In an interview with Teheran Times two weeks ago, Norman Finklestein, the notorious Hizbullah and Hamas supporter and all-purpose anti-Semite, called Israel a “vandal state,” and “insane state,” a “terrorist state,” and a “satanic state.” Last week Finklestein was the keynote speaker at both Emory University and Fordham University during their weeklong annual anti-Israel hate festivals. Speaking to a cheering crowd at a packed auditorium on Emory’s Atlanta campus, Finklestein claimed that Israel conducted its recent Operation Cast Lead in Gaza for two reasons. These did not include Hamas’s deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians, Hamas’s alliance with Iran, its charter that calls for the physical eradication of the Jewish people, its illegal imprisonment of Israeli hostage Gilad Schalit, or its decision to renew its attacks against Israel after a six month period of relative restraint. In Finklestein’s view, the first reason Israel launched Operation Cast Lead was because Hamas had begun expressing interest in peace. In his words, “Hamas were being too moderate, too reasonable. They wanted a diplomatic settlement to the conflict. To Israel, this is a recurring nightmare.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1236603390897&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull