(Port) Coquitlam Odysseus

It was with great dismay that I read this morning a largely one-sided portrayal of the recent Israeli raid on a flotilla of “aid” ships that recently tried to enter Gaza from the Mediterranean Sea. Fortunately, as the day progressed, more thorough reports began to surface.

From the news reports, I have read that the Turkish organization that sponsored the flotilla is a terrorist organization. I have also seen with my own eyes a video of the “activists” brutally beating Israeli commandos as they entered the ship. A detailed source of the activists’ aggression can be found here.

I believe that Israel has the right to place Gaza under embargo as long as the Hamas terrorist organization that controls Gaza (1) refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and (2) continually makes preparations for war by seeking access to heavy weaponry, and (3) permits attacks to be launched at Israeli citizens from Gazan territory. If Israel gives in to international pressure to remove the blockade, Hamas will gain in strength in weapons, and Israel will lose, in time, its sovereignty.

I believe that the criminal, terrorist organization that used naive Western activists on this mission got exactly what it wanted: an international public condemnation of Israel, based largely on emotion, without regard for facts. I hope Israel has the strength to defend itself, and I hope that one day, the enemies that occupy that narrow strip of land can be truly at peace.