What a lame publicity stunt! The passengers of the real Freedom Flottilla risked their lifes for raising public awareness about the Gaza blockade. What are the participants of the "true freedom flottilla" risking? Do they think Hamas will enter their boats and shoot them in the dangerous waters of New York harbor? All they risk is a sunburn!

And this won't help Shalit at all. Hamas couldn't care less about such demonstrations, thousands of miles away from Gaza. Instead, the supporters of the unfortunate soldier should travel to Israel and protest in front of the Knesset, to force Netanyahu to stop vetoing the done deal about the prisoner exchange. Shalit could have been freed months ago if not for Netanyahu blocking this. This is a scandal, and it would be good if there would be protests against this!

Those "protestors" should rather join the Shalit family at their march to the prime minister's residence, than frolicking around on a nice sightseeing cruise in New York harbor!
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/shalit-family-on-anniversary-of-abduction-we-ll-protest-in-jerusalem-until-gilad-is-free-1.298173

Gray,
The only ones on the Gaza flotilla who risked their lives were the members of the Islamic group who attacked the Israeli soldiers with chains, metal bars, and knives as part of a well-planned ambush. On no other boat was anyone even scratched. Indeed, the entire problem occurred because Israel did not take enough into account that there would be any violence at all.
As for releasing Palestinian prisoners, I would advise you to look at the list of names Hamas is asking for. It includes Ibrahim Hamed and Abdallah Barghouti masterminds behind the terror bombing at Moment cafe in Jerusalem as well as terror attacks at Sbarro pizza parlor in Jerusalem and on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv. I agree that Israel should release the prisoners Hamas wants for the sake of Gilad Shalitm, but you should not take this so lightly: these are not innocent kids caught in the crossfire.

In any exchange of prisoners happpened between Israelis and Arab states, Israel released thousands of prisoners for a few Israelis, that prooves, who worth what.......

A meaningful flotilla should sail from Ashod to Gaza demanding the release of Gilad Shalit. They should have lots of press and video cameras on board. It would be very risky, but they might make their point.

The videos are so dark, no sound, I cannot even tell if there is a boat in the picture. Seems a waste of time and energy to me. It is a shame something cannot be done to get the release of this man, but it looks like this venture is totally ineffective. Where was the "flotilla" going, on which body of water?

I wish there was a more effective way to get good results. No help from our government, that is for sure. It is too busy stealing from its own citizens to support the illegal invaders and the "gimmes". All in the name of narcissistic power grab in the cause of some stupid ideology. I hope we all survive it .

Right on!!! Let's get to the essence of the issue ...the problem was that the Israelis, despite being fired upon constantly in their own land and Hamas and Turkey playing mind games, still believed in the "goodness" and honesty of the flotilla ...they did not assume that there were terrorists imbeded in the flottila with their own hidden violent agenda ....the Israelis acted in good faith ...the terrorists did not .... if you do not accept these facts then you have chosen to deny justice and reality.

To Gray, Germany,

"the done deal about the prisoner exchange."

Right, so we can deal with thousands more freed terrorists on our hand?!

Thanks to all NY participants. It is nice to see some actions against Hamas and so-called Freedom Flotillas. The full pressure should be on Hamas to free Gilad Shalit.
Israel should really pressure Hamas in Gaza, making their life unbearable without freeing Gilad. Of course, Obama makes Israeli actions difficult, but Israeli government should not allow to be pressured by Obama and his administration. Only then Hamas will consider freeing Gilad. All human rights organizations should also pressure Hamas to free Gilad, and if Hamas does not agree, they should limit aid to Gaza. Clearly Hamas gets most of this aid coming to Gaza, and it feels rather safe by that. Moreover, Hamas gets more power in hiring new recruits because joining Hamas provides good living for them. This chain has to be broken. European, US, etc. humanitarian aid should not go to Hamas, as it does now. Also, all so-called Freedom Flotillas supporting Hamas should be treated as enemies. This should be done in such a way as to punish the participants of those flotillas. All participating ships should definitely be confiscated or destroyed, and most aggressive people from flotillas should be put in jail.
At the same time, Israel should not free about 1000 of Hamas man with blood on their hands, as this will not help Israel. This will only increase the appetite of Hamas for more, and could bring a lot of suffering to Israelis from those 1000 freed suicide bombers and bandits. Recidivism of freed Hamas members of above 50% is a well documented fact. Also, demonstrations by Shalit family in Jerusalem only raises further demands from Hamas and makes freeing Gilad almost an impossible task, it is counterproductive. The pressure should be on Hamas and not on Israeli government.