What Rep. Barney Frank Actually Said about the Flotilla

David Streeter — June 7, 2010 – 11:01 am | Congress | Democrats | Israel | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

Last week, The Boston Herald inaccurately reported that Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) “had harsh words … for the Israeli Navy.”

 

In a letter to the editor written in response to the article, Frank said:

 

“The article in is inaccurate in saying that I ‘had harsh words yesterday for the Israeli Navy’ (“Barney Frank calls for probe of Gaza raid,” June 2). The harsh words I spoke were specifically aimed at some non-governmental settlers in the West Bank who I believe have treated Arabs very badly, and, it should be noted, in contradiction to official Israeli government policy. But I had nothing critical to say about the Israeli Navy. Indeed, I noted that I was not familiar with the specifics of the incident, and I talked about the U.S. experience in Afghanistan as an example of the difficult problems that occur when military organizations are required to use force.”

 

With regard to an investigation into the incident, Frank noted that:

 

I did say that I thought it was important in the interest of Israel and others that there be a credible inquiry into this, but I believe this inquiry should be conducted by a credible group commissioned by the Israeli government. The record of the United Nations with regard to Israel is a badly biased one and clearly no inquiry chartered by the U.N. would have the credibility that it ought to have.”

 

You can read Frank’s letter here.

 

And, click here to read The Forward’s detailed story on Frank and his actual opinions about the flotilla.

 

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