Piracy, Murder, and Kidnap? Really?

In a recent blog post at DC's Improbable Science titled Rachel Corrie: piracy, murder and kidnap on the high seas, Professor David Colquhoun started his comments on the raid by Israel on ships attempting to run their blockade of Gaza by stating, "Once again the Israeli defence force has shown behaviour worthy of Auschwitz guards."

I'm finding it very difficult to understand his comparison with the Auschwitz concentration camps in this incident.  Did the Israeli defense forces (IDF) kill nearly a million people through a variety of means?  Did they torture their captives? Did they force their captives to labor making, say, synthetic rubber or fuel?  Did they perform cruel "experiments" on them?

The worst I can find they did was to shoot people armed with clubs and knives who attacked them.  Many were wounded, several died.  They also used non-lethal force in boarding other ships when the occupants attempted to repel them without weapons.

And what of Professor Colquhoun's post title?  It was a funny sort of kidnapping, if it was that, as ransom was neither sought nor paid and the alleged kidnappees were treated for their injuries and sent out of country.  Add the fact that the alleged kidnapper was a sovereign nation - and typically the term "kidnap" does not refer to the official act of a nation.

Likewise "piracy" seems like an odd choice of words.  The official armed forces of a sovereign country enforced a blockade, which was an official policy of that country.  It even appears they sent most (if not all) the captured cargo to the intended destination.  It seems particularly inept as piracy; certainly even the Pirates of Penzance would have done a better job of it.

Professor Colquhoun certainly has every right to his opinions on the Gaza blockade and the actions of the IDF.  His use of hyperbole does nothing to further his case.