Reach Gaza or Die Trying....

Direct written testimony....

Following the flotilla clash, many eyewitness reports about what happened on board the Mavi Marmara ship were broadcast on Arab and Iranian TV channels.

According to some of the reports, several IDF soldiers were taken captive by the passengers. Journalist Saleh Al-Azraq, talking to the U.K.-based Al-Hiwar TV, said: "After the second landing attempt, Israel realized that some of its soldiers had been taken captive. That's when the heavy fire began." A Lebanese activist, interviewed by the Iranian English-language Press TV, said that when the soldiers first rappelled from their helicopter to the ship, "the Turkish resistance... grabbed four Israeli army [soldiers], and took them down."

IHH official Hussein Orush talked to the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera TV about the desire for martyrdom among the Turkish activists who were killed aboard the Mavi Marmara. "They all died smiling. Their fingers were pointing to martyrdom," he said. "Everybody wanted and was ready to become a martyr... Our goal was to reach Gaza or to die trying," he said.

Al-Azraq talked about the religious fervor among the passengers of the Mavi Marmara prior to its setting sail. "It made you feel like you were going on an Islamic conquest or raid," he said.