anti-Semite," says activist Kevin Neish, "but I'm not an anti-Semite, I'm anti-bully."

The crowded hall at Saint Mary's University roared its approval.

This past Friday, Neish, 53, spoke of his experience aboard the Mavi Marmara to a crowd of like-minded individuals.

Neish is touring the country, discussing the Arab/Israeli Conflict and raising funds for the Canadian Boat to Gaza Campaign. The audience welcomed him and ferociously denounced Israel.

"Israel is a myth!" yelled one audience member, "It is a criminal organization, it has no right to exist!"

In the early hours of May 31, Neish was one of 700 activists aboard the ship when it was raided by Israeli forces in international waters. The ship was part of a flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Nine activists were killed in the process.

Footage of the raid

Neish presented director Iara Lee's video of the Israeli raid. It begins in the dead of night; the activists are clad in orange life-vests, the camera scans the sea and a Zodiac carrying Israeli troops pulls alongside the Mavi. There is an altercation; the soldiers fire paintballs, rubber bullets and percussion grenades while the activists respond with slingshots and poles cut from the side of the ship.

"I saw [activists] scrounging around the engine room for nuts and bolts to throw at the Israelis," says Neish.

Then a helicopter swoops low over the ship and Israeli commandos rappel onto the bridge. The footage cuts to below deck. Two wounded Israeli soldiers are hustled down steps, dying activists lay on the floor and walls are stained with blood.

The crowd recoils in horror at the image of an injured Singaporean doctor splayed out on the floor, his eyes lolling as he struggles to remain conscious.

The events that led up to the shooting are still bitterly disputed, but Neish says the bloodshed occurred because the Israelis botched the operation.

"[The Israelis] thought the initial assault would draw the Turks to the stern of the ship leaving the bridge unguarded to be taken by the commandos. But that didn't happen and some of the commandos were captured. The Israelis didn't have a plan B."

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