Death on the way to Gaza.

Greetings!

This morning, Israeli commandos forcibly boarded a convoy of ships filled with Pro-Palestinian activists who were attempting to bring supplies to Gaza, which Israel has not allowed for the last three years since Hamas took over there.

Over the last several days, the activists have received several warnings that they would not be allowed to approach the coast and that the Israeli Navy would board the ships and forcibly deter them from approaching the Gaza coast.

During the boarding the activists on the ships violently attacked the Israeli commandos and a battle ensued which left several activists dead and several dozen wounded, including several Israeli commandos.

Obviously this was a one sided battle since the Israelis had guns and the activists on the boats were mostly armed with iron clubs and knives. There is an unconfirmed report that one activist managed to grab a rifle from one of the commandos and fired at them with it.

Prior to the violence this morning, Israel had repeatedly warned the activists not to approach the coast of Gaza and had offered to allow them to dock at the Israeli port of Ashdod or the Egyptian port of El-Arish and unload their humanitarian cargo so that it could be inspected and then passed on to Gaza under the auspices of the United Nations. They refused this option and insisted on attempting to run the blockade. Therefore, they are the ones who are responsible for this mornings violence.

Hamas is a terrorist organization that has either fired or allowed other terrorist groups to fire thousands of rockets and missiles at Israel over the last ten years. No one in the international community recognizes their occupation of the Gaza Strip, not even the Palestinian Authority. The blockade of the Strip is legal under international law, and Israel sends thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies into Gaza via truck crossings every single day. Israel has a perfectly legal and legitimate right to insist on inspecting anything that goes into Gaza to make sure that cargo does not include weapons or other material that Hamas can use to target Israeli civilians.

Additionally, it's worth noting that many of the "peace activists" on the ships were in fact high ranking members of Hamas and other Islamic groups who make no secret of their hatred for Jews and Israel. Israel knew this and that is why the commandos who boarded the ships were armed.

These are the bare facts.

I have no doubt that the international media (to say nothing of the Arab media) will use this incident to paint Israel in the worst possible light and make it look like we're Nazis who brutally assaulted a ship full of perfectly innocent and inoffensive people who were minding their own business.

The truth, as usual, is very complicated and involves an extensive history, whereas most people don't have the time, patience, inclination or desire to pursue it.

So what I'm asking of all of you is two things.

1) Pray about this. Pray that God will open the eyes, hearts and minds of people who hear about this and make them zealous for the truth, especially government leaders.

2) Call in to local radio talk shows in your area, write letters to the editor of your local paper and otherwise get the facts of the case out into the public eye. This might expose you to physical danger from those who want to tell a different story and don't care about the truth, but if you feel brave enough to expose yourself to this then please do so.

God bless you all.