A deadly act of state-sponsored terrorism

This article was published in The Sydney Morning Herald 2 June 2010

Dov Weisglass, an adviser to a former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, once compared the approach to Palestinians as like putting them on a diet. Israel needed to make the Palestinians lose weight, but not starve to death.

He wasn't wrong. Successive Israeli governments have done their best to ensure the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, continue to suffer immeasurably.

The massacre on Monday of humanitarian activists by the Israeli military was an act of terrorism sponsored by the state to have maximum impact. Let there be no ambiguity, Israel is responsible for the deaths of these innocent civilians.