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Blogs

Kosovo/Serbia, Palestine/Israel, Tibet/China

By Noam Chomsky at Mar 25, 2008


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A sustainer recently asked Noam the below question on the ZNet chat board, where Noam hosts a forum:

 

Sustainer: Professor Chomsky, Are there parallels between the situation unfolding in Kosovo/Serbia and the recent history (since 1948) of Palestine/Israel?

 

Noam Chomsky: I doubt that there is much in the way of useful analogies, in this case.  Maybe I'm missing something.

Seems to me there is a much closer analogy between the Palestinian occupied territories and Tibet right now.  There are dissimilarities too.  Thus, rightly or wrongly, Tibet is internationally recognized (by the US too) as part of China, so what is happening there is internal.  In contrast, outside of Israel (and in practice, the US), no one recognizes the OT as part of Israel, and in an authoritative judgment, confirming early Security Council resolutions, the International Court of Justice determined that the Geneva Conventions apply to the OT, so all settlement activity is in violation of international law, as are all measures (like the "separation wall") to protect settlers (the US Justice concurred).  However, despite the sharp legal distinction, there are some instructive parallels that can be explored.


Take the recent US-backed Israeli violence in the OT and Chinese violence inTibet.  The former is far greater, and the justifications far weaker.  Just imagine how the US and Israel would react if Palestinians in illegally annexed East Jerusalem were to burn down a bank and Jewish stores, attack Jews, etc., as in Tibet  We can then compare the actual reactions.  In the case of US-backed Israeli violence and illegal actions in the OT, overwhelming support for embattled Israel.  In the case of Chinese violence in Tibet, much grandstanding, as when Nancy Pelosi -- an enthusiastic supporter of Israeli violence -- declares passionately that if we don't stand up for Tibet we will lose our "moral authority" (she didn't explain on what that authority rests).

 

One can proceed -- that is, if one is interested in truth and justice and immune to shrieks of horror and a deluge of brickbats.

 

NC

Person

Re: Kosovo/Serbia, Palestine/Israel, Tibet/China

By Me, Adam at Aug 16, 2008 14:26 PM

I find the general left reaction to Tibet very odd. People in Solidarity with the Palestinians don\'t usually cite endorsement of the PLO leadership as a condition of support. The support is based on a moral issue. So when I hear about the Dalai Lama being paid by the CIA (very common accusation from Marxists) as the reason Students for a Free Tibet are reactionary I am perplexed. I generally agree with Chomsky that the greatest moral imperitive is to criticize and resist your own government\'s doing. But justifying China because they aren\'t as bad as Israel or the USA doesn\'t really show any moral fortitude around human rights issues but rather some old school left apologetics for the few remaining Leninist states.

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589034

Re: Kosovo/Serbia, Palestine/Israel, Tibet/China

By Burnett, A. at Apr 11, 2008 01:15 AM

joseph Boulas said:

"...since China was not created 60 years ago in upon the expulsion of the tibetans to a tibet getto, as is the case of israel"

Well notice how Chomsky said: "Seems to me there is a much closer analogy between the Palestinian occupied territories and Tibet right now." (my emphasis). 

You didn\'t address the respect in which he was making the analogy. Obviously there are historical differences between Tibet and the West Bank.  Analogies don\'t compare identical things of course.

 


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Person

Weak analogy

By Boulas, Joseph at Apr 05, 2008 06:58 AM

...since China was not created 60 years ago in upon the expulsion of the tibetans to a tibet getto, as is the case of israel

 

JJBoulas

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589034

Re: Kosovo/Serbia, Palestine/Israel, Tibet/China

By Burnett, A. at Mar 31, 2008 08:56 AM

This is a great comparison considering the efforts of the Chinese government to flood Tibet with mass migrations of Han Chinese in order to dilute the percentage of ethnic Tibetans -- sort of similar in some ways to Israeli policy in the West Bank. 

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Person

By Bradshaw, Alex at Mar 28, 2008 11:03 AM

Dr. Chomsky,

 

I\'m glad to see you shining a light on utter hypocracy as usual.  It would only be humorous to hear Pelosi and fellow "doves" address Tibet and not Palestine if there weren\'t people dying over state cheerleaders like herself and the New York Times.  I think these atrocities, eg, Israel; Tibet; etc. are only responsible with the West\'s blessing and, even more so, assistance.  Once we stop participating, then these war crimes will begin to come to an end.  Thanks, as always, for your voice.

 

Alex Bradshaw

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