by Noam Chomsky
184. Monday Morning, Aug. 23-29, Sept. 13-19.
185. Ibid., Sept. 6-12.
186. Ibid., July 5-11, July 26-Aug. 1.
187. William Stewart, Time, August 16, 1982.
188. Amnon Rubinstein, Special to the Boston Globe. July 11, 1982. 189. Yigal Lev, Ma’ariv, Dec. 3. 1982.
190. Menachem Rahat, Ma’ariv, Dec. 29, 1982.
191. Edward Walsh, Washington Post—Boston Globe, Aug. 28, 1982,
reporting a poll conducted between August 10 and 19.
192. AP, Boston Globe, Sept. 1, 1982.
193. New York Times, Aug. 29, Sept. 9, 1982 (my emphasis).
194. On this matter, see TNCW, particularly chapters 1, 2, 4.
195. Gideon Hausner, Jerusalem Post, July 11, 1982.
196. Amir Oren, Davar, June 28, 1982, an interview with a paratrooper who
had returned from the front.
197. Mordechai Bar-On, “The Palestinian Aspect.”
198. Meir Pail, “A Military Analysis.”
199. Henry Kamm, “Israelis and Germans Doubt Bulgarian Link in Attack on
Pope,” New York Times, Dec. 18, 1982; Norman Kempster, “Israelis
Expect Sharp Rise in Anti-Jewish Terrorism,” Los Angeles Times, Dec.
12, 1982.
200. Ze’ev Strominsky, Davar, July 19, 1982.
201. Yoav Biran, Minister Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Israel, letter,
Manchester Guardian Weekly, July 25; ibid., Aug. 1, 1982. 202. Shlomo Shmelzman, letter, Ha’aretz, August 11, 1982; Israleft News
Service.
203. Meir Pail, “A Military Analysis”; Boaz Evron, “Strength, Strength,
Strength” (chapter 4, note 175).
204. Martin Peretz, “Lebanon Eyewitness,” New Republic, Aug. 2, 1982.
More on this contribution below.
205. Meron Benvenisti, “Letter to Professor Avineri,” Ha’aretz, July 22, 1982. 206. Rabbi Balfour Brickner, “How I (a Rabbi) Spent My Summer,” CALC
Report, Nov/Dec. 1982.
207. Shlomo Avineri, Los Angeles Times, June 27, Aug. 20, 1982; Raanan
Weitz, “Meeting Israeli and Palestinian Needs,” Op-Ed, New York Times,
Aug. 18, 1982.
208. Embassy of Israel, “THE THREAT INHERENT IN THE PLO’S
CONTINUANCE AS A POLITICAL BODY,” Washington DC, July 26,
1982.
209. Amiram Cohen, “Why was Labor silent?,” Hotam, Sept. 3, 1982. 210. Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16, 1982.
211. Henry Fairlie, New Republic, July 12, 1982.
212. Barbara Tuchman, Op-Ed, New York Times, July 25, 1982. 213. Jacob K. Javits, Op-Ed, New York Times, July 5, I982.
214. Michael Walzer, New Republic, Sept. 6, 1982; his emphasis. See also
his articles in the New Republic, July 5, August 16.
215. Morris B. Abram, New York Times, Aug. 24, 1982. For those who
believe that UN General Assembly Resolutions, such as the one
recommending the formation of a Jewish state in 1947, have some
standing, it might be noted that the right that the Palestinians had
forfeited in the eyes of American Zionists such as Abram has regularly
been endorsed by the UN, including the U.S., within the context of a
negotiated settlement, which U.S.-Israeli rejectionism has effectively
blocked in recent years.
216. Boston Globe, Aug. 11, 1982.
217. Artilleryman Avi Tsarfati, explaining why he refused to return to serve in
Lebanon, at the Tel Aviv meeting at which Ccl. Yirmiah spoke; see note
162.
218. Editorial, Washington Post; reprinted in the Manchester Guardian
Weekly, Aug. 29, 1982.
219. Editorials, New York Times, June 23; July 7, 11, 21; Aug. 5, 20, 1982. 220. Op-Ed, New York Times, June 30, 1982.
221. Elizabeth Mehren, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 29, 1982.
222. Charles Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, June 29, 1982.
223. Noah Kliger, Yediot Ahronot, March 7, 1982.
224. Yehuda Stay, Yediot Ahronot, July 4; Davar, July 7, 1982.
225. James M. Markham, New York Times, July 5; Washington Post, July 3;
Will Thorne, “Hayden, Hawkins [Hayden’s Republican opponent for State
Assembly in the Santa Monica area] agree on major Mideast issues,”
Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 10-11, 1982.
226. Jewish Post & Opinion, April 30, 1982; Support letter, Jewish
Community Committee for Tom Hayden, no date.
227. Al Hamishmar, Dec. 5, 1982.
228. Uri Avneri, Ha’olam Haze, Dec. 22, 1982; Rafik Halabi, Koteret Rashit,
March 16, 1983; Chaim Bermant, Jerusalem Post, March 22, 1983. 229. Los Angeles Times, Dec. 14, 1982.
230. Norman Podhoretz, Op-Ed, New York Times, June 15, 1982. 231. Statement of the Ad Hoc Committee for Lebanese Freedom, signed by a
distinguished group of Nobel Laureates, Law Professors (Joseph Bishop,
Alan Dershowitz, etc.), writers (Czeslaw Miloscz, Marie Syrkin, Hilton
Kramer, etc.), New Republic editors and others.
232. “Lebanese Hail Israel’s Action as Liberation”; see note 134. 233. Meir Pail, “A Military Analysis.”
234. See chapter 4, note 30.
235. Conor Cruise O’Brien, review. New Republic, Jan. 24, 1983. O’Brien has
in recent years been a strong supporter of Israel, and is one of the most
passionate defenders of the Lebanon war, in a manner that is rare in the
British press.
236. David Denby, “The Decline of ‘The Village Voice,’ New Republic, Jan.
31, 1983.
237. Sammy Smooha and Don Peretz, “The Arabs in Israel,” J. of Conflict
Resolution, September 1982, a detailed review and analysis of poll
results to which we return in chapter 7, where the numbers and their
meaning will be further clarified. See pp. 55-6, 61, on the Israeli poll on
West Bank attitudes.
238. Gilmour’s emphasis. I have replaced Timerman’s “incisive” by “decisive,”
which I presume was Talmon’s original wording.
239. Elfi Pallis, review, New Statesman, Dec. 3, 1982; David Gilmour,
review, Middle East International, Dec. 10, 1982. The final comment
applies to Timerman’s citation, but not in these terms to Talmon’s letter,
written in 1980.
240. Barry Sussman, Washington Post-Boston Globe, Aug. 20, 1982, an
analysis of a poll by the Washington Post and ABC News (it should be
noted that there is considerable apparent disparity in poll results,
probably to be attributed to differences in the way questions are
formulated); John E. Rielly, Foreign Policy, Spring 1983, reporting on a
recent national survey of American opinion. On earlier attitudes of the
“intellectual elite,” and the “triumph of pragmatism” in their qualified
opposition to the war (because it didn’t work) at the peak period of antiwar protest, when even substantial business and government circles had
turned against it, see Charles Kadushin, The American Intellectual Elite
(Little Brown and Co., Boston, 1974).
241. William Lee, Middle East International, Dec. 10, 1982. The poll was
commissioned by the AAUG, but is difficult to see how that could have
contaminated the results.
242. Daniel Southerland, Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 19, 1982. 243. Martin Peretz, “Lebanon Eyewitness.”
244. It can easily be extended. Consider, for example, Peretz’s statement (New
Republic, March 31. 1982) that “We axiomatically print letters from
organizations and individuals criticized in our pages.” In fact, Peretz
regularly intervenes to
prevent publication of responses to his slanders, a
practice on the part of an owner-editor that reveals an unusual degree of
moral cowardice. For two such examples, see the introduction by C. P.
Otero, editor of my essays in Radical Priorities (Black Rose, Montreal,
1981). pp. 15, 51.
245. Pail, “A Military Analysis.”
246. Lily Galili, interview, Ha’aretz, Dec. 9, 1982. As a journalist of integrity,
he refused. Peretz is presented here as a “Professor of Political Science at
Harvard”—which is false—and a critic of Begin—which is correct; he
explains that Begin’s “style, manner of speaking, and the contents of
what he says” are difficult to defend in an American context, which
causes problems for supporters of Israel. It will also be difficult to “defend
the annexation of the West Bank.” As for Peace Now, Peretz speaks quite
disparagingly, though he has “sympathy for them.” It has perhaps 2000
American supporters, he says: “radical politics [Peace Now?] in the
United States is bankrupt.”
247. Emphasis added. Martin Peretz, “Usual Suspects,” New Republic, July
12, 1982; Boston Globe, June 27, 1982. Peretz’s revision of the ad was
pointed out by Alexander Cockburn in the Village Voice, eliciting no
response, though perhaps the subsequent reference to Cockburn as
“despicable,” “a nasty piece of work,” etc.. is to be understood as the
response, a characteristic one for this type of journalism.
248. “An Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith Study: Television Network
Coverage of the War in Lebanon,” released October 21, 1982. 249. Tony Schwartz, “A. D. L. Criticizes TV Over Coverage of Lebanon,” New
York Times, Oct. 21, 1982.
250. Leon Hadar, “Covering the War,” Jerusalem Post, Aug. 2, 1982. Frank is
identified as the son of a prominent American Labor Zionist leader. 251. Peter Braestrup, Big Story (Westview, Boulder, 1977, two volumes); see
my review in Race and Class, 1, 1978, and in a briefer version in the
journalism review More, June 1978, for extensive documentation. The
Braestrup study appeared in an abbreviated version, reprinted by Yale
University press (1982).
252. See note 40 and text; Roger Morris, “Beirut—and the press—under
siege,” Columbia Journalism Review, November/December 1982. 253. Norman Kempster, “Israel Mounts a Counterattack to Avoid a PublicRelations Defeat,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 12, 1982.
254. Charles Hoffman, interview with Aharon Yariv, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 24,
1982.
255. Ma’ariv, Nov. 22, 1981; Economist, Dec. 18, 1982, Feb. 19, 1983;
Ma’ariv, March 25, 1982. The number of campesinos (mainly Indians)
killed from the March 1982 coup to October is estimated at 8000 by the
Committee for Justice and Peace, a Guatemalan Christian group, and the
Guatemalan Commission for Human Rights; Human Rights in
Guatemala: No Neutrals Allowed, Americas Watch Report (New York,
1982).
256. Moshe Yegar, “Abuse of Freedom,” Jerusalem Post, Aug. 20. 1982. 257. Yochanan Manor, “Process of disinformation,” Jerusalem Post. Jan. 4,
1983.
258. Moshe Sharon, “No friend of Israel,” Jerusalem Post, Jan. 7, 1983;
Yuval Elizur, Boston Globe, Aug. 6, 1982. Sharon’s article is
accompanied by a picture of President Reagan with a rather
uncharacteristic ugly leer, presumably showing the true face of America
with regard to Israel, which Sharon has now exposed.
259. Curtis Wilkie, Boston Globe, June 24, 1982.
260. Kempster, “Israel Mounts a Counterattack.”
261. Aryeh Rubinstein, Jerusalem Post, June 24, 1982, reporting on Knesset
debate.
262. Yerah Tal, Ha’aretz, June 25, 1982, citing high IDF officials. 263. Yitzhak Zamir, Letter to Al in London, Aug. 25, 1982, in Human Rights
Internet Reporter, Washington, Sept.-Nov. 1982.
264. Yegar, “Abuse of Freedom.”
265. Haolam Haze, August 4, 1982.
266. B. Michael, “The Miracle Child,” Ha’aretz, August 18, 1982; translated
in part in Middle East International, Sept. 17, 1982.
267. David Landau, Middle East International, Oct. 1, 1982
268. Ha’aretz, Sept. 28, 1982; Israeli Mirror.
269. Francis Cornu, Le Monde, Dec. 31, 1982. See chapter 6, section 6.5.2,
for more details.
270. Ihsan A. Hijazi, New York Times, Oct. 1, 1982. See also “After the
Vandals,” an interview with Sabri Jiryis, Israel & Palestine, Dec. 1982
(Paris). Israel’s UN representative, Yehuda Blum, assured the UN that
the “real scholarly material” would be returned, though not material
determined by Israel to have nothing to do with “the Palestinian cultural
heritage.” The UN, however, was “not satisfied with this announcement,”
and passed a resolution requesting Israel to return all of the material to
UNESCO. Yoseph Priel, Davar, Dec. 19, 1982. One is entitled to be
skeptical as to whether anything will be returned.
271. J. Michael Kennedy, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 27, 1982. See also AP,
Monday Morning, Oct. 4-10, reporting that the apartment of the bureau
chief of the French press agency was vandalized and ransacked, and that
equipment worth half a million dollars was stolen at the Lebanese airline
offices, where, according to the manager, everything movable was stolen
and “the Israelis defecated all over…”
272. Rebecca Trounson, Boston Globe, Oct. 19, 1982.
273. New York Times, June 11, 1982; dispatch from Jerusalem. See sections
5.2-5.3.
274. Phyllis Sutker, National President, Pioneer Women/Na’amat, letter, New
York Times, July 5, 1982.
275. Al Hamishmar, July 25, 1982 (Israeli Mirror), which reports that the
couple are “still awaiting permission from the Israeli authorities to visit
Israel with the aim to return and live there,” obviously a tricky question. 276. “Israeli Aid Group Plays Active War Relief Role,” New York Times, Aug.
8, 1982.
277. Ilan Shehori. Ha’aretz, June 23, 1982.
278. Edward Grossman, “The quantity of mercy,” Jerusalem Post, June 25,
1982.
279. See TNCW, p. 331, and pp. 462-5 for a few examples of what is
contained in this important material.
280. See TNCW, chapters 1 and 2, for discussion of this and several other
examples.
281. Eliahu Zehavi, “Do not tell us about flowers and rice,” Ha’aretz, June 27,
1982. Zehavi adds that the Danish foreign minister issued a criticism of
the Israeli invasion that was unprecedented in its harshness. 282. Hotam (Mapam), July 2, 1982.
283. Timerman, The Longest War.
284. See my At War with Asia (Pantheon, New York, 1970, chapter 4). 285. Yaakov Erez, Ma’ariv, Dec. 17, 1982.
286. Trudy Rubin, “Israelis stuck in Lebanese mire?,” Christian Science
Monitor, Jan. 12, 1983.
287. Hirsh Goodman, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 18, 1983.
288. AP, New York Times, March 21, 1983.
289. Flora Lewis, New York Times, Aug. 6, 1982. The same image appears in
Arthur Goldberg’s contribution, discussed above, and elsewhere
repeatedly. Its origin appears to be Peretz’s “Lebanon Eyewitness.” 290. For evidence on this matter from Israeli and Lebanese sources, see Israel
&n
bsp; in Lebanon, p. 77.
291. Trudy Rubin, Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 5, 1982; John Yemma,
“Few Palestinians have been able to flee west Beirut,” Christian Science
Monitor, Aug. 9, 1982.
292. John Kifner, New York Times, Aug. 14, 1982.
293. Marvine Howe, New York Times, Aug. 8, 1982.
294. B. Michael, Ha’aretz, Aug. 15, 1982.
295. “Terror tactics”; see note 100.
296. Yigal Sarnah, Kol Ha’ir, interview with Meir Pail, Aug. 10, 1982. 297. Martin Peretz, “Lebanon Eyewitness.”
298. Aharon Abramowitz, Ma’ariv Supplement, June 25, 1982, an interview
with the mother of a battalion commander of the paratroopers, killed in
action, reporting her son’s views; Israleft News Service. There was
similar testimony from others.
299. Bar-On, “The Palestinian Aspect.”
300. Victor Ciegelman. “West Bank View,” New Outlook, August/September
1982.
301. Tony Clifton, Monday Morning (Beirut), Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1982. 302. Chris Drake, BBC report, quoted in Monday Morning, Aug. 23-29, 1982. 303. Gideon Spiro, Haolam Haze, Aug. 18, 1982. See Israel in Lebanon, p.
57.
304. Douglas Watson, Baltimore Sun. June 28, 1982.
305. “Beirut Curtain Call,” New Republic, Sept. 13, 1982.
306. Martin van Creveld, “Not Exactly A Triumph,” Jerusalem Post Magazine,
Dec. 10, 1982. See also the long interview with former Paratroopers
commander Danny Wolf (Rahav), commenting on the decline of the IDF
under the Sharon-Eitan regime, which reached its furthest point in the
Lebanon war; Amir Oren, Koteret Rashit. Jan. 19, 1983.
6. Aftermath
1. A Chapter of Jewish History
“O
n the eve of the Easter festival of 1903, mysterious rumors were set afloat in Kishinev [capital of Bessarabia] telling of the murder of a Christian servant girl, whose death was ascribed to the Jews... The goings-on in Kishinev on the
eve of that Easter bore the earmarks of an energetic activity on the part of some secret organization which was hatching an elaborate fiendish scheme... Printed hand-bills were scattered about in the city, telling the people that an imperial ukase had been published, granting permission to inflict a ‘bloody punishment’ upon the Jews in the course of the three days of the Christian Passover. The police made no attempt to suppress these circulars, for, as was subsequently brought out, they were in the conspiracy... On the eve of the festival of Passover, the representatives of the Jewish community waited upon the governor and the Chief of Police, praying for protection, and received the cool reply that the necessary instructions had already been given and that the proper measures for their safety had been adopted.
