I guess freedom of expression is in effect when you hear something you dislike, and i\'m not talking of the sober assessment of Dr. Chomsky, but the ridicolous attempt to stifle the debate by the anonymous comments. Is this board not regulated at all? Sorry to act like \'Big Brother\', but those comments are just outright disrespectful and unserious.

drums makes the loudest noise.

boy your missing something upstairs.  idiots like yourself think they can etcho-scetch the parts of humanity that does not fit into their nice tidy reality.  "jews of that time were probably etc" your just a simple nazi pig.  i bet you have blond hair and blue eyes and imagine that your part of the master race.

You are so right. I read a book about jews, how they suffered then and I was amazed.

From a structural civil / mechanical, avid student of physics perspective, you can advise the esteemed Noam Chomsky that the smoke will eventually clear over the 911 rubble pile and it will be clear to all that want to see the facts for what they are; 911 was an inside job...Not only is the official story implausible it is blatantly outright impossible.... come on folks science is not that hard.... this only takes grade nine comprehension... work with me…. Your friggin country and the world is at stake…..!!!!Martin

----

bedroom furniture and livingroom furniture

Regardless of quotes that you may find by Ben Gurion, as the head of
the Jewish Agency, he agreed to the partition plan. I can show you
dozens of quotes by Arab leaders not only rejecting the partition plan,
but calling for the expulsion and killing of Jews. The Arabs rejected
this partition plan and several Arab nations attacked, meaning they
started a war, that ended up in their defeat. It turns out that the
newly formed Israel won this war, and, as so happens in wars, the
victor usually adds to its territory. The conquest of land by Israel
was not the cause of the Arab attack, but a consequence of it. I know
the Arabs would like a "do over", but when one side starts a war and
loses it, you can't go back to the status quo.

See ZNet January 29, 2007, for B'nai Brith inspired censorship of debate around Israel/OT human rights concerns at meeting of Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.

Interesting additional note: The Canadian Jewish Congress castigated Amnesty International's December 1 report on Israel, advising an OSSTF member instead that NGO Monitor was an objective source on human rights concerns in the OT. Wikipedia identifies NGO Monitor as an "NGO" watchdog set up by the Israeli government and staffed by former members of the IDF, one of whom is wanted for war crimes.

That's how objective the pro-Israel lobby has become.

Alys Skel 

I think after what happen its very hard to say who did it first.

For me both of the parties are guilty of starting or aggravating the conflict in palestine.

Asil, it is not just people , it is also our political leaders that turn their blind eyes on palestinians and its a shame. Here in toronto there is this community center.(see photo) On it display the Canadian and Israeli flag with the slogan.. together as one with israel.. if you notice, the palestinian flag is absent from this picture. the geography is bwrong, it should be palestine and israel toghetr as one..

people...It's very obvious that we are the irrational ones who just refuse to see the truth that Israel is clearly the victim here. (Way to bwong, when all logical reasoning fails- as it surely must, when one is defending the indefensible-trot out the anti-semitic card). Apparently, cyrano, Israel is the victim of a global conspiracy to finish up what Hitler started. The entire world wants to see the end of the Jewish race, and its only allies are the benevolent Imperialist States of America, and most of neo-Imperialist Europe. The Jews had occupied the land more than 2000 years ago. And by God, that is enough justification to establish a homeland for them at the expense of the existing population with borders that are clearly undefined and ever-expanding, very much in keeping with Zionist lunacy. Never mind, of course, that Jews were only a small proportion of the population that also included a majority of Muslims and Christians, all living together, in relative peace. Never mind, of course, that Palestine (and come what may, it will forever be Palestine!!!) was only one of many alternatives for a homeland for the Jews. So please, none of this holy promised land garbage. If destiny had taken a different course, Argentina could so easily have been the site for the Jewish homeland, or Eithipia, or the United States. I'm sure at the time the imperialists were doing the devil's work, many other choices were available. I can just imagine them hatching their blood-soaked plans...Balfour, I presume. Wasn't he the rascal? Of course, cyrano, you're absolutely right. The completely mad arguement that Jews have a right to a certain place because their ancestors inhabited it more than 2000 years ago is just mind-blowing...If everyone thought like that, then the whole world would be pure utter chaos. I mean, a more reasonable and tenable arguement would be that the Indians of North America, who occupied this place only 200 years ago, have more of a right to kick all of our asses out of here. But, being the reasonable, logical human beings that they are, they, of course, have not succumbed to such insanity. All they want of course, is a certain form of justice that, the West, despite its lofty humanitarian ideals, is just incapable of dispensing. Instead, how does North America repay its first original people, for land that it viciously, brutally, and cunningly stole?...it herds them into reserves, bantustans, little better than sewers of filth and poverty, where they are currently rotting, a minority in their own RIGHTFUL land!!! But i'm getting off topic, although i'm sure Palestinians would sympathaize with the Indians here and draw glaring parallels to their own miserable conditions. As for Israel being surrounded by hostile neighbours. Which of these "hostile" neighbours is a serious threat to Israel which has nuclear missiles that can target any city in said hostile neighbour's countries?...Also, which one of these "hostile" neighbours has occupied another country for more than 50 years, even more than a few years without a few sanctimonious hypocritical ravings from the Empire and full-fledged war and invasions visited upon them. Let's see...if we're talking about Iraq occupying Kuwait (Interestingly, Hussein used the same arguement that the Zionists have used, that Kuwait was simply part of Iraq), America made damn sure that didn't last very long, and just to make sure the Iraqis have learnt their lesson, followed it up with 10 years of bombings of Iraq's infrastructure, water purification systems, and other "strategic" targets, as well as murderous sanctions that left 1.5 million Iraqis dead (500,000 were children under the age of 12), which scum like Madeline Albright (who is not fit to lick said Iraqis' shoes) coldly dismissed as collateral damages, "that was worth the price". Oh and let's not forget the racist oil invasion that followed that resulted in 700,000 Iraqis dead, and a whole country and civilization destroyed. Again, I'm sure the Zionist on this blog will have a plethora of arguements defending this catastrophe...I'd love to hear them. As for Syria occupying Lebanon, "occupation" is a wildly inappropriate term for Syria having 15,000 troops in a neighboring country in order to protect said country's Southern border from aggression from the one true threat and destabilizer of the entire Middle East region, Israel. Syria, through conniving by the Imperialist States and its ever faithful watchdog, was forced to withdraw from Lebanon. With the fuss that was made, one would think Syria imposed a humiliating occupation on Lebanon, and dispossessed its inhabitants of their lands, and subjected the rest to various infractions of international law such as home demolitions, massacres, checkpoints, etc, etc, etc, while refusing to define its borders. At the Arab League, or was it Summit at the time, Bashar Al-Assad, made a very relevant comment. He said, "Is Syria the only country in the region that is occupying another?" So, Syria withdrew, and a year later, Israel on some ridiculously flimsly excuse, that the West upheld with more hypocritical ravings about the right to "self-defense", attacked Lebanon and left 1000 dead. Hezbolla, God bless them, wiped the floor with Israel, and made it limp back to whatever rock it crawled out  of with its tail between its legs. Because of this audacity, they were roundly condemned by the Western powers who support state terrorism as self-defense, and denounce legitimate resistance as terrorism- reality turned upside down!!!

So cyrano, I suggest you spend your time and energy on more useful exercises, because you can argue with them till you're blue in the face, you can show them all the facts and figures, but their reality is so fucked up, that in their warped twisted logic, Israel can do wrong. In fact, it is the entire international community as well as the United Nations who are misguided, and misinformed, and it is they (clearly the minority) who are right.

No one said anything about an ISRAELI civilization prior to 1948.. exactly, it is palestine that was partitioned, not Israel , because it did not exist. it is still questionable that Israel should expropriate palestinian on the account of a presence 2000 years ago. My family come from the causse noir in the Pyrénées, it does not give me the right to go back there and steal the land of the people who leave there because my family originated from there a thousand year ago. anonymous wrote: Evidence of a Jewish presence is well documented. agreed, the presence is established but that presence is not as the Bible say. most description of this presence seem to be a myth. The Bible is a good account of fanatism. anonymous wrote: Your comment that the "jews of that time were probably thief, renegades for centuries or otherwise" would have been welcome in the recent conference in Iran. Did you not get invited? By all means, at thsi moment Israel is acting like a thief and a renegade in the middle east. Things did not appear change for thousand of years. Orthodoxes jews were invited to the conference in Iran; they condemned zionism: were they anti-semite?

Jewish group attends conference
Rabbi Moshe David Weiss, one of six members attending from the group Jews United Against Zionism, told delegates, “We don't want to deny the killing of Jews in World War II, but Zionists have given much higher figures for how many people were killed.”

“They have used the Holocaust as a device to justify their oppression,” he said. His group rejects the creation of Israel on the grounds that it violates Jewish religious law.

No one said anything about an ISRAELI civilization prior to 1948. Only that there were Jews since before the time of Jesus. Meaning INDIGENOUS residents of the region who were, since the time of Jesus, under Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Abbasid, some Crusader eras, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and then Ottoman from about 1500-1917, then British until 1948 (not meant to be a comprehesive history). A country called "Palestine" never existed. Just people living under control of these empires/kingdoms. And Jews lived in this precise region since before Jesus. Evidence of a Jewish presence is well documented. Denying this is... well like denying the holocaust, which puts such a person in a completely different camp of debaters. It is tough for the anti-Israel folks to admit that Jews were always in Palestine, meaning INDIGENOUS (a word the Arab Palestinians always hammer home) residents, deserving a homeland just like the Arabs.

Your comment that the "jews of that time were probably thief, renegades for centuries or otherwise" would have been welcome in the recent conference in Iran. Did you not get invited?

This was too much of course for the Arabs, even though Jews were indigenous residents of Palestine, even before Islam and Christianity existed. true, the jews of that time were probably thief, renegades for centuries or otherwise.. in fact only in the bible is there account of a israeli civilization..its existence is/was a bible myth in many people opinions.

Even today Israel is not a country, it is simply an occupation army.

What is hilarious is that you admit that Jordan was given by the British to an external Royal family (which is a fact) !! This means that a part of Palestine, in fact, about 75% of it, with indigenous Palestinians living on that land, was in fact handed over to an external royal family, which continues to rule that land today !! Why not complain about this ! This is in fact a country of Palestinians ruled by an external royal family.

Since Israel+West Bank+Gaza only equal about 25% of historic Palestine, it is false math to say that Israel has 78%. Israel only has 78% of what was LEFT after Jordan was lopped off to create the first Palestinian state. The partition plan of 1947 divided the remaining 25% of Palestine into an Arab and Jewish portion, with about 55% to the Jews and 45% to the Arabs.  The Jewish portion of what was left increased from 55% to 78% after winning the defensive war in 1948 as described below.  Really only 13% of historic palestine was granted to Jews by the UN as part of the partition plan. This was too much of course for the Arabs, even though Jews were indigenous residents of Palestine, even before Islam and Christianity existed.

Regardless of quotes that you may find by Ben Gurion, as the head of the Jewish Agency, he agreed to the partition plan. I can show you dozens of quotes by Arab leaders not only rejecting the partition plan, but calling for the expulsion and killing of Jews. The Arabs rejected this partition plan and several Arab nations attacked, meaning they started a war, that ended up in their defeat. It turns out that the newly formed Israel won this war, and, as so happens in wars, the victor usually adds to its territory. The conquest of land by Israel was not the cause of the Arab attack, but a consequence of it. I know the Arabs would like a "do over", but when one side starts a war and loses it, you can't go back to the status quo.

I suggest you look at the record with honesty, check your numbers on the land percentages, admit that the 1948 and 1967 wars (the two wars in which Israel conquered land) were started by the Arabs, and that "conquest" was never part of the agenda. Israel returned an enourmous amount of land (Sinai) to Egypt for peace, a bit to Jordan as well, which does not make sense for a country bent on territortial expansion, does it.

If you want to see how the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist (i.e. Jews don't deserve a homeland, all others do) web sites omit crucial facts to show their one sided views, visit these web sites.

http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

http://antonyloewenstein.com/blog/

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/index.html

http://www.fmep.org/index.html

http://soldiertestimony.org/

http://www.ihlresearch.org/opt/portalhome.php

What I really suggest is too look at ALL the web sites. Compare the information. Anyone wanting to find the facts should do so. You can then see the differences. For instance, look at comparisons of maps. In the anti-Israel web sites, you will see maps of "historic palestine" that do not include today's Jordan, even though there is no dispute that historic Palestine, which is palestine under the British Mandate, included all of Jordan as well (before that there was only the Ottoman Empire, no defined Palestine borders at all). The reason these web sites don't show this is that it is tough to acknowledge that some 75% of Palestine was chopped off to create the first Palestinian state: Transjordan or Jordan today. The remaining 25% was then partitioned between Arabs and Jews, thus Jews were only allocated 13% of historic Palestine, but as you can tell from the web sites above, even this is too much. Another good example is in discussing the 1967 war, usually Israel is blamed for starting it. What the web sites above ignore is that Egypt really started the war by imposing a naval blockade on israel's Eilat port and mining the passage to the port, a clear act of war. But hard to say if your world view is that Israel is the 100% aggressor. If you DON'T want to know these facts, then only look at the web sites above !

http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
- A Zionist history of Zionism. Needless to say, Zionism comes off looking and smelling pretty sweet.

http://www.mythsandfacts.com/content/The_Conflict.asp
- A good example of how to white-wash "history". The site is devoted to showing Israel is, surprise, surprise, the eternal righteous victim. 

www.memri.org - Also known as The Great Cut-&-Paster. For an example of its handiwork, see http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605    MEMRI was established by Yigal Carmon, an ex-colonel in the Israeli military intelligence services and was initially staffed only by Israeli ex-intelligence officers. (Colonel Carmon also served as an advisor to two Israeli prime ministers. Carmon has claimed that most of the guests on Al-Jazeera are anti-Semitic.)

www.camera.org - This is Israel's Orwellian big brother site that "systematically monitors, documents, reviews and archives Middle East coverage" in the US media. Anything that is not completely pro-Israel is attacked and lobbied against as being both false and anti-semitic. No other country in the world has an organisation that performs this function in the US or anywhere else. It is one of the reasons why the US coverage of the human rights abuses in Palestine is a thousand times worse than in Israel itself.

Some other great web sites with great historical detail, maps and more:

http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm - Look at this web site if you want a really concise summary of the entire history of Palestine and the conflict. In here you'll find out about the undisputed facts that are generally ignore when discussing the conflict.

http://www.mythsandfacts.com/content/The_Conflict.asp - This is another excellent site that looks at each specific element of the conflict. A real resource for a discussion of every UN resolution, nearly every event and element related to the conflict.

http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_maps.php - I recommend this web site for its comprehensive maps of the region, a good way to understand the conflict. For instance, most people are not aware that historic Palestine actually includes all of today's Jordan.

www.memri.org - This site translates Arab media into English, so you can hear what Arab leaders are really saying to their own people.

www.camera.org - This site highlights the mistakes in the US media when covering the middle east. Camera's work prompts numerous corrections by newspapers who later admit to making mistakes on the facts they present.

You have too many factual errors to address in one note, I'll address only one. You talk about Egypt's actions leading up to the 1967, but you conveniently omit the most important.

On 23 May 1967, Egypt announced that the Straits of Tiran had been closed and warned Israeli shipping that it would be fired upon if it attempted to break the blockade. The next day, Egypt announced that the Straits had been mined.

If this is not an act of war what is? If Russian ships had placed a military blockade and mined US ports, would this not be an act of war. This blockade, along with the mobilization of troops, and numerous statements by Nasser about how he was going to defeat Israel, is what started the war. Israel smartly retaliated to this act of war with a air offensive.

Easy fact to ignore, huh !! Egypt started the war in 1956 in the same way. What other country in the world would accept a military blockade in one of its ports. Do you deny these events? Are you going to try to tell me that these are not acts of war.

IF Egypt didn't start this war, guess what.... West Bank and Gaza would still be OCCUPIED by Jordan (they actually annexed the West Bank, no thought ever to another Palestinian state), and Egypt, respectively. Easy to forget these errors. Better to blame Israel !!

Without doubt, one of the best sources on the 'net is "Electronic Intifada": http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

Another summary site (also dealing with Australian related matters) is Antony Loewenstein's blog: http://antonyloewenstein.com/blog/

Statistical information can be found at the website "If Americans Knew": http://www.ifamericansknew.org/index.html 

The Foundation for Middle East Peace website is also useful for maps and reports: http://www.fmep.org/index.html

The Project on Soldier Testimony and Human Rights website covers, well, pretty much what it says it does: "A global data base on human rights abuses and conditions as witnessed by soldiers, police and other state agents." http://soldiertestimony.org/

The International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative also has some good reports and maps: http://www.ihlresearch.org/opt/portalhome.php

Chomsky does not participate in the Znet blog itself.

But the Forum gives you the opportunity to put a question to Chomsky - he answers the latest batch of questions there once a week"

Professor Chomsky,

 I became fond of all your work and ask, first of all, to forgive me for writing this "off topic" - I couldn't find a topic related to the question I wish to put, so forgive me...

 Why people in Latin America are so apatic, so skeptik about politics when all leaders with a left wingèd history in their past make the worst kind of neoliberal government? How is it posible that, for instance, Lula da Silva (same goes to Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and so forth!) make such a "good" government to the rich, drawn in corruption, and such a nasty work to the masses?

 Worse: the majority choose to release Barrabas, majority choose Hitler in Germany. Today majority stays side by side with Lula da Silva in my country and I regret to say that most of honest intellectuals fail having good ideas. We don't even produce good leaders to protest against injustice anymore. What is happening to this world, Professor? Could you give me a tip on an article or book to read an be better informed?

 I'd be glad if you could get to know some of my work, like, for instance: http://www.culturabrasil.org/derrotadapolitica.htm

  But more than happy would be if I could have an answer by You - even if I, sorry again, wrote this "off topic"...

  Greetings from Brazil,

  Lázaro Curvêlo Chaves

  lazaro2006@uol.com.br

***

http://www.culturabrasil.org/

http://libertad-digital.com/

http://euclidesdacunha.org

cyrano, whyd you leave cobs?

kyle

I agree with your last sentence: "Most Palestinians are interested in living, contrary to the stated opinion of their enemies." However, and very unfortunately, the leadership, starting with Arafat and continuing with Hamas today, do not want to live in peace. These leaders have different agendas (Hamas's leader sits comfortable in Syria, with Iranian money, following an Iranian agenda), which too bad for the people does not include pragmatically signing a deal for a state, peace with Israel, and a focus on schools, collecting garbage, building institutions. The dream of Israel's destruction is a key motivator for these leaders.

Not all 57 Islamic countries post a current or immediate thread to Israel, but through economic, UN voting and non-military influence (Islamic nations are the largest bloc in the UN, which is why the Human Rights commission has NEVER issued a rebuke of ANY other nation in the world except Israel. Even if you hate Israel, you have to admit that this is a bit one-sided, ignoring human rights abuses of so many other nations).

Countries that pose and immediate threat are Syria and Iran mainly. I note that there are frequent calls inside Egypt, from politicians to media, to end its peace treaty, they would probably be the greatest threat to Israel. Pakistan is already nuclear, and another nation that does not recognize Israel. Do I think that Israel still holds the upper hand militarily? Yes. But to say that this nation of 6 million holds ALL the cards and is not in a constant precarious situations is silly.

I do not claim to be an expert on this topic, far from it, but i doubt that even the "experts" have enough information to make infallible conclusions. Nay, i must use common sense to form my opinions.

First i must ask which of the 57 Islamic countries you think are a threat to Israel and why. Surely not Quatar, Kuwait or U.A.E.? In my mind , and i would assume in most people's minds there is no doubt that militarily Israel holds all the cards, at least in a "total war" situation in which it could bring in the trump nuclear weaponry. It also has the full support of the U.S. which happens to be the most expensive and well equipped army.

I can conjure a small scale human conflict as a comparison to Israel /Palestine to see if i can take a side or find solution. I will use single individuals to denote whole countries or races. I will use physical size to denote their fiscal/military power.(mental maturity assumed to be the same allround).

A fight occurs (ww2) and a teenager(Jew) is beaten by a number of others. These others are defeated by yet others who now attempt to help the injured party. They help him set up in an area now occupied by younger children who are dispossesed by this act. The teenager grows into a strong adult and is allied to the strongest. The children are still dispossesed and are continually harassed and intimidated, and from time to time/continuously try to retaliate.

In this simple analogy it would seem that the teenager has the authority to influence situation far more than dispossesed kids.

It is always easy for Israel to point the finger in the opposite direction and say it is them who are attacking us and us who are defending, but the fact is that the stronger party literally controls the weaker. It can make the weaker side respond at any level.

In the case above the teenager could say to the kids: 'Hey dudes I'm going to stop harrassing you, will not further disposses you and we can live happily as "mates" if you will accept living with me'.

The children would likely be very wary of this statement after such a long period of abuse but would certainly give it a shot.

It is completely illogical that the children would disrupt this goodwill act but would welcome it.

Most Palestinians are interested in living, contrary to the stated opinion of their enemies.

Bust such is the useless exercise of trying to reason with Zionists!!! First off, don't be quoting to me Martin-Turn-the-other-cheek-don't-resist-even-when-they're-murdering-your-children-Luther King. As much as I admire him, I have my own issues with him, but that's not my point. That letter which many of Israel's apologist like to point to as endorsement and approval of Zionism from one of America's greatest civil rights activists, is a total hoax. Read this article by Tim Wise http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-01/20wise.cfm

Secondly, MLK died before he could see what the Zionism that he supposedly championed really was and what it did. He was hardly an expert on Middle East affairs, and while we're quoting MLK, he did say that the United States was the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world today", which, as it stands, is the strongest supporter and backer of the second greatest purveyor of violence, Israel. Zionism has even failed from the Jewish perspective in that it has failed to provide any sense of peace and security for the Jews. I know what u're going to say, that this our fault. Because those damn Arabs just won't accept the idea of being constantly dispossessed!!! Those wreteched Arabs, mind you, are a few million Palestinians trapped like rats by a security apparatus in an open-air dungeon that would put America's prison/torture complex to shame!!! Yes, they have resorted to suicide bombings (which Hamas has stopped for the past year or so) out of sheer DESPARATION, because the rest of the wretched Arab regimes (who don't have one WMD to their name) have been co-opted/bullied by the Empire and therefore are not providing any kind of real meaningful support. Damn those Arabs!!! I can see how they're a threat to Israel's security, which has the world media spewing its bullshit propaganda as opposed to the Arab media which doesn't have the resources to go up against the history-reshaping, memory hole propaganda monolith that is Western media.  Yes, Israel holds ALL the cards, and a few thousand nuclear warheads to boot!!!!

Thirdly, I told you Barak's offer would've meant national humiliation for the Palestinians. Don't make it seem as if Israel made huge concessions just because it offered back land that it stole, with conditions no less. Again, Egypt and Jordan are examples of the Arab regimes that have been co-opted by Israel, hardly to be held up as models.

Fourthly, how many times do I have to repeat myself? Palestinians are willing to accept that Israel is here to stay, God knows they don't have a choice!!! But the more you subjugate them, the more you're fueling their anger and feeding their belief that Israel doesn't have a right to exist. Why should they recognize the right of Israel to exist when it is Israel that is dispossessing them and imposing on them a humiliating occupation?!!! Do you really honestly think that Hamas or Hezbolla or any of those other militant groups combined together can wipe one of the world's strongest military superppowers off the map??? Furthermore, Hezbolla, may they live forever, is a national resistance movement that, to its credit, did what none of these useless Arab regimes did in decades, it successfully defeated Israel. I'm sure u'll come up with a different million excuses justifying the atrocity that Israel carried out in Lebanon this summer.

Last but not least, it is the heights of cynicism, to have your noose around someone's neck, choking them, and then complain that they're struggling, and fighting back!!! The truth, and the whole world has finally opened its eyes to it, is that ISRAEL IS THE AGGRESSOR!!!!

GET A GODDAMN GRIP!!!!!

Asil, you make some very strong statements, like zionism is "more exclusive and rejectionist because it is based on territorial expansion" I suggest you read this well documented article written by Martin Luther King.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so.

"Why is this? You know that Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land. The Jewish people, the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a flourishing Commonwealth in the Holy Land. From this they were expelled by the Roman tyrant, the same Romans who cruelly murdered Our Lord. Driven from their homeland, their nation in ashes, forced to wander the globe, the Jewish people time and again suffered the lash of whichever tyrant happened to rule over them.

"The Negro people, my friend, know what it is to suffer the torment of tyranny under rulers not of our choosing. Our brothers in Africa have begged, pleaded, requested--DEMANDED the recognition and realization of our inborn right to live in peace under our own sovereignty in our own country.

"How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men of good will exult in the fulfilment of God's promise, that his People should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land.

This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing less.

"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is antisemitism.

"The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!

"My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism. I know you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and a revulsion for racism, prejudice, and discrimination. But I know you have been misled--as others have been--into thinking you can be 'anti-Zionist' and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles that you and I share.

Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--make no mistake about it."

From M.L. King Jr., "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend," Saturday Review_XLVII (Aug. 1967), p. 76.
Reprinted in M.L. King Jr., "This I Believe: Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

I agree with Chris here but look, anyone can see that Israel holds all the cards in this scenario. It is the side with all the power. In any conflict the side that has the greater power also has the power to end the conflict, as it also has the power to escalate it. If this more powerfull (militarily) side has the intention to end conflict, it is its responsibillity to show goodwill, which will inevitably be reflected by the weaker side as it has everything to gain from such action.

The idea is to convince Israel that it too has much to gain from cessation of hostilities.

but in fact consistently denied!!

1). 1948 Partition Plan in which 56% of historic Palestine (more to be stolen in the coming decades) was given to Israel, when Jews, before the vicious Balfour Declaration (in which one people arrogantly give the land of a second people to a third) were clearly the minority and owned less than 10% of the land (even when some Palestinians sold off their land).If I was a Palestinian I wouldn't accept this illegitamate, UN-sacntioned land theft that would not have been possible without the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of the original inhabitants. Statehood or not, they were a nation in every sense of the word...in the sense that counts, in terms of culture, religion, LONG-ESTABLISHED OCCUPANCY OF THE LAND!!!! Now it seems silly to me to establish a nation of Jews from all over Europe, who were assimilated into European culture (and let's not forget, persecuted or not, they fomed the elite in most European countries), had to be uprooted from their homes, and did not even speak the same language. But such is the stupidity and ineptitude of Western, so-called humanitarian institutions. Of course, Palestine was one of many otions. Others included Argentina, the United States (which true to its nature, refused Jewish immigration), i think the other one was Eithiopia...Jordon annexes West Bank, Egypt controls Gaza after expulsion of Palestinians. I suppose you think that Arabs should've accepted the partition plan which left Palestinians with LESS THAN HALF of their original homeland

2). 1967- Nasser requested the removal of UN forces from their side, any country has a right to do that. And yes, they were mobilizing troops (let's not forget that Egypt couldn't, by any delusional stretch of the imagination, have launched an occupation into Israel with its significantly inferior military power. Furthermore, why were all of its air force still on the ground? Israel launched a preemptive attack. Begin himself said that Israel had a choice, that there was no evidence that Nasser was going to attack, but Israel (true to its nature) chose to attack. As for border attacks between Syrian farmers and settlers, it goes both ways. Do u really think a few armed Syrian farmers was enough of a threat to supposedly militarily invincible Israel? Dayan himself said that it was the settlers who wanted the rich fertile farmland of the Golan and tehrefore wanted the military to attack. As for Israel offering back what it stole...You can't offer back something that wasn't yours by right or merit...YOU GIVE IT BACK, no questions, no conditions, and you offer an apology and reparations for the damage that you caused (Of course, this is the normal thing to do, but when we're talking of Israel, we need to apply a different standard of normality and reality). Did you forget that Israel was building settlements in Sinai? If Isreal wanted peace, why is it that to this day it has not given back ALL of the territotry taken in 1967?

3). Ehud Barak offers 95% of West Bank and Gaza. I see myth fantasy know no bounds in Israeli politics. To be more precise and truthful, it was 95% of 22% of West Bank and Gaza. Plus, as usual, there were conditions, Israel would control airspace, seaports, etc, there would still be settlements, which meant whatever pitifully small Paelstinian state Israel was proposing would be non-contiguous, therefore, non-governable bantustans. UNSC resolutions clearly state that Israel shoudl withdraw from ALL 1967-captured territory, and a Palestinian state should be 100% of West Bank, 100% of GAZA and 100% of Eastern Jerusalem (as the capital). Barak never offered anything close to that. Plus, there was no mention of the right of return of refugees. As for Temple Mount, Barak offered custodianship, Palestinians wanted 100% COMPLETE UNCONDITIONAL SOVEREIGNITY over Eastern Jerusalem, especially the Islamic Holy sites such as Al-Aqsa Mosque. No self-respecting people could've accepted Barak's "generous" offer. which was actually quite laughable and would've meant political suicide, not to mention, assassination, for Arafat, ahd he accpeted. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is hardly an advocate of the Palestinian cause. But it's typical for Israel to point to the worst and most treacherous of the Arab regimes as the exemplary Arab state. Also, try and find other more unbiased and unprejudiced sources of information than the New Yorker.

It has been 60 years of oppression, land theft and Israeli rejection of a Palestinian state. Palestinians have accepted that Israel is here to stay, God knows they've had to live long enough with its boot grinding their faces to the ground!!! But as for accepting the legitimacy and right (forfeited by Israel) to be established means that it was right for the Jews to expel hundreds of thousands of them, occupy the rest of their lands, and condemn them to generation upon generation of an illegitimate occupation. That they will not accept. Like I said the stupidity of the U.N knows no limits. But whether they accept the legitimacy of how Israel came to be has no bearing on the reality that they are willing to live alongside Israel in a state of their own. I see some perspective is clearly in order. It is the Palestinians that are living under one of the worst and most cruel occupations of the twentieth century, NOT the Israelis, it is the Palestinians who are crowded into an open-air prison which has been under seige ever since Israel "graciously" withdrew, NOT the Israelis, it is the Palestinians who are stopped at checkpoints for no reason at all other than the fact that they are Palestinians, NOT the Israelis, it is the Palestinians who have to suffer home demolitions, collective punishment and a million other atrocities at the hands of the IDF, NOT the Israelis, it is the Palestinians who are denied access to water to drink, let alone water their fields, so that Israelis can water their gardens and fill their swimming pools...I could go on and on...Now if that isn't state terrorism, (and I'd like to see anyone denying this), I truly don't know what is. A few suicide bombers somewhow look like boyscouts compared to this kind of evil!!!!

No democracy, is.

I AGREE, Hamas is the legitimate democratically elected government. This DOES NOT mean it should be supported. They have stated clearly that they seek the end of Israel. I can show you dozens of quotes to this effect, I am not sure why you can't really admit to this. Your quote: "That Palestine is a waqf (Islamic trust) that cannot be negotiated away by political leaders." What does this mean, that some universal rule means Israel can't exist? I see you clearly agree that ALL of Palestine must be Islamic controlled.

So if a democratically elected government had a policy to kill all mentally retarded children, are you saying we should support it. After all it was FREELY ELECTED. Democracy is democracy right? What you miss is that democracy does NOT JUST MEAN majority rules. It means a nation that strives for equality, freedom of rights, and living in peace with neighbors. Hamas does not qualify.

I don't take credit for the quote, not sure who said it.

1) 1948, partition plan by the UN. Arabs reject, Jews accept. Several Arab nations attack, and lose. Jordan ANNEXES West Bank (NO thought then of a Pal state!), Egypt controls Gaza. Sorry, when one side loses a war they STARTED, they can't expect things to go back to the way they were. Israel did not steal anyone's land. The UN partition Palestine, Israel is only 13% (YES 13%) of British Mandate Palestine. Oh yes, I am sure you forgot that nearly 80% was carved out to form Jordan, which of course if populated by Palestinians. Opportunity 1: MISSED.

2) 1967. Egypt starts a war with Israel by imposing a military blockade of its main port in the South, Eilat. Not to mention numerour aggressive moves like asking UN peacekeepers to leave. Israel launches surprise counterattack, defeats arab armies in 6 days, captures West Bank, Gaza and Golan in defensive war (I bet you will tell me Israel started this !). Israel soon offers back all this territory for peace. Response: the famous 3 nos, No recognition, no peace, no negotiations. A positive response could have led to peace. Opportunity 2: MISSED.

3) Ehud Barak offers 95% + of West Bank and Gaza for Palestinian state, control of temple mount and more. Rejected. Even Prince Bandar and others in Saudi Arabia furious at rejection by Arafat (read excellent New Yorker article on this, I can get it for you if you want). Yes, I know, Barak did not offer 100%, so it was a bad deal. Opportunity 3: MISSED.

The key issue really is the 60+ year rejection of Israel's presence, period. Anytime this presence has been accepted, peace follows. This has happened only 2 times, with Egypt and Jordan, in both cases Israel gave back land. No more violence. When Palestinians are ready to say this: "Israel, we accept your right to exist in peace in the 1967 borders (land swaps have already been offered to make whole for the Israeli settlements in the disputed territories), we want no violence" and mean it at all levels of government, peace will follow quickly. Unfortunately, they are still trying to undo 1948. EVEN if you believe 1948 was unjustified, let;s be pragmatic. This is nearly 60 years old, things that old just do not get undone. Most countries in the world are creations of the colonial powers of that time, like Israel, Jordan and Iraq, and they don't get undone. The Palestinians have NEVER been willing to accept that they rejected the partition of 1948, and are still trying to undo the disasterous war of 1948 led by their so called "fellow" arabs, who frankly could care less about the Palestinians (look under Kuwait, expelling 1000s during the Gulf War I for supporting Saddam). Has Israel made huge mistakes? Certainly. Why would they want to CONTROL millions of Palestinians? For what aim? It is a headache of course. But as long as the territory is a launching pad for terrorism and suicide bombs, Israel has no choice.

1). Hamas (a legitimate resistance movement formed after the intifada in 1987 as a response to Israel's oppression) won a democratic election in January. The entire "free-world", espousing the virtues of democracy ad-nauseum then proceeded to punish the Palestinian people for having the unmitigated temerity to elect into power the only truly democratic Arab governmnet in this cesspool that is the Middle East. It has been said of Hamas that they refuse to recognize the state of Israel. That Palestine is a waqf (Islamic trust) that cannot be negotiated away by political leaders. This has been interpreted by the extremists on the other side as a loud and clear call for the destruction of the state of Israel, which was, let's be honest with ourselves, created on the basis of the expulsion on hundreds of thousands of the original inhabitants. Furthermore, while Hamas might just be talking about the destruction of Israel (I don't even think they're saying that, but let's give the Zionists the benefit of the doubt), Israel is clearly committed to and actively implementing its national destruction of the Palestinians. The latest atrocities in Gaza (a trademark) and on-going horrors ever since its inception can be understood as nothing but a genocidal attempt to solve the "demographic" problem. Which brings me to another issue...that of the insane Zionist dream to build an exclusively Jewish state in a land where Jews are in the clear minority, which they've backed up up with violence and oppression.

2). Israel has left Gaza in theory. In practice, it still controls every square inch of its land and air space, as well as seaports. Since we all know that the benevolent state of Israel condemns the kind of brutality it has become famous for (and accusing its numerable victims of espousing) and is passionately and actively committed to the 2- state solution, then Gaza is a mere pittance compared to what Israel should have given back. The state of Palestine includes Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem as its capital. So we'll have to excuse the Palestinians if they're not falling over themselves in gratitude for the crumbs that Israel has magnanimously given from its table. Also, the "carefully-staged" disengagement was coupled (and this was announced by Sharon's government) with increasing settlements in the West Bank. So that Israel has left Gaza in order to tighten security there and create a virtual open-air prison of the most densely-populated area in the world. As if by magic, the illegitimate apartheid wall that Israel is building (which defeats the whole purpose of the Gaza withdrawal, since it is nothing less than a land theft on a truly massive scale) and the question of the return of refugees has disappeared from the big picture. I mean, God forbid that the entire civilized world should ask Israel to make more concessions, because it has given up so much already. As for the Qassam rockets fired into Israel (which the West likes to interpret as the epitome of evil embodied in our Oriental natures) despite a dubious truce, what do you make of the constant barrage of IDF attacks on Palestinian villages, as well as assassinations, kidnappings etc that have never really stopped since the withdrawal? A normal person with just an ounce of reasoning ability and sense of justice (exclude the West) might view Qassam rockets and suicide bombings as the desparate attempt of a people fighting in a war where the balance of military might and power is overwhelmingly tipped in favor of the other side, and where they have been denied the dignity of fighting the enemy on an equal footing, by fair means. Therefore, they fight the only way they know how.

3). Qassam rockets on Sderot that killed 2 people are war crimes. And I suppose IDF attacks on Beit Hanoun for the past few weeks (one in which 19 people were killed in single missile attack) are appropriate rules of engagement in the battlefield between two equally and proportionately-armed sides. In fact, throughout its bloody history, Israel has inflicted disproportionate damage and loss of life on its enemies, and then used counter-attacks of its victims as justification for maintaining the status quo of oppression. Palestinian life is indeed cheap. Of course, I don't even want to start on the disproportionate damage and loss of life that Israel has caused in the Lebanon debacle this summer. Also, you said it yourself...Qassam rockets are crude, so whatever one may think of these attacks, one cannot compare them to Israel's ultra-sophisticated, state-of-the-art weaponry and precise, civilian-targeted, surgical bombing in the Occupied Territories, without one's sanity being called into serious question. Hypocrisy and collective amnesia are the order of the day in Israeli politics.

4). Qassam rockets are still being fired into Israel even after the cease-fire and Isreal has not made one violent move. Well, to my understanding, Hamas is not responsible for these attacks. But leaving that aside, how many truces and cease-fires have Israel blantantly breached? Too many to count (just off the top of my head, Israel's breach of the UN-mandated cease-fire in the war on Lebanon, specifically in the Bekaa valley, this summer)...One would ask, what could possibly provoke this latest rampage in Gaza, especially since Hamas has not done anything prior to that that could reasonably be interpreted as a threatening gesture, unless Hamas's very existence is interpreted as a personal affront, which I'm sure it is  (I realize this is merely rhetorical...Israel has never needed the slightest bit of provocation or the even the pretense of an excuse to be worked up into its usual bloodlust and go on its raging rampages). As for Israel not making one violent move...that is a ludicrous statement. Even the devil needs to catch his breath, refuel and reload before the next wave of bloodletting. A little restraint might be good for the morally deteriorating quagmire of Israeli society...but restraint is definitely not one of its virtues.

SIMPLE ANSWER: Israel never has and never will seek to live with the Palestinians in peace. NEVER. Their statements and actions are clear, what more evidence does one need? What would YOU do if you were a Palestinian? They've already given more than half of the land of historic Palestine, and agreed to various concessions. Can't Israel provide one gesture in return to prove to the Palestinians that they do not intend to harm civilians and do seek to live as peaceful nature? (Again, this is a glaringlyrhetorical question) Of course not, as Israel's goals are clear: Fight until all of Palestine is under Israel control...wait a minute, IT ALREADY IS!!!! 

Where to start? Its the same "its all Israel's fault all the time" assessment. Here's other info the reader should be aware of:

1. Yes, Hamas won in an election, but has many many times (if you need quotes and links, let me know) vowed to NEVER accept Israel as an independent country, vowed NEVER to recognize Israel and has clearly stated that their intention is for ALL of Israel to be a Palestinian state.  A final 2 state solutions is NOT their goal, this is very clear.  They have backed it up with violence. Why should Israel negotiate or reward such a partner? Dialogue with Abbas, who actually care about his people, continues.

2. Israel left Gaza. This is what the world has asked Israel to do for years !!! Is the world happy? Of course not, again Israel is in the wrong !! Do the Palestinians try to PROVE that they are for a peaceful co-existence with Israel, thereby putting pressure for Israel to make further withdrawls and concessions? No, the Quassams fly immediately. Why? Why? You must ask this question.  The first ones CANNOT be claimed to be a response to Israeli violence (see 4 below for more like this).

3. Quassam attacks on Sderot are WAR CRIMES. No two ways about it. They are crude, but target ONLY civilians in Israel, and have recently killed 2 people. DELIBERATELY attacking civilians is a WAR CRIME, no matter the situation or excuse. Readers, let's see the condemnations, not just saying its "stupid" and not just blaming Israel 100% all the time.

4. EVEN NOW with a cease fire in place, Quassams shoot from Gaza, 14 since the fire. Israel has not made ONE VIOLENT MOVE or anything in Gaza since the cease fire. Again, WHY? why again commit a war crime.  WHERE is the outrage?  This is such an opportunity for progress, but clearly, not for Hamas.

SIMPLE ANSWER: Hamas never has and never will seek to live with Israel in peace. NEVER. Their statements are clear, what more evidence does one need? What would YOU do if you were Israel? They already withdrew from Gaza, agreed to a cease fire. Can't the Palestinians provide one gesture in return to prove to Israel that they do not intend to harm Israeli civilians and do seek to live as peaceful nature? Of course not, as Hamas's goals are clear: Fight until all of Israel is under Palestinian control.

I have always lissened your voices and views to the world.

And I also admire your justice and humanitarian views not to be oriented at national block.

I'm a Korean who have suffered from truth extinction phenomena about now disgraced stem-cell scientist Dr. Hwang woo suk.

I'm not saying political view, just I'm saying the humanitarian aid and human right..

please, see this movie..

  (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkdwq1R1Xso

  (2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR4kI110-68

  (3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQgyy6hk0Rk

and sincerely I plea your views on what is real truth ...

Toppling down one of a precursor stem cell scientist is easy.

Toppling down truth and justice is impossible .. I believe.

   - Truth struggling Citizen against world demolishing lies -

Prof Chomsky, it seems to me that following the daily news and mainstream's media will often be misleaded to wrong judgement or traped by political propaganda. Your suggestion of reading your recommended columists or journalists might be the best way to get out from the propagandistic trap, I think.

Can you recommend some worldwide columnists or journalists which you trust most or read oftenly? For example, for political issues in Latin America, Middle East, Africa, East Asia, South East Asia... etc. Can you recommend a list of your trusted worldwide columnists?

I look forward to hearing from you.