Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire provides a sharp analysis of historic and current events in the struggle for Palestine—from the division of the Middle East by Western powers and the Zionist settler movement, to the founding of Israel and its regional role as a watchdog for U.S. interests, to present-day conflicts and the prospects for a just resolution.

In the early morning hours of May 31, 2010, Israeli naval forces carried out a raid and attack on a Gaza aid convoy.

Below is an excerpt of a speech by Richard Becker at the June 5, demonstration in San Francisco protesting the massacre of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza:

"The Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre was an act of piracy and mass murder carried out in international waters. Carried out by heavily armed Israeli commandos, it was the latest in a long string of massacres stretching back over more than six decades: Deir Yassin, Qantara and many others in 1948, Qibya in 1953, Gaza in 1956 and again in 1970, Sabra and Shatila in 1982, Cana, Lebanon in 1995, Jenin in 2002, Gaza yet again in 2008-09.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Israel is a state built on massacres. Without massacres there would be no Israeli state.  The leaders and supporters of Israel claim in their official propaganda that, 'Israel wants peace but cannot find a partner for peace.' If anyone believes that then they can also believe the line that the heavily armed commandos who attacked the flotilla on the high seas, killing nine people, wounding dozens more and brutalizing hundreds were not the aggressors but the 'victims.'

"The real aim of Israel’s founders and leaders over the past 62 years has been the driving out and destruction of the Palestinian people as a people. There is a name for this policy: genocide. It was the same policy of extermination against the indigenous people on this continent that paved the way for the establishment of the United States.

"Israel’s actions would not be possible without the vast military, economic and diplomatic support it has received and continues to receive from the United States. But that does not mean that the U.S. and Israeli ruling establishments have exactly the same aims.

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