|
|
Gaza: Who or What Has a Right to Exist?
Deutsch, Judith
http://socialistproject.ca/2018/02/finkelstein-gaza-who-has-right-to-exist/Date Written: 2018-02-21 Publisher: Socialist Project Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22093 A look at Norman Finkelstein's book "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom", which investigates the Israeli attacks on Gaza such as Operation Cast Lead (2008-09), the Mavi Marmara (2010), and Operation Protective Edge (2014). Abstract: -- Excerpt: Israel's killing of nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara, part of the Gaza flotilla to break the blockade of Gaza, followed the same pattern of previous assaults: Israel characterized their victims as terrorists; the pre-planned attack by Israeli commandos was vastly disproportionate. The commandos opened fire on the unarmed passengers with tear gas, smoke and stun grenades, and live ammunition. Israel appointed Jacob Turkel, a former Israeli Supreme Court justice, to chair Israel's investigation, and UN Secretary General Ban K-Moon appointed the corrupt and criminal Colombian president Alvaro Uribe to chair a UN Panel. According to the official investigations, the "shaheeds" armed themselves to kill Israelis but did not manage to kill even those in their custody, whereas the Israelis took "every precaution and exercised every restraint not to kill anyone but ended up killing nine people." The UN Report invented a novel legal fiction by differentiating the land and sea blockades as if boats are for smuggling weapons, thereby justifying the naval blockade and attack on the Mavi Marmara. "It must be a first … that a report bearing its [UN] imprimatur vilified the victims of a murderous assault because they sought to cast light on an ongoing crime against humanity." Subject Headings |