Last night our new Israeli friends, Morris and Suzanne, invited us to Morris's birthday party. We enjoyed an evening with their family of about 25 people. They served a delicious kosher meal hot off the barbecue.

This morning a rocket landed a short distance from our new friends home and about a half a mile from Freebird. It landed in a parking lot and blew out some windows of the surrounding apartments. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt. You probably won't hear about it on the news. That is, not until Israel retaliates. Then, it's big news.

We heard the warning siren go off and then less than a minute later there was a loud concussion that shook the boat. Our friend Mark on another yacht said he could see the smoke coming up in an area between the apartments. Judy passed by the site on the way to the market and said that if it had landed a little one way or the other somebody would have died for sure.

Now that I am personally under attack, I feel an urge to express my opinion.

Israel exists.

It won't go away, no mater how many rockets are fired. The country has a right to protect itself. It doesn't want to expand it's borders. Israel has been attacked by it's neighbors multiple times. Sometimes it has had to defend itself against four countries at once. Most of the leading Arab countries backed the attacks with funds, forces and weapons. At the time these governments were dedicated to the complete destruction of the State of Israel. Some still are. (Iran, Syria) Each time Israel has held up against the attacks. Sometimes, when the dust settles they occupy more land than before they came under attack. They hold on to this land for a while to try and negotiate a peace settlement and usually give it back.... until the next time. Under the original creation of Israel all the current residents were invited to stay and live peacefully as Israeli citizens. They were promised freedom of religion and all the other benefits that come with Israeli citizenship. Granted there were and still are some problems but it seems to be working for those who chose to stay. They have enjoyed the freedoms and opportunities afforded here. We have met Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Israelis who just want to live in peace and harmony. Unfortunatly, there exists small groups who thrive on hate and violence. They are the ones firing rockets at Freebird (and Israel too).

So you ask, What has Israel done that makes these people so obsessed with killing Israeli civilians. The answer: it exists. The religious and sociological differences can't be tolerated by these small groups. So many generations have been taught to hate that it is ingrained from birth. That's why I feel they can never win. The rocket shooters are motivated by hate. Israel has a greater motivation, it's right to exist.