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Fateful Triangle

Page 72

by Noam Chomsky


  25. AP, New York Times, Sept. 5; Henry Tanner, “Jordan Welcomes the Reagan Plan,” New York Times, Sept. 3, 1982.

  26. Chaim Bermant, Jerusalem Post, Dec. 19, 1982.

  27. Ze’ev Strominski, Davar, Dec. 30, 1982; Eliezer Levin, Ha’aretz, Dec. 8, 1982; Gaby Kessler, Ma’ariv, Dec. 30. 1982.

  28. Davar, Dec. 7, 1982 (Israeli Mirror); Eliezer Levin, Ha’aretz, Dec. 22, 1982; (Israleft News Service).

  29. Ha’aretz. Dec. 14. 1982. Jan. 7, I983; Israeli Mirror.

  30. Yosef Valter. Ma’ariv, Jan. 14. 1983; Rafael Gaon, Al Hamishmar, Jan. 10,1983. Valter’s detailed account of the conditions of Arab workers is based on interviews and a tour with a police patrol.

  31. Leah Etgar. Yediot Ahronot. Dec. 26. 1982 (Israeli Mirror); Rafik Halabi, “In the Service of the Homeland.” Koteret Rashit, Jan. 26, 1983. The final statement was allegedly added “in jest.”

  32. Washington Post—Boston Globe, March 18, 1983.

  33. Wire services. Los Angeles Times. Sept. 5. 1982. David Lamb, Los Angeles Times. Sept. 3. 1982.

  34. Ihsan A. Hijazi. New York Times, Sept. 5, 1982.

  35. Ilan Kfir. Ma’ariv, Sept. 8. 1982. In the same issue, Yosef Vaksman reports Knesset Member Geula Cohen’s response to the report that Gemayel is planning to bring Haddad to trial: “it is necessary to bring to trial those who did not do in central and northern Lebanon what Haddad did in the south.”

  36. Ze’ev Schiff, Ha’aretz. Sept. 8. 1982.

  37. Yehuda Litani. Ha’aretz, Sept. 8, 1982.

  38. Special, New York Times, Sept. 4, 1982; Monday Morning (Beirut), Sept. 13-19; “Israelis not Invited to Gemayel Party,” Jewish Post & Opinion, Feb. 2, 1983.

  39. T. Elaine Carey. “Lebanese hopes of national reconciliation dealt heavy blow; Assassination (of Gemayel] and Israeli push [into West Beirut] dismay Lebanese,” Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 16. 1982.

  40. Colin Campbell, New York Times, Sept. 26, 1982.

  41. Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 5, 14, 1982.

  42. Ma’ariv, July 15, 1982; Yehuda Tsur, Al Hamishmar, Aug. 1O, 1982.

  43. Economist. Sept. 4, 1982.

  44. lhsan A. Hijazi. New York Times, Sept. 16; Economist, Sept. 18; Claudia Wright, Nest Statesman, Sept. 17; Helena Cobban. “Maronites split over ties with Israel.” Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 2l; David B. Ottaway, Washington Post, Oct. 2, 1982; Washington Post—Boston Globe, Jan. 22, 1983, again reporting the Phalange allegation that Syrian intelligence was behind the assassination. See also Trudy Rubin. Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 22, 1982, reporting the conviction of “many ordinary Lebanese” that Israel was in some way involved because of Gemayel’s refusal to sign a peace treaty, suspicions that “are likely to continue to cloud Maronite-Israeli relations” unless the “ongoing internal Phalange investigations turn up the culprit.”

  45. Gidon Alon, “The Slaughter in the Camps—Hour after Hour,” Ha’aretz, Jan. I I, 1983, a detailed chronology based on the public hearings of the official lsraeli Commission of Inquiry, including 24 out of 58 witnesses, the other sessions being secret. Recall Dubnow’s comment on the Czar’s secret inquiry. We return to the official Report of the Commission in section 6.8.

  46. Reuters, New York Times, Sept. 17, 1982.

  47. Address by Defense Minister Sharon to the Israeli Knesset, excepts translated in the New York Times, Sept. 23, 1982.

  48. David Lamb, Los Angeles Times—Boston Globe, Sept. 17, 1982.

  49. Ibid.

  50. Reuters, New York Times, Sept. 17, 1982.

  51 David K. Shipler, “Israeli Issue: Sharon.” New York Times, Sept. 27, 1982.

  52. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 27, 1982.

  53. Colin Campbell. New York Times, Sept. 20, 1982.

  54. See ch. 4, 7.2.

  55. Bernard Nossiter, New York Times, Sept. 18, 1982.

  56. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1982.

  57. David Lamb, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16, 1982.

  58. David Lamb and J. Michael Kennedy, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 18; Newsweek, Sept. 27, 1982.

  59. Colin Campbell, New York Times, Sept. 18, 1982.

  60. Robert Fisk, London Times, August 13, 1982.

  61. Ibid.

  62. Robert Fisk, London Times, Aug. 14, 17, 1982; Colin Campbell, New York Times, Sept. 27, 1982.

  63. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 26, 1982, a detailed record of the week’s events, expanding on his earlier September 20, 21 account; reprinted in The Beirut Massacre (Claremont Research and Publications, New York. Oct. 1982), a collection of press and broadcast reports from U.S., British and Israeli sources. See also Michael Jansen, Battle of Beirut, Israel in Lebanon, and Amnon Kapeliouk, Enquete sur un massacre (Seuil, Paris. 1982).

  64. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 20, 21, 26, 27.

  65. David Lamb, Los Angeles Times. Sept. 20, 1982.

  66. Alon, “The slaughter in the camps”; Friedman. New York Times, Sept. 20.

  67. Hirsh Goodman, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 24; Alon, “The slaughter in the camps.

  68. Wolf Blitzer, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 24, 1982; report from Washington.

  69. Alon, “The slaughter in the camps.”

  70. Loren Jenkins, Washington Post, Sept. 18, 1982.

  71. Colin Campbell, New York Times, Sept. 18, 1982.

  72. Ze’ev Schiff, “War Crime in Beirut,” Ha’aretz, Sept. 20 (translated in Israel Press Briefs). See also Alon, “The slaughter in the camps”; David K. Shipler, New York Times, Sept. 21, 1982.

  73. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 26, 20.

  74. Newsweek, Oct. 4, 1982.

  75. Newsweek, Sept. 27, 1982.

  76. Loren Jenkins, interview, “All Things Considered,” National Public Radio, Sept. 20, 1982 (reprinted in The Beirut Massacre); Ha’aretz, Sept. 23, 1982 (reprinted in The Beirut Massacre from FBIS).

  77. ABC news Closeup: “Oh, Tell the World What Happened,” Jan. 7, 1983, 10PM.

  78. Edward Walsh, Washington Post—Boston Globe, Nov. 8, 1982.

  79. Testimony of Israeli Foreign Ministry official Bruce Kashdan before the Commission of Inquiry; Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 22, 1982.

  80. Alon, “The slaughter in the camps.”

  81. B. Michael, Ha’aretz, Nov. 12; Edward Walsh, Washington Post— Boston Globe, Dec. 26, 1982; Robert Suro, Time, Oct. 4, 1982, cited in Jansen, The Battle of Beirut.

  82. Alon, “The slaughter in the camps.”

  83. David Richardson, Jerusalem Post, Dec. 12, 1982, noting that Sharon’s October 25 testimony under oath in open session contradicts his claim in New York in early December that 479 had been killed. On the 700-800 figure, which does appear to be the Israeli intelligence estimate, see William E. Farrell, New York Times, Nov. 18, 19, 27, and the Kahan Commission Report, discussed below.

  84. Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 14, 1982.

  85. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Jan. 30, 1983; Jerusalem Post, Sept. 30, 1982.

  86. J. Michael Kennedy and David Lamb, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19; David Binder, New York Times, Sept. 27; Loren Jenkins, Washington Post—Boston Globe, Sept. 23, 1982.

  87. Ze’ev Schiff, Ha’aretz, Oct. 28; David K. Shipler, New York Times, Sept. 19, 1982.

  88. Ibid.; Louis Wiznitzer, Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 27, 1982.

  89. See Chomsky and Herman, Political Economy of Human Rights, vol. 1, p. 363. This massacre received virtually no press coverage, apart from the British New Statesman.

  90. Reported at once by the international press and church groups, this American-made massacre was apparently concealed by the U.S. press for over a year; see TNCW, p. 389.

  91. AP, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Sept. 8, 1982; Guardian (New York), Sept. 22, 1982, citing an AP report and a press conference held by the Salvador Human Rights Commission in San Salvador where three women gave graphic testimony.

  92. UPI, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 1982.

  93. Eric Silver, Jer
usalem, Manchester Guardian weekly, Oct. 3, 1982, citing “reliable Israeli sources.”

  94. David K. Shipler. New York Times, Oct. 18. 1982.

  95. ABC News Closeup (see note 77).

  96. Loren Jenkins, Washington Post—Boston Globe, Sept. 30, 1982; New York Times, Sept. 26, 1982.

  97. Trudy Rubin, T. Elaine Carey, Christian Science Monitor. Sept. 20, 1982.

  98. Bernard Gwertzman, New York Times, Sept. 19; Excerpts from Defense Minister Sharon’s testimony before the judicial Commission of Inquiry, New York Times, Oct. 26, 1982. See also Robert Fisk, London Times, Sept. 20; Manchester Guardian weekly, Sept. 26; and numerous other sources providing direct and credible evidence of the participation of these forces.

  99. New York Times, Sept. 23, 1982.

  100. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 19, 20, 26; Carey, Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 20; Newsweek, Oct. 4. 1982.

  101. David Lamb, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 21, 1982.

  102. Loren Jenkins, “Witnesses Describe Militiamen Passing Through Israeli Lines,” Washington Post, Sept. 20, 1982.

  103. William E. Farrell, New York Times, Sept. 24; Yuval Elizur, Boston Globe, Sept. 21; David K. Shipler, New York Times, Sept. 20, 1982.

  104. Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Sept. 27, 1982; interview with Gen. Drori.

  105. David Bernstein, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 21, 1982.

  106. Gidon Kutz, Davar, Nov. 5, 1982; Annie Kriegel, Israel: est-il coupable? (Laffont, Paris, 1982). See also the notice by Yeshayahu Ben-Porat, Yediot Ahronot, Dec. 17, 1982. It should be noted that the book, though hardly worth discussion, does not go quite as far as the interview in Davar, either because the author was less cautious or the interviewer a bit imaginative.

  107. “BLOOD LIBEL,” New York Times, Sept. 21. 1982.

  108. New York Times, Sept. 23, 1982; see note 47.

  109. Yehuda Litani, Ha’aretz, Sept. 21, 1982, citing American sources.

  110. See, for example, Avraham Tal, Ha’aretz, Sept. 20, 1982.

  111. Excerpts from Shimon Peres’s speech to the Knesset, New York Times, Sept. 23, 1982.

  112. The Commission Report was released on February 8, 1983. The full official English translation appears in the Jerusalem Post, Feb. 9, 1982. Substantial excerpts appear in the New York Times, February 9. See section 6.8 for discussion.

  113. Martin Peretz, New York Times, Sept. 22, 1982.

  114. David K. Shipler, New York Times, Sept. 24, 1982.

  115. “Israel Finds Its Voice,” Editorial, New York Times, Sept. 29, 1982.

  116. Letter, New York Times, Sept. 22, 1982; my emphasis.

  117. Irving Howe, Op-Ed. New York Times, Sept. 23, 1983.

  118. Nat Hentoff, Village Voice, Sept. 14. 1982.

  119. “An end to unnatural silence,” Editorial, Boston Globe, Sept. 26. 1982.

  120. New York Times, Sept. 23, 1982.

  121. Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion, in effect, Ben-Gurion’s official biography. Any other reputable source will provide essentially the same information and conclusion.

  122. Dissent. Winter 1983, citing the New York Times, Feb. 8, 1975; Lucas, Israel; Bar-Zohar, Ben- Gurion.

  123. On this rarely-discussed topic, see G. H. Jansen, “Can Israel demand the ‘right to exist’?” (Middle East International, Jan. 7, 1983).

  124. See pp. 181, 182*.

  125. E.H. Hutchison, Violent Truce (Devin-Adair, New York, 1956), cited by David Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch. Commander Hutchison was an American UN observer.

  126. Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch; Livia Rokach, Israel’s Sacred Terrorism, based on Moshe Sharett’s personal diary; Bar-Zohar, BenGurion.

  127. Uri Milshtein, Milhamot Hatsanhanim (“Wars of the Paratroopers,” 1969, “The creation of Unit 101’). cited by Israel Shahak, Begin And Co.; Kenneth Love, Suez; Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch.

  128. For substantial documentation on the remarkable double standard of the U.S. media with regard to Israeli and Arab terrorism over many years, see Alfred M. Lilienthal, The Zionist Connection (Dodd, Mead, 1978), a book that could hardly be reviewed in a major U.S. journal. See also TNCW. For a broader perspective on the entire question of “terrorism,” see Edward Herman, The Real Terror Network. On the role of the Israeli government and its overseas associates in preparing the groundwork for the shift from “human rights” to “international terrorism” as the primary slogan of U.S. foreign policy (“the Soul of our foreign policy,” in Jimmy Carter’s memorable phrase), see Philip Paull, International Terrorism: The Propaganda War, MA Thesis, International Relations, San Francisco State College, June 1982.

  129. Amos Perlmutter, “Arid Sharon: Iron Man and Fragile Peace,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 18, 1981. There is a critical article on Perlmutter’s piece by Lesley Hazleton in the Nation (“The Moderating of Arik Sharon,” Nov. 14, 1981). Nothing is said about Unit 101, or Perlmutter’s version of it. See Herman, The Real Terror Network, for further comment.

  130. Newsweek, Oct. 4, 1982.

  131. Norman Podhoretz, “The Massacre: Who Was Responsible?” (Washington Post, Sept. 24, 1982).

  132. Elie Wiesel, “Israel Represents Jews of the World,” Jewish Post & Opinion, Nov. 19 (see 2.2.1 for further elaboration of his views in the same interview); “Wiesenthal, Wiesel listed for 1983 Nobel Peace Prize,” Jerusalem Post, Feb. 4. 1983; A. B. Yehoshua, Yeshayahu Leibovitz, Haolam Haze, Sept. 22, 1982. The contributions by noted Israeli intellectuals to this “what are they saying” section, in response to the Beirut massacres, may usefully be compared with the reactions by their American counterparts in the New York Times on the same day, some already cited, one cited directly below.

  133. New York Times, Sept. 22, 1982.

  134. Bernard Gwertzman, New York Times. Sept. 16; Yuval Elizur, Boston Globe, Sept. 16; John M. Goshko, Washington Post—Boston Globe, Sept. 16, 1982.

  135. Bernard Gwertzman, New York Times, Sept. 18; Curtis Wilkie, Boston Globe, Sept. 18, 1982.

  136. David K. Shipler (Jerusalem), New York Times. Sept. 18, 1982.

  137. New York Times, Sept. 19, 1982.

  138. Milton Viorst, “America’s Broken Pledge to the PLO,” Washington Post, Dec. 19, 1982; Alexander Cockburn, Village Voice, Nov. 9, 1982. The text had previously been cited by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on the basis of information provided by the PLO, correctly, as Cockburn notes. See also Loren Jenkins, Washington Post, Nov. 13, 1982 (reprinted in Palestine/Israel Bulletin, Dec. 1982), citing explicit guarantees from Habib concerning “the security of the camps.

  139. The Dawn (Al Fajr), Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 1983; Report of the Information Center for the Defense of the Palestinian and Lebanese Civilian Population, Prisoners, Deportees and Disappeared, Rome (c/o Lelio Basso Foundation), Jan. 11, Feb. 4, 1983; also Livia Rokach, “Palestinian women from Lebanon in Israeli jails,” March 1983, Information Center report, discussing the case of Maryam Abdel Jelil and others; Al Fajr, March 25, 1983.

  140. Meron Benvenisti, Newsweek, Oct. 4, 1982.

  141. Amos Elon, cited by David K. Shipler, New York Times, Sept. 27, 1982.

  142. Uri Avneri, Haolam Haze, Aug. 4, 1982.

  143. A. B. Yehoshua, Haolam Haze, Sept. 22, 1982; see p. 656 for what precedes. “Liberated Territory: Life and Death in the Hands of the Language,” advertisement, Ha’aretz, June 25, 1982. The latest example is a government order to Israeli television and radio to stop using the Hebrew word “ishim” (“personalities”) to refer to leading personalities in the PLO; AP, New York Times, March 7, 1983. Ha’aretz reports (March 7) that “a careful investigation” conducted by the authorities “in sources and in current usage of the word ‘ishim’ revealed that indeed there is a positive weight of respect.” Putting aside the silliness, the implications concerning the occupied territories (where the population overwhelmingly regards these ex-personalities as their political leadership) are obvious enough.

  144. Yoel Marcus, “The End of Sharon,” Ha’aretz, October I, 198
2.

  145. “Begin and Sharon Get Less Backing in Poll,” New York Times, Sept. 30, 1982, citing a poll of the Dahaf Research Institute (the headline of this brief item has a rather plaintive ring); Jonathan Frankel, “Israel: The War and After,” Dissent, Winter 1983 (these comments are dated October 25. 1982); Yosef Goell. Jerusalem Post, Oct. 1, 1982.

  146. Yoel Marcus, Nov. 19, 1982.

  147. David K. Shipler,” New York Times, Feb. 20, 1983.

  148. Kol Hair, July 9, 1982; Libération, June 17, 1982; Haolam Haze, June 30, 1982; Ronald Koven, Paris, Boston Globe, July 21, 1982.

  149. Levi Yitzhak Hayerushalmi, interview with A. B. Yehoshua, Maariv, Sept. 17, 1982.

  150. “The Truth, and Peace for Galilee.” Advertisement signed by 35 Rabbis, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 1982.

  151. International Rabbinical Committee for the Safety of Israel, New York, Advertisement, Ma’ariv, Sept. 14, 1982. They refer to an earlier advertisement of theirs in the New York Times, July 2, 1980.

  152. The Dawn (Al Fajr), Oct. 29, 1982.

  153. Editorial, New York Times. Feb. 9, 1983; New Republic, March 7, 1983. I noticed only one discussion that raised any question about the Commission Report, namely, Patrick J. Sioyan, Newsday—Buffalo News, Feb. 13, 1983, which makes the point that the evidence presented by the Commission on foreknowledge of massacre is not easy to reconcile with the Commission’s conclusion that there was no intention to harm the noncombatant population. There is an excellent analysis of the Commission Report, drawing the reasonable conclusions, by Uri Avneri, Haolam Haze, Feb. 16, 23. 1983; we return to it directly.

  154. Ha’aretz, June 11; Yediot Ahronot, June 18; cited by Israel Shahak, letter. Economist, July 10, 1982.

  155. Ibid.

  156. TNCW, pp. 396-7.

  157. Alan George, New Statesman, Aug. 27, 1982.

  158. Marvine Howe, New York Times, Aug. 19, 1982.

  159. Alan George. “Israeli law and order,” New Statesman, Oct. 22, 1982.

  160. Dan Connell, public talk, MIT, Sept. 22, 1982; Monday Morning, Beirut, Sept. 13-19, 1982.

  161. Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 24, 1982.

  162. Augustus Richard Norton, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 24, 1982.

 

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