Speaking on April 21 in an ongoing effort to get Turkey to cooperate with the U.S. and bridge relations with Israel, Secretary of State John Kerry said the Boston Marathon bombings reminded him of Turks who lost family during “the 2010 IDF raid on the Marmara.”

Kerry was referring to the 2010 boarding of the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, by IDF commandos. The soldiers were attacked by militants recruited by The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), a Turkish charity accused of having ties to Islamic terrorist organizations, when they boarded the ship.

Nine militants were killed during attempts to rescue Israeli commandos who had been severely wounded and captured by activists abord the vessel; seven Israelis were wounded during the operation.

Without mentioning the alleged terrorist ties of the Turkish members of the flotilla, Kerry said the Boston Marathon bombing made him “acutely aware of the emotions felt by the families of the nine Turks who died” during the raid.

“It affects the community, it affects the country,” Kerry added. “But going forward, you know, we have to find the best way to bring these people together and undo these tensions and undo these stereotypes and try to make peace.”

Missing in Kerry’s statements is the recognition that the three persons killed at the Boston Marathon were killed by jihadist terrorists, while those killed by the IDF aboard the Marmara were IHH militants allegedly funded by the Turkish government to provide violent resistance against Israeli interdiction.

The militants killed in the boarding of the Marmara were armed with, “flares, night vision goggles, 150 bullet proof vests, 200 gas masks, several dozen slingshots, 200 knives, 20 axes, 50 wooden clubs, 100 assorted iron bars, etc,” and had violently attacked Israeli soldiers.

Conversely, the three individuals killed at the Boston Marathon were simply there for a race when terrorists attacked.