Noam Chomsky: Fateful Triangle
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NOAM CHOMSKY FATEFUL TRIANGLE The United States, Israel and the Palestinians ESSENTIAL CLASSICS IN POLITICS: NOAM CHOMSKY EB 0007 ISBN 0 7453 1345 0 London 1999 The Electric Book Company Ltd Pluto Press Ltd 20 Cambridge Drive 345 Archway Rd London SE12 8AJ, UK London N6 5AA, UK www.elecbook.com www.plutobooks.com © Noam Chomsky 1999 Limited printing and text selection allowed for individual use only. All other reproduction, whether by printing or electronically or by any other means, is expressly forbidden without the prior permission of the publishers. This file may only be used as part of the CD on which it was first issued. Fateful Triangle The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians Updated Edition Noam Chomsky Pluto Press London 4 First published in the United Kingdom 1999 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Street London N6 5AA Copyright © 1999 by Noam Chomsky Original edition copyright © 1983 by Noam Chomsky The right of Noam Chomsky to be identified as the author of the work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Libraxy. Digital processing by The Electric Book Company 20 Cambridge Drive, London SE12 8AJ, UK www.elecbook.com Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 5 Contents Click on number to go to page Foreword................................................................................... 12 Preface to the Updated Edition.................................................... 15 Notes—Preface....................................................................34 1. Fanning the Flames................................................................ 36 Notes—Chapter 1 ................................................................45 2. The Origins of the “Special Relationship”.................................. 47 1. Levels of Support: Diplomatic, Material, Ideological ..............48 2. Causal Factors .................................................................54 2.1 Domestic Pressure Groups and their Interests ...........54 2.2 U.S. Strategic Interests.............................................61 2.2.1 Threats to U.S. Control of Middle East Oil ...................62 2.2.2 The Indigenous Threat: Israel as a Strategic Asset ........66 2.2.3 Subsidiary Services ..................................................71 3. American Liberalism and Ideological Support for Israel ..........78 Notes—Chapter 2 ................................................................87 3. Rejectionism and Accommodation ........................................... 95 1. A Framework for Discussion ..............................................96 1.1 The Concept of Rejectionism ....................................96 1.2 The International Consensus.....................................98 2. The Stands of the Major Actors ........................................102 2.1 The United States ..................................................102 2.2 Israel .....................................................................104 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 6 2.2.1 The Rejectionist Stands of Labor and Likud ...............104 2.2.2 The Legacy of the Founding Fathers .........................114 2.2.3 The Disguise .........................................................116 2.3 The Population of the Occupied Territories ...................118 2.3.1 Attitudes under Occupation .....................................119 2.3.2 The Carrot and the Stick .........................................124 2.3.3 The “Peace Process” ..............................................131 2.3.4 The United States and the Conquered Population .......132 2.4 The Arab States and the PLO .................................134 2.4.1 The Erosion of Rejectionism and the U.S.-Israeli Response ........................................................................................134 2.4.2 Sadat’s Trip to Jerusalem and the Rewriting of History144 3. The Continuing Threat of Peace .......................................152 Notes—Chapter 3 ..............................................................161 4. Israel and Palestine: Historical Backgrounds........................... 174 1. The Pre-State Period ................................................175 2. The War of Independence/Conquest..........................183 3. The Israel-Arab Wars................................................189 4. After the 1967 Conquest ..........................................196 4.1 The Settlement Policies of the Labor Governments ........197 4.2 Settlement under Begin and Reagan.......................202 4.2.1 Policies.................................................................202 4.2.2 Reactions..............................................................204 4.2.3 Policies (Continued) ...............................................212 4.3 The Demographic Problem and its Solution ............217 4.4 The Workforce and the Labor Alignment .................219 5. The Ways of the Conqueror .............................................229 5.1 The West Bank ......................................................229 5.2 The Golan Heights .................................................243 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 7 5.3 The Attack on Palestinian Culture...........................246 5.4 “The Opportunity to Work in Israel” ........................255 5.5 Israeli Inquiries and American Suppression .............258 6. The Testimony of the Samidin..........................................261 7. The Cycle of Occupation, Resistance, Repression and Moral Degeneration .........................................................................267 7.1 Americans Hear the News ......................................267 7.2 The Rise of Religious-Chauvinist Fanaticism...........272 8. Conflicts within Israel .....................................................281 8.1 Within the Jewish Community................................281 8.2 Non-Jews in the Jewish State.................................282 9. The Zionist Movement and the PLO ..................................288 9.1 “The Boundaries of Zionist Aspirations” ..................288 9.2 Moderates and Extremists ......................................293 9.3 The Use of Terror ...................................................295 10. The Problem for Today..................................................300 Notes—Chapter 4 ..............................................................302 5. Peace for Galilee.................................................................. 323 1. The Rational Basis for Attacking the Civilian Population ......325 2. The Northern Border of Greater Israel................................327 3. The Background in Lebanon ............................................329 3.1 The PLO and the Civil War .....................................329 3.2 Syria and Israel in Lebanon ....................................330 3.3 The Population under the PLO and the Phalange ....332 3.4 Israeli Military Operations in Lebanon in the 1970s335 4. From July 1981.............................................................343 4.1 The July Bombardments and the Habib Cease-Fire.343 4.2 The Occupied Territories.........................................343 4.3 The Sinai Withdrawal.............................................344 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 8 4.4 Israeli Provocations and the U.S. Response ............346 4.5 The Pretext for the Invasion of Lebanon ..................349 4.6 The Reasons for the Invasion of Lebanon................352 4.6.1 The Imperatives of Rejectionism...............................352 4.6.2 Achieving National Unity.....................................369 4.6.3 A New Order in Lebanon .....................................371 4.7 The Green Light from Washington ..........................374 5. War is Peace .................................................................380 5.1 Extermination of the Two-Legged Beasts.................381 5.2 Beirut: Precision Bombardment ..............................392 5.3 Caring for the Victims: Prisoners, Patients, Refugees ........................................................................................399 5.4 The Grand Finale ...................................................419 6. The Taste of Victory........................................................422 6.1 The Victors.............................................................422 6.2 The Liberated.........................................................423 6.3 Israelis ...................................................................436 6.4 The American Scene...............................................454 7. The Critique of the Media................................................483 7.1 The American Media ..............................................483 7.2 The “Broad-scale Mass Psychological War” against Israel ................................................................................496 7.3 The Israeli Media ...................................................509 8. The Image Problem ........................................................512 8.1 In Lebanon.............................................................512 8.2 Solving the Problem ...............................................515 8.2.1 Extraordinary Humanitarian Efforts ...........................515 8.2.2 Flowers and Rice ................................................521 8.2.3 “The Biggest Hijacking