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 in History”.......................530 8.3 The Image of the Fighters.......................................535 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 9 8.3.1 The Palestinians....................................................535 8.3.2 The IDF................................................................538 Notes—Chapter 5..............................................................541 6. Aftermath............................................................................ 563 1. A Chapter of Jewish History............................................564 2. A Glorious Victory...........................................................570 2.1 The Achievements of Operation “Peace for Galilee”.570 2.2 The Syrian Phase of the War..................................574 2.3 The West Falls into Line.........................................577 3. The Taste of Victory Turns Sour .......................................583 3.1 Reagan’s Peace Plan..............................................584 3.2 The Israeli Response..............................................593 3.2.1 The Incorporation of the Occupied Territories.............594 3.2.2 The March on West Beirut......................................604 3.3 Ungrateful Clients ..................................................606 4. The Invasion of West Beirut.............................................612 4.1 The Gemayel Assassination....................................612 4.2 “To Prevent Bloodshed and Acts of Revenge”..........613 5. A Chapter of Palestinian History.......................................619 6. Who is Responsible?.......................................................637 6.1 The Background for the Inquiry..............................637 6.2 The Charges...........................................................640 6.3 “We” and “They”: Defiling the Beautiful Israel........642 6.4 On “Moral Idiocy”...................................................654 6.5 “Putting a Snake into a Child’s Bed”: The United States and its Commitments.............................................658 6.5.1 The Defenseless Remnants......................................658 6.5.2 The “Brought-in”....................................................661 6.5.3 More on Hypocrisy.................................................663 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 10 6.6 The “Principal Culprits”..........................................665 6.7 Reactions: Israel and Elsewhere.............................667 6.8 The Commission of Inquiry (the Kahan Commission) ........................................................................................674 7. Elsewhere in Lebanon.....................................................693 7.1 The South..............................................................694 7.2 The Chouf..............................................................706 7.3 Beirut after the Israeli Invasion...............................710 7.4 Under Syrian Control..............................................714 8. Israel’s Moral Lapse........................................................715 Notes—Chapter 6..............................................................726 7. The Road to Armageddon...................................................... 742 1. The Fateful Triangle........................................................743 2. The Threat to the Local Parties........................................744 2.1 The Logic of Occupation.........................................744 2.2 The Next Round.....................................................754 3. The Threat to the United States and the World...................757 3.1 The Risk of Superpower Confrontation....................757 3.2 The Evasions of the Peace Movement.....................760 4. Prospects......................................................................762 4.1 Assuming U.S. Rejectionism...................................763 4.1.1 The Spectrum of Israeli Political Thinking..................763 4.1.2 “From Coexistence to Hegemony”.............................766 4.2 Assuming an Abandonment of U.S. Rejectionism....779 4.2.1 The Effect on Israeli Policy......................................779 4.2.2 Israel’s Secret Weapon............................................780 Notes—Chapter 7..............................................................788 8. The Palestinian Uprising....................................................... 792 1. “Let Us Cry”..................................................................795 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky 11 2. The Reality of the Occupation..........................................804 3. Scenes from the Uprising................................................810 3.1 Repression and Resistance.....................................811 3.2 Some Personal Observations...................................818 3.3 Elsewhere under Occupation..................................834 3.4 Israel’s Peace Movement........................................837 Notes—Chapter 8..............................................................848 9. “Limited War” in Lebanon .................................................... 855 1. The Rules of the Game...................................................856 2. The Logic of Terror.........................................................862 3. Safeguarding the Occupation...........................................872 4. Post-Oslo Lebanon.........................................................877 Notes—Chapter 9..............................................................880 10. Washington’s “Peace Process”............................................ 884 1. Oslo I.......................................................................884 2. Oslo II ..........................................................................895 3. “Another Crushed Nation”?..............................................923 Notes—Chapter 10............................................................933 Classics in Politics: The Fateful Triangle Noam Chomsky