The Current Crisis in the Middle East

21sept, 2006

While to many the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel seems hopeless, �degenerating to tribal warfare, an endless cycle of revenge and fanaticism,� a �very clear solution� has long existed: For years, UN resolutions have proposed recognizing the rights of all states in the region to live in peace and security, and called for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.While Arab states have supported these ideas, the U.S. and Israel have deliberately undermined and opposed them. The �threat of peace has arisen constantly,� but U.S.-Israeli �rejectionism� has blocked all efforts and led to �continued theft of lands� and a �weakening of the Palestinian collective.�

Chomsky calls the Israeli rationale for attacking Lebanon �pure cynical farce.� The claim that Hizbollah�s capture of an Israeli soldier necessitated a savage assault flies in the face of Israel�s decades-long practice of kidnapping Lebanese civilians. Israel, with U.S. collusion, he continues, did as much damage against the Lebanese infrastructure as possible before a ceasefire was accepted. Israeli rockets destroyed a fuel storage tank, creating a giant oil spill that has poisoned the coast line up to Syria.

With respect to Iraq, Chomsky believes the invading armies are obligated �to pay massive reparations for crimes of aggression,� and that the people responsible for the extreme crimes� should be put on trial. The prospect of �a sovereign Iraq would be a complete nightmare,� given the nation�s increasing solidarity with Shiite allies in oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Iran. Since �controlling the world�s energy resources has been a prime objective� of U.S. foreign policy for much of the last century, serious withdrawal plans seem pretty remote.

Finally, he scoffs at the Bush Administration�s �willingness� to negotiate with Iran about its nuclear ambitions, since a U.S. precondition for talks requires no uranium enrichment, and the U.S. �refuses to withdraw threats of attack.� U.S. threats are real, with recent deployment of U.S. air power in the area. The impact of such threats harms Iranian democracy reformers, �who are complaining bitterly,� and further blackens the U.S. reputation in the world, where we are perceived as a peace-threatening �lawless and dangerous rogue state.�

Chomsky concludes by reminding everyone that this �awful news is actually good news,� since the �means and power to end these crimes and further ones lies in our hands.�


At 1:16, Chomsky begins.

At 1:05:55, Chomsky takes questions on a variety of topics: whether Arab states would peacefully live side by side with Israel; C.I.A. recruitment on the MIT campus; why U.S. progressives do not follow the European left and support the Palestinian cause; how Americans can translate moral rage into constructive political action in a unidimensional society; and whether a two-state solution wouldn�t actually be a defeat for radicals.