No Excuse

Video embed: ITN

Continuing to enforce a three-year Israeli blockade of Gaza, Israeli forces seized the aid ship Rachel Corrie bound there on Saturday.

Audio Embed: NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday 6/5/10, Host Scott Simon with Peter Kenyon in Gaza.

CNN reported autopsy results by forensics experts in Istanbul revealed that all nine of the men killed by Israeli commandoes aboard the humanitarian convoy that had planned to dock in Gaza died of gunshot wounds... Five with bullet wounds to the head.

Dr. Haluk Ince, the director of Istanbul's Medical Examination Institute, said Friday. "From the analysis of the bullet distance on one of the bodies," Dr. Ince said, "the gun was fired between 2 and 14 centimeters' distance from the victim's head."

A headshot at 1 to 5.5 inches? Sounds like an assassination.

An End To Israel Right Or Wrong?

Research shows that Jewish students across the country are less likely to feel attached to Israel than their elders. They cite the country's shift to the right as one reason. What that means, says writer Peter Beinart, is that young Jews are now less likely to join key organizations that make up the American Jewish establishment -- and the power of those groups, who unquestioningly support Israeli governments (rather than Israeli democracy), is waning. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz joins this discussion on the future of the Zionist movement in the United States.

Audio Embed: NPR's All Things Considered 6/5/10, Host: Guy Raz. Peter Beinart's article in the NY Review of Books.

Opportunity For Palestinians

Israel's armed commando raid sparked international condemnation. It also provided a political platform for Palestinian activists at home -- and abroad -- to further their case for a homeland. Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force, discusses whether pro-Palestinian groups are finding it easier to be heard.

Audio Embed: NPR's All Things Considered 6/5/10, Host: Guy Raz.