The Israeli prime minister had this to say today:

Ahead of the raid, the prime minister asked that supreme effort be made to avoid casualties during the operation, he said. "The raid was a last resort, and the instructions were to conduct it with as little friction as possible."

'with as little friction as possible'?

So why was it carried out in the dark?

Why were the soldiers masked?

Why was the radio equipment on all the ships jammed?

Why were passengers on all the boats handcuffed, beaten and in some cases blindfolded?

Why were people's possessions taken and never returned?

And why were only Turkish men shot dead?

Why were the dead shot in the head and the back?

That sounds like policy - kill a few Turkish Muslims and frighten them off.

It cetainly doesn't sound like 'as little friction as possible'.

The US boat to Gaza was launched last week in New York.

There are more boats coming. Civil society has woken up to the cruel, barbarism of Israel's seige.