A/HRC/15/21 board the vessels by force. This belief persisted among many less-experienced passengers right up to the moment of the interception, notwithstanding the precedent of the Spirit of Humanity in 2009. Many passengers told the Mission that they did not really believe that the Israelis would attempt to board until the first boats approached the Mavi Marmara on the morning of 31 May. Preparation and planning on the Mavi Marmara 99. The full realization that the Israelis were serious about commandeering the flotilla spread through the passengers on the Mavi Marmara during the course of 30 May. There is clear evidence that some people on board the Mavi Marmara, including senior IHH leaders, were prepared actively to defend the ship against any boarding attempt. Video evidence shows a meeting of about 50 to 100 passengers on the ship on 30 May at which the IHH President and a number of other prominent passengers spoke with some bravado about preventing an Israeli takeover of the ship. The pressure of the water hoses was seen being tested on the decks the day before the interception. 100. Following radio communication with the Israeli Navy and the sightings of the Israeli vessels, it became apparent that a boarding of the ship was an imminent reality. Passengers were instructed to put on their life jackets. Although there does not seem to have been a coordinated plan involving all passengers, some individuals grouped together with the intention of defending the ship. There is little evidence of any unified command to coordinate the defence of the ship. 101. During the night of 30 to 31 May, some passengers took electric tools from the ship’s workshop, which was not kept locked and sawed sections of railings into lengths of approximately one and a half metres, apparently for use as weapons. Lengths of metal chains from between the railings were also removed. When the ship’s crew discovered this, the tools were confiscated and locked in the radio room on the bridge. A number of the passengers were also provided with gas masks to counter the effects of tear gas. However, the Mission notes that the ship’s standard fire-fighting equipment would have included breathing apparatus. Furthermore, the fact that some passengers engaged in last minute efforts to fashion rudimentary weapons shortly prior to the interception confirms the findings of the Mission that no weapons were brought on board the ship. Preparation and planning on the Challenger 1, Sfendoni, Eleftheri Mesogios and the Rachel Corrie 102. Passengers and crew on the Challenger 1 underwent training in passive resistance techniques, non-violence and what to do if detained in Israel (including contacting a lawyer before embarkation). Witnesses said discussions took place in advance amongst the passengers on how to respond to an Israeli attempt to board the ship during which the crew had insisted that there should be no attempts to repel boarders with physical force. The captain and crew opposed a suggestion that access to the bridge should be blocked, as it was feared this would incense the soldiers. The intention, according to witnesses, was to show a symbolic resistance to the soldiers sufficient to demonstrate that the boarding was unwanted. The planned response to a boarding of the Challenger 1 was in part informed by the experience of some of the passengers on previous boats which had been intercepted by the Israelis. 103. Witnesses aboard the Svendoni and the Eleftheri Mesogios confirmed similar discussions aboard their vessels. On the Eleftheri Mesogios, it was also decided that water hoses could be misconstrued as weapons and hence should not be used. On the Sfendoni, passengers intended to sit on the decks and slow down any attempt to take control of the bridge through passive resistance. 23