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05 Apr 2006 10:21:37 PM |
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=?utf-8?q?Protecting_Israel:_Chomsky=E2=80=99s_Way?= |
Protecting Israel: Chomsky=E2=80=99s Way
Ghali Hassan
05 April, 2006
Countercurrents.org
"[In 1953, after the establishment of Israel] I spent several very
happy months working in a Kibbutz and for several years thought
seriously about returning permanently. Some of my closest friends,
including several who have had a significant influence on my own
thinking over the years, now live in Kibbutzim or elsewhere in Israel
and I retain close connections that are quite separate from any
political judgments and attitudes".
Noam Chomsky [1].
Reading the latest attacks to discredit Professors John Mearsheimer and
Stephen Walt very credible and insightful assay on the pro-Israel
Jewish Lobby in the US, one wonders why so many people come to defend
Israel blindly. It appears that the critics are more interested in
protecting Israel and elevating their positions than defend 'free
speech=E2=80=99, democracy, or the rights of the Palestinian people.
One of those attackers is the "celebrated" American linguist and US
policy critic, Noam Chomsky. Chomsky condemnation of the two prominent
professors, who are now accused of being "anti-Semites", and lost the
support of Harvard University, is a betrayal of academic freedom.
Protecting Israel and Zionism has been Chomsky=E2=80=99s sacred duty from an
early age. Chomsky is on record denying the existence of the pro-Israel
Lobby in the US. Chomsky has no time for the role of Congress on US
politics where 11 of its 100 congress members are unquestionably
pro-Israel Jews. Chomsky=E2=80=99s criticism is often directed against the
White House and the presidency ignoring the power of Congress.
Chomsky has been labelled as 'self-hated Jews=E2=80=99, 'radical leftist=E2=
=80=99
and recently as the 'most important intellectual alive=E2=80=99. He is also
revered by many people around the world. Chomsky protection of Israel
is often misunderstood and unwisely credited with credibility and
scholarship. But careful reading of Chomsky=E2=80=99s sheer volumes of
repetitive work (books, articles, interviews and speeches) reveals the
opposite of what his friends and "foes" follow and worship. While
Chomsky allows people to see through US foreign policy, he limits them
to a narrow form of thinking; a kind of brainwashing similar to that
practice by religious cults and gurus. His supporters and devotees
control an array of media outlets and publishing house. Criticising
Chomsky is considered blasphemy and "anti-Semitism".
Chomsky is not afraid to criticise Israel (you have to do that) and
often called Israel justifiably "a terrorist state" for its brutal
treatments of the Palestinian people. But Chomsky blames all Israeli
crimes on the US. It=E2=80=99s the US who is committing the crimes, not
Israel, said Chomsky. Israel is an innocent bystander. The same could
be said for US-protected dictators around the world from Saudi Arabia
and Egypt to Chile dictatorship under Pinochet.
It is part of the game to deflect the main responsibility on the US for
providing Israel with aid and arms. This is part of the propaganda and
provides people with some thing to feel good about. It is
anti-Americanism and people love it. Indeed, a large segment of the
"anti-war" movement is anti-Americanism and has nothing to do with
opposing the US war on Iraq.
Chomsky=E2=80=99s argument is essentially that US support for Israel is to
enhance US strategic interests, including Israel fight against Arabs
"radical nationalism", not due to pressure from the pro-Israel Lobby.
In other word, Israel is a US "strategic asset". This argument however
proved to be the least credible, and is at best an old Zionist
propaganda designed to manipulate public opinion, particularly
American. In fact it is propagated by Israeli leaders and the
pro-Israel Lobby for decades.
The evidence provided by Chomsky to support his argument is vague and
at best not credible when compared with reality on the ground. For
example, had the US supported more than 300 million Arabs =E2=80=93 with the
world most important energy resources =E2=80=93 and not the few millions
Israeli colonisers of Palestine, the US would be much, powerful and
beloved than it is today. This is interesting because with the
exemption of Iraq, all Arab governments are anti-nationalism. How
Israel failed to predict the fall of the Shah of Iran and other major
crises, Chomsky is not clear.
In 1991, the US Administration of George H. Bush (the father), was the
only known US Administration to have stood up to the Pro-Israel Lobby.
Knowing the support of the American people for a peaceful solution, the
Bush administration initiated the James 'Baker Plan=E2=80=99 for peace.
According to the former Secretary of State, peace with the Palestinians
and Israel's security "can be accommodated in a settlement based on
Resolution 242". UN Resolution 242 was adopted unanimously by the
Security Council on 02 November 1967 after the 1967 war. It calls for
the "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from [all] territories occupied
in the recent conflict" and the "[t]ermination of all claims or states
of belligerency". It is important to mention here that Chomsky like
most Israeli leaders finds UN Resolution 242 "rejectionist" and support
Israel refusal to accept it.
Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby refused negotiation based on 242. Bush
reacted angrily to the pro-Israel Lobby. In a press conference on 12
September 1991 Bush reiterated his opposition to the Lobby interference
in US politics: 'We are up against some powerful political forces ...
very strong and effective groups that go up to the Hill =E2=80=A6 We=E2=80=
=99ve
only got one lonely little guy down here doing it ... [But] I am going
to fight for what I believe. It may be popular politically but probably
not ... the question isn=E2=80=99t whether it=E2=80=99s good for 1992 polit=
ics.
What=E2=80=99s important here is that we give the process a chance. And I
don=E2=80=99t care if I only get one vote ... I believe the American people
will be with me=E2=80=99 [2]. Unhappy about Bush, US Senators and Jewish
organisations in the US led by the powerful American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC) mobilised a vicious successful campaign to
defeat Bush. As predicted, Bush lost the 1992 elections to Bill Clinton
by a narrow margin and Israel triumphed again.
AIPAC is simply "a de facto agent for a foreign government" and enjoys
tax exempt status no other foreign organisation enjoys. With about
100,000 wealthy members form a single ethnic group and a massive budget
wields a formidable force in US politics. "AIPAC=E2=80=99s success is due to
its ability to reward legislators and congressional candidates who
support its agenda, and punish those who challenge it", write
Professors Mearsheimer and Walt. Supported by the US major television
networks and the nation=E2=80=99s largest newspaper chain and most
influential single newspaper, the New York Times, AIPAC has ousted
anyone who is not following its pro-Israel agenda. In 1982, AIPAC led a
very successful campaign to defeat Senator Paul Findley, of
Springfield, Illinois. And in 1984 Senator Charles Percy Chairman of
Senate Foreign Relations Committee was ousted, and everyone since got
the message.
Furthermore, Chomsky fails to analyse the role of the pro-Israel Lobby,
and AIPAC in particular in funding and electing pro-Israel candidates
while it continues using its formidable "anti-Semitism" tool to
intimidate and bully those who disagree with its Zionist agenda. It
doesn=E2=80=99t concern Chomsky, himself a pro-democracy dissident that the
pro-Israel Lobby has become the most anti-democratic force in the US.
His condemnation of Professors Mearsheimer and Walt is a betrayal of
academic freedom and only enhances the power of the pro-Israel Lobby.
On the 'right of return=E2=80=99 of Palestinians to their homeland, a right
which is enshrined in UN Resolution 194 (III) and recognised by the
vast majority of the world community, Chomsky was deceptive: "[T]here
is no detectable international support for it, and under the (virtually
unimaginable) circumstances that such support would develop, Israel
would very likely resort to its ultimate weapon, defying even the
boss-man, to prevent it. In that case there would be nothing to
discuss. The facts are ugly, but facts do not go out of existence for
that reason. In my opinion, it is improper to dangle hopes that will
not be realized before the eyes of people suffering in misery and
oppression. Rather, constructive efforts should be pursued to mitigate
their suffering and deal with their problems in the real world". In
other word, don=E2=80=99t upset the illegal Jewish settlers because of the
Palestinian refugees.
On a single, democratic and secular state for Jews and Palestinians
(Muslims and Christians), Chomsky is non-negotiable: "There has never
been a legitimate proposal for a democratic secular state from any
significant Palestinian (or of course Israeli) group. One can debate,
abstractly, whether it is 'desirable=E2=80=99. But it is completely
unrealistic. There is no meaningful international support for it, and
within Israel, opposition to it is close to universal. It is understood
that this would soon become a Palestinian state with a Jewish minority
and with no guarantee for either democracy or secularism (even if the
minority status would be accepted, which it would not). Those who are
now calling for a democratic secular state are, in my opinion, in
effect providing weapons to the most extreme and violent elements in
Israel and the US". Of course, Chomsky provides no evidence for this
charade.
In the early 1970s, most Palestinians supported the formation of a
single democratic state for Palestinians and Jews to live together, as
it has been for centuries. Today, many Palestinians have no problem
coexisting with Jews in a Palestine based on democratic and equal right
principles, which is the only just and genuine solution. It is Israelis
who refuse to recognise the Palestinians. According to Israeli daily,
Ha=E2=80=99aretz (22 March 2006) more than 68 per cent of Israeli Jews refu=
se
to live in the same building with Palestinian citizen of Israel.
Chomsky is in favour of a dominant, "Jewish-only state". He sees Jews
living as a "minority" in a democratic Palestine with equal rights is
unacceptable. Chomsky must be thinking that Jews are 'superior race=E2=80=
=99.
As Virginia Tilley argues, a single sate which provides protection for
all its citizens "against ethnic discrimination is the only viable
option".
It is important to remember that Chomsky is leading the pack for the
so-called "two-state" option, or the Geneva Accord. The "two-state"
option is a trap for Palestinians and Chomsky knows it very well.
According to the Geneva Accord, Palestinians will be trapped in
prisons-like ghettoes made inaccessible by illegal settlements and
Jews-only roads. Palestinians will continue to be denied
self-determination and freedom of movement. The new ghettoes will be
separated from each other with no meaningful sovereignty, resources of
its own, independent economy or army capable of defending the
population. The four million Palestinian refugees will lose their
'right of return=E2=80=99 to their land. It is the legalisation of the 1948
Nakbah =E2=80=93 the 'catastrophe=E2=80=99 of dispossession and expulsion. =
It will
legitimise Israel=E2=80=99s claim on Palestine and enforce Israel=E2=80=99s
colonial rules, as Amram Mitzna, Labor member of the Knesset revealed
in his Ha=E2=80=99aretz article. It is like the Oslo "Peace Process", a game
to continue the Palestinian genocide. The "two-state" option was never
a viable option giving Israel=E2=80=99s terror against the Palestinians.
Israel is happy to continue cutting Palestinian land into ghettoes
separated by the Apartheid Wall and under a brutal system of Apartheid
and Occupation. The system is recently described by liberal Jews and
Israeli journalists as worse than that practiced in South Africa two
decades ago [3]. It should be noted that the system is very useful in
keeping the Israeli military (Occupation forces) in a strong position
politically. The Israeli society functions as militarised society with
a form of democracy similar to that in the US.
With Israel relies heavily on the massive aid it receives from US
taxpayers, any economic sanctions could force Israel to seek a peaceful
settlement with the endogenous Palestinians. Chomsky views on
sanctioning Israel to force it in the same way South Africa was forced
to dismantle Apartheid and Iraq was forced to give-up WMDs are
hypocritical at best. In March 2004, on behalf of the Journal of South
African and American Comparative Studies (Safundi), Professor
Christopher Lee of Harvard University interviewed Chomsky about
Israel=E2=80=99 Apartheid Wall and sanctions. "Apartheid was one particular
system and a particularly ugly situation". To use the term to describe
Israel, "It's just to wave a red flag, when it's perfectly well to
simply describe the situation. But I should say is that this is all
entirely different from the Occupied Territories" [4].
When Chomsky asked if he sees sanctions against Israel as a
possibility? He replied: "No. In fact I've been strongly against it in
the case of Israel. For a number of reasons. For one thing, even in the
case of South Africa, I think sanctions are a very questionable tactic.
In the case of South Africa, I think they were [ultimately] legitimate
because it was clear that the large majority of the population of South
Africa was in favor of it". He added: "Sanctions hurt the population.
You don't impose them unless the population is asking for them. That's
the moral issue. So, the first point in the case of Israel is that: Is
the population asking for it? Well, obviously not". The Palestinian
people are enduring years of sanctions imposed on them by Israel=E2=80=99s
long blockades and restrictions of freedom of movement. Indeed, The
Palestinian people have time and again called for sanctions against
Israel.
We know that Chomsky was behind the recently watered-down divestment
resolution at MIT, where he is emeritus professor and exerts formidable
influence on students=E2=80=99 activism there. Chomsky denounced the campai=
gn
and voted against divestment and sanctions against Israel. Many people
and organisations around the world, including prominent Palestinian
intellectuals and politicians, have called for divestment and sanctions
against Israel. Palestinians were shocked by Chomsky=E2=80=99s betrayal of
their cause. Chomsky=E2=80=99s aim is to deceit rather than defend the
Palestinians.
According to Francis Boyle is Professor of International Law Legal at
Illinois University; "[A] worldwide divestment/disinvestment campaign
against Israel can produce an historic reconciliation between Israelis
and Palestinians--just as it successfully did between Whites and Blacks
in South Africa. This new divestment/disinvestment campaign should
provide the Palestinians with enough economic and political leverage
needed to negotiate a just and comprehensive peace settlement with the
Israelis--just as it did for the Blacks in South Africa". Giving
Israel=E2=80=99s dependence on massive US aid, any form of economic sanction
will force her to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
Palestine is becoming a career; it is no longer a terrorised community.
Academics and intellectuals have used the suffering of the Palestinian
people to advance their own interests and egos. It is like those who
are making a career out of attacking Islam and Muslims.
On the US war on Iraq, Chomsky agrees with many people that the US
motive is the control of Iraq=E2=80=99s oil resources and US imperialism.
Although this is partially true, protection the state of Israel and the
expansion of Zionism ideology remains major motives. It is on every
American mind that Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby in the US are the
main motivators for the war on Iraq. Indeed, the so-called "War for
Oil" was the creation of the pro-Israel Lobby and spread out by Jewish
intellectuals and their key operatives in the US government and the
Zionist mainstream media. Chomsky even refuses to acknowledge that the
group of Zionists 'cabal=E2=80=99 or the neocons, including Paul Wolfowitz,
Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, 'Scooter=E2=80=99 Libby, Elliot Abrams and
others who formulated the policy and made the decision to got to war.
Does Chomsky know who is pushing for war on Iran?
Chomsky criticised the US because the US violated international law and
the UN Charter and committed crimes against Iraq. The war was an
illegal act of aggression, and the Occupation of Iraq is against the
majority of the Iraqi people. However, Chomsky praised the invasion for
it "removes Saddam and the sanctions". As we know these are the views
of Bush and Blair. Iraq is far worse today than before the invasion at
all levels. On the Occupation itself, Chomsky is like his army of
devotees; he is very surprised it didn=E2=80=99t work. Chomsky calls the
premeditated and deliberate destruction of Iraq an "American
incompetence". The worst is that Chomsky praised the US-staged
elections as "democratic". Elections under foreign occupation are
illegitimate and imperialist propaganda. The Iraqi elections were
fraudulent elections designed to legitimise the imperialist Occupation
and cement civil strife and fratricidal killings.
On the right of Iraqis to self-determination and national independence,
Chomsky is flagrant. He called the Iraqi Resistance "bomb throwers" and
follows the Bush-Blair line of labelling anyone resisting US terrorism
as "terrorist". The US war on Iraq is "creating more terrorists", said
Chomsky. On the Iraqi Resistance, Chomsky is emphatic. It is a "violent
insurgency", he said. Chomsky seems unaware of the hundreds of
thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children needlessly
slaughtered with "trigger happy" violent US forces and their
mercenaries. The illegal mass arrests without charge, torture, abuse
and sexual humiliation of Iraqi civilians is not the most flagrant
violation of human rights. The daily bombardments =E2=80=93 with cluster
bombs, napalms, chemical and phosphorous bombs =E2=80=93 and the destruction
of Iraqi cities are not the most heinous war crimes in the history. How
long will the American people remain silent in the face of injustice,
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in their name?
Finally, Chomsky=E2=80=99s analysis of Middle East suffers from his tendency
of demonising the Arabs, while covertly defending his own ethnic group.
Chomsky=E2=80=99s earlier views are not different form his views today.
People with moral consciousness and open mind should not fall into
Chomsky=E2=80=99s trap.
Ghali Hassan lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Endnotes:
[1] Chomsky, Noam. (1974). Peace in the Middle East. Vintage: London,
(p. 49-51).
[2] Arens, Moshe. (1995). Broken Covenant, Simon & Schuster: New York.
[3] McGreal, Chris (2006). Worlds Apart. The Guardian, 06 February.
Gideon Levi (2006). One racist nation. Ha=E2=80=99aretz, 27 March 2006.
[4] Lee, Christopher J. (2004). South Africa, Israel-Palestine, and the
Contours of the Contemporary World Order: An Interview with Noam
Chomsky. Safundi, 13-14.
:: Article nr. 22281 sent on 06-apr-2006 03:15 ECT
:: The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=3D22281
:: The incoming address of this article is :
www.countercurrents.org/hassan050406.htm
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of
the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet .
---0---
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| User: "eric" |
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| Title: Re: Protecting Israel: Chomsky's Way |
05 Apr 2006 11:15:32 PM |
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r u nuts?
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