I'm sickened by Israel's insane massacre on Gaza convoy
By Prof Avi Shlaim taken from mirror.co.uk
A shiver went down my spine when I heard the news of the IDF's insane attack on the unarmed boats.
It was with great patriotic pride I served in the IDF from 1964 to 1966. In those days it was true to its name: the Israel Defence Force.
Over the past four decades, my army has been subverted into the brutal police force of a savage colonial power.
This is Israel's most right-wing and racist government in history. Its behaviour is increasingly irrational and last night it crossed yet another red line by ordering a totally unprovoked attack on innocent civilians.
The commandos perpetrated a cold-blooded massacre.
Israel claims its soldiers acted in self-defence against terrorists wielding knives and clubs. Anyone who believes this will believe anything.
Britain should propose EU sanctions to force Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories - the most prolonged and brutal military occupation of modern times.
Avi Shlaim is a professor of international relations at Oxford University and the author of Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations (Verso, 2009).
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