Review of Noam Chomsky's Fateful Triangle
In addition to being "arguably the most important intellectual
alive," according to the New York Times, renouned linguist Noam
Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any living scholar
between 1980-1992, by the Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
He sure proves his supremacy in this detailed and angry account
of the Palestinian Israeli conflict and the US & Western media
role in it.
Exposing human suffering and death is Chomsky's eternal goal
in all of his foreign policy publications; he is merciless when
it comes to injustice and violations of human rights. Not only
does he meticulously detail all the factors and facts of the
conflict in this book, but also transcends the big
picture into the suffering and humiliation of the average
Palestinian in his daily life, be it in the occupied territory or
Lebanon. All facts are skillfully put
into perspective where the views relating to both sides are
listed, leading to irrefutable conclusions.
As customary of Chomsky's writings, an infinite amount of quotes
is collected from both sides of the conflict, which are then woven
together into his text creating a factual, and often,
sarcastic picture of the issue and the people involved. Using
their actual words he exposes the hypocrisy and deception of the
Israeli leadership.
Chomsky's frequent use of long sentences makes it necessary to
read the text slowly. Sometimes it is necessary to read each
paragraph twice to comprehend the usually profound conclusion.
As usual his analysis reflect his powerful insight into
the issue involved, which gives the allusion that Chomsky is
a scholar in this field only. The depth of Chomsky's account
in anything he addresses surpass that of most scholars in the
respective topics addressed. The Fateful Triangle is as deep as
any analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict gets.
Chomsky is way ahead of his time in this writing, as he documents
many of the issues that were only recently realized. These include
the roots and deception of the present "peace process" (Oslo), and
also the fact that the Israeli press is the best source for information,
and is more superior to the western (U.S.) one which usually is
dedicated to portraying Israel as the victim while the Palestinians
as oppressors. Israeli press is not timid when discussing many
issues that are considered taboos in the U.S. such as Israel's
control (through its lobbies) of the U.S. Middle East foreign policies.
Among the many Apartheid-style laws in Israel, Chomsky discusses how
the Jewish National Fund, relying on U.S. tax-exempt donations,
maintains 92% of the land in Israel for the sole use of Jews only.
Another crucial issue discussed is the fact that
the Labor left is more dangerous than the Likud right, which lies
in the difference between their pronounced versus actual policies.
While the Likud does things in-your-face style, the Labor preachs
one thing to the world, while doing the complete opposite (such as
settlement building). Labor usually speaks in a more mellow tone than
Likud and is more skillful and diplomatic, -- a trait attractive to the
West -- when it comes to covering up the oppression of the Palestinians.
Yet another of the issues cleverly avoided in the Western Media
(so as to shield Israel from criticism and keep the local population
ignorant) is the many Arab initiatives for peace that were rejected by
Israel, such as Sadat's 1971 and PLO's 1976 offers. Chomsky also
exposes how the PLO would not respond to Israeli
provocation, (prior to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon) the purpose
of which is to give Israel pretext for an invasion or a raid. A
monumental revelation is that of how Israel fears
a more politically strong PLO than a terrorist organization, which
is the direction the PLO was moving in, and which is the reason
Israel was relentlessly trying to force the PLO into a terrorist
path which would strip it from its growing international status.
Chomsky's account of the Palestinian-Israeli-American relations
is as usual, heavily documented and referenced. The volume of
material researched is astounding to say the least. Chomsky's
reliance on the Israeli press and Zionist publications as well as
Arab and world literature on this issue makes this work highly
authoritative.
About 50% of the book is devoted to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon
in 1982 and the destruction of Palestinian society there, as well as
the Western media coverage of it. The devastation and the civilian
toll inflicted by Israel
are angrily criticized, and the Israel-apologist nature of many of the
U.S. reporters' coverage of the events there, are meticulously dissected and
refuted. Notably, the coverage by the New Republic editor Martin
Peretz, based on "testimonies of Israeli soldiers", are put into
perspective by contrasting them to the coverage by the Israeli press,
which portrays a vastly more accurate picture of the invasion.
The Fateful Triangle is a masterpiece and should be the first and
mandatory reading to all interested in this conflict and to human
right activists in general. After reading Chomsky's work one surely
feels wiser and more astute in analyzing issues and detecting
media deception. 10/10.
