Israel will breathe new life into the Palestine solidarity movement, drawing attention to the blockade." Two of the activists (Ali Haydar Bengi and Ibrahim Bilgen) who died during the MV Mavi Marmara clash had previously said that they wished for martydom. On 29 May, Aljazeera broadcast footage of Mavi Marmara activists participating in a chant calling for battle against Jews. Former U.S. Marine Kenneth O'Keefe, who was aboard the Mavi Marmara, stated that the activists knew from the outset that there would be no passive resistance. "I knew that if the Israelis boarded that ship, it would be a disaster...You have to be an idiot to board that ship and think it will be a ship of passive resistance," he told Haaretz newspaper. In a public address in October 2010 on Al-Aqsa TV, Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Maqri, Head of Moroccan and Algerian Delegation to the Gaza Convoy, stated, according to a translation published by MEMRI, that "the mujahideen have told us that they decided not to defeat the oppressive Jews by gunfire, but instead, by daggers." Initial leg Six of the eight ships set out on 30 May 2010 from international waters off the coast of Cyprus; the remaining two were delayed by mechanical problems. "We do not even have a jackknife here, but we will not let Israeli soldiers on board this ship," İHH leader Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım told reporters via a live video stream before the convoy set sail. The government of Cyprus refused to cooperate with the Free Gaza Movement or allow activists to sail from its harbors. The Cyprus Police stated that "anything related to the trip to Gaza is not permitted," and as a result remaining MPs and activists embarked instead from Famagusta in Northern Cyprus. Cypriot and Greek MPs and activists refused to embark via ports in Northern Cyprus. Having been delayed by two days, the flotilla aimed to reach Gaza on the afternoon of 31 May. Pre-raid sabotage rumors There are claims that the IDF or the Mossad may have sabotaged three of the ships before the raid. According to the National Post, Israeli deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai hinted that Israel had exhausted covert means of stalling the vessels. He said: "Everything was considered. I don't want to elaborate beyond that, because the fact is there were not up to 10, or however many ships were [originally] planned." A senior IDF officer hinted