Barney Frank: I'm Ashamed Of Israel

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) says that as a Jew, he's ashamed of Israel's "victimization" of Palestinians. Frank is calling for an independent international inquiry into this weekend's raid on the ships heading for the Gaza Strip. Frank's words are not winning him friends among Jewish leaders in his district.

“They weren’t innocent at all, it’s pretty clear,” said Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Boston. “There’s something called self-defense and (Israeli officials) have a right to use it. As usual, everyone’s jumping on Israel and blaming Israel.” Frank’s criticism comes as Israel faces a blistering worldwide backlash for its part in the early Monday morning raid, receiving only lukewarm U.S. support, in an incident that has underscored deep divides over Israeli-Palestinian issues. Israeli officials said members of the boarding party opened fire to defend themselves from a violent, armed assault, while activists said they were the ones under attack. Frank said, “Once you have a combat situation and innocent people die, I mean, you know, look at our problems in Afghanistan, and we have an obligation to try and avoid it.” In defense of Israel, Frank added there are people “howling for Israel to pay a price that don’t seem disturbed that North Koreans killed 46 South Koreans by torpedoing a South Korean boat. I think we have a right to ask for some consistency.”

Today Israel began deporting the nearly 700 activists detained during the raid.