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June 3, 2010
Norm Finkelstein: Israel Now a "Lunatic State," Withholding Names of Dead
By Ralph Lopez
Israel is withholding the names of the activists killed in the raid on the Freedom Flotilla, and although America media reports place the number at nine BBC reports the number is 19. Withholding the names of the dead is utterly inhumane to the families.
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A hero of mine, Norm Finkelstein, makes the case that
"What happened with the Gaza flotilla was not an accident. You have to remember that the Israeli cabinet met for fully a week. All the cabinet ministers discussed and deliberated how they would handle the flotilla. There were numerous reports in the Israeli press, numerous suggestions, numerous recommendations about what to do. At the end of the day, they decided on a nighttime armed commando raid on a humanitarian convoy. Israel is now a lunatic state.
Finkelstein is the son of Holocaust survivors, and a noted scholar in Middle Eastern affairs. Finkelstein further says on Russia Today:
It's a lunatic state with between two and three hundred nuclear devices. It is threatening war daily against Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah in Lebanon has already stated on several occasions: if Israel attacks it will retaliate in kind. Things are getting out of control.
He asks if Israel can be trusted with nukes.
In related news, peace activists are now gearing up to send out another flotilla to break the siege of Gaza which has denied basic food, medicine and other supplies in an Israeli government attempt at collective punishment of the population, which Finkelstein calls a "new Holocaust."
Finally, Israel is withholding the
names of the activists killed in the raid on the Freedom Flotilla, and although America media reports place the number at nine BBC reports the number is 19.
Withholding the names of the dead is utterly inhumane to the families.
Ralph Lopez majored in Economics and Political Science at Yale University. He writes for Truth Out, Alternet, Consortium News, Op-Ed News, and other Internet media. He reported from Afghanistan in 2009 and produced a short documentary film on the situation. He has also been published in the Boston Globe and the Baltimore Sun.