Chomsky Apartheid - US MIND - Cognitive dissedent

The Daily Free Press

Chomsky joins Israel 'apartheid' debate

By Saba Hamedy

Updated: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Michelle Simunovic

Professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institue of Technology Noam Chomsky speaks about Palestine at Jacob Sleeper Auditorium Tuesday evening.

A week-long war of words over Israel continued Tuesday after prominent liberal academic Noam Chomsky called on United States citizens to confront Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.

Chomsky, a noted author and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus, drew about 450 students, faculty and locals to Jacob Sleeper Auditorium as he described what he called a double standard in Israel.

.Over time, the apparatus of Israeli control has become more sophisticated and effective in affecting Palestinian life,. he said.

He listed the permit system required of Arabs, restricted roads and the security barrier between Israeli and Palestinian territory . which he called an .annexation wall. . as examples of how Israel.s control has dominated Palestine.

.Israel has finally begun to adopt the South African policy of what they call .indigenization of repression,.. he said.

Chomsky.s speech came as pro-Palestine groups across the country marked Israel Apartheid Week, a campaign equating Israel.s domination over Palestinian territories with the policy of segregation white South Africans forced on the black population in that country until the 1990s.

Israel vehemently denies that the term applies to its situation, saying Palestinians have full rights in the state and that the security barrier is only used to defend Israelis from terrorist attacks, not to restrict Palestinians. movements.

Boston University.s Students for Justice in Palestine organized the event. Members said they were thrilled to have Chomsky deliver his thoughts during the weeklong campaign.

SJP President and College of Arts and Sciences senior Omar El-Kayal said .apartheid. is an apt comparison.

.It draws attention to the notion that there are similarities between the apartheids,. El-Kayal said.

SJP member and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Ian Chinich introduced Chomsky to the crowd as the .champion of justice for decades..

.He is widely considered one of the most important historians and analysts,. Chinich said. .His works have touched people all over the world . . . you.re all witnessing a historic event tonight at BU and a very historic movement in the history of Palestine..

Many supporting Israel have doubted the South Africa comparison, which Chomsky addressed in the question and answer session that followed his speech.

.It.s not exactly like the South African apartheid,. he said. .In some respects it.s not as bad, but in some respects it.s worse..

Chomsky also gave a history of the conflict and U.S. involvement in it.

Israel.s month-long invasion of Lebanon, for instance, was its fifth strongly supported by the U.S., he said. The pretext for the invasion was Hezbollah capturing two Israeli soldiers on the border, he said.

.For decades, Israel has been killing and kidnapping civilians in Lebanon.bringing them to Israel, imprisoning them, keeping them as hostages.but two Israel soldiers are captured at the border [and it] justifies a U.S. invasion,. he said. .It.s a comment of us and what we go along with..

Chomsky criticized U.S. foreign policy toward Israel but stressed it could also use its power abroad to lessen the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

.The world works like the mafia,. he said. .There is the don, or us [the United States], and when the don says not do something, you don.t do it..

If Israel is to change its stance toward a Palestinian state, he said, the United States must ask for it.

.If any meaningful change takes place, it.s going to have to begin here,. he said.

Some students in the audience said they believed Chomsky.s cause is a good one.

.As professor Chomsky said, the only way for any meaningful change to come around must start by U.S. citizens who care about Palestinians pressuring a change in foreign policy,. said CAS graduate student Lael Adams.

Others said they just wanted to hear Chomsky.

.He.s arguably the greatest or at least among the greatest intellectuals of our time,. said CAS graduate student Maria Kamal. .I wouldn.t miss a chance to hear him speak..
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12 comments
Anonymous
Thu Mar 4 2010 00:26
Scott, maybe I'm misreading you but the quote you are referencing was Chomsky himself responding to a question about comparing Israel to South Africa, not a quote from someone opposing him.
robin
Thu Mar 4 2010 00:10
Chomsky is the Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson to this conversation. Pomposity looking for a podium. A mouth in search of a microphone. While he's succeeded in getting into the fray, he's not exactly a "big picture" thinker here. But his alarmist stance reminds us that too many people get way beyond their 15 minutes of fame and need to be taken down a peg for wasting our time with their rants.

How a country the size of New Jersey decides to handle it's security issues is their business. They certainly seem to be better at it. Applying our standards of security to Israel doesn't work. Israel's standards are higher than ours. Their protection of "their house" is tougher than our protection of "our house" That's why there are terrorist cells in this country and around the world training to destroy our people, our cities, our fabric of life. And that of others with whom they disagree. They have succeeded in most of those attempts. That is why we have security issues at home and around the world as Americans, we're not tough enough on the outside, and we're way too soft on the inside, i.e. the proliferation of central American gangs plagueing our major cities. We are giving up control at home and barely treading water to protect our soil from outsiders. If anything, we should be examining what pages we can take from Israel's playbook that would improve OUR homeland. And then our energies should be placed THERE. We need to be more proactive about our own self preservation.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 16:22
Chomsky and Israel Apartheid Week. Two products of an extreme ideology based on lies. At least the black community of South Africa never tried shooting rockets on a regular basis at white towns, let alone stating their desire to kill all of the whites.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 12:33
Seriously, you expected a thorough treatment of this important geopolitical problem to go along with a piece that is clearly just reporting on an event at school? In the Freep? Wow... You got some high expectations bruvva. I mean I would love some actual editorializing, but this clearly isn't an editorial.

But also, if you're dissatisfied, feel free to read the BU Today article- bland reporting that through its diction undercuts Chomsky's argument.

PS - I'm sure the "supporters of Israel" aka supporters of global capitalism and militarism through the continuation of the nation-state and the maintenance of the current economic and geopolitical system were too busy gibbering insanely to communicate. It's understandable, since what I just said (even without the gibbering part) is like saying "F you if you support Israel". However, I don't support "Palestine" either. Why support a social construct designed to dominate "the people" who identify with it? I mean honestly, screw anyone who does.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 12:22
Chomsky is not exactly like hitler in some respects he's not as bad, but in some respects he is worse
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 11:30
How does Chomsky feel about Hamas often stated desire to destroy IsrAel & kill all Israeli Jews? What about Hezbollah? Iran? The history of the actions & charter of the PLO/&some factions of the Palestinian authority.?
/JHS
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 10:45
Glad to see Chomsky is still tossing around the same garbage he's been peddling for the past...what?...four decades or so? Some things never change, just the faces of the undergrads ready to lap it up. Chomsky is a "liberal" academic? Snort. Let me hip you to something. There is nothing "liberal" about Noam Chomsky. He's a far-left radical who's made a fortune using lies and distortions to teach kids to hate their country.
Timothy
Wed Mar 3 2010 10:10
It's an article covering a pro-palestine speaker. Did you expect more than you received? If the author were to take a neutral view, it would be to report the Chomsky talk, which technically means NO dissenting voices because only one side of the debate was present. Don't complain about something you never should have gotten in the first place.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 09:45
I disagree. The author suggests through various quotations that Chomsky is indeed trying to promote peace through the speech. There is no apparent bias toward Chomsky's cause. Though he or she could have gone about making that the focus.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 3 2010 09:25
I don't know about you Scott, but I definitely thought Chomsky brought up very realistic and striking examples of Israel's policy that is so detrimental to the Palestinians. The quote you used was perhaps the most weak of the night.
Erin BU 08'
Wed Mar 3 2010 09:13
As a CGS graduate, I feel honored that another side of the story is being presented to such a knowledge-hungry group of students. In my opinion, Chomsky is accurately pointing out that those who resolved following the Holocaust do not have the right to disenfranchise. Both parties are in the wrong and it is up to the US citizens, deemed the enforcers in the situation (an issue in and of itself), to create/ foster an environment of humanity and fairness.
Scott
Wed Mar 3 2010 08:36
So glad the author sought out exactly one dissenting voice...and a very mild one at that....It.s not exactly like the South African apartheid,. he said. .In some respects it.s not as bad, but in some respects it.s worse.. Are you kidding me? This is the voice of those who support Israel? Where is the war of words that was promised in the opening of this piece...all we got was a chorus of words on, at the very least, a contentious position on a hotly debated topic. Give me a break.

In the USA (like Nazi germany) there can be no impartial opinion. The US-people themselves have paid for murder and mayhem sooooooo many times. And *E*V*E*R*Y*T*I*M*E* under false pretences. The real story for US-americans is how the MEDIA can be so well controlled, Goebbels would be in awe. TO PROVE MY POINT, try to watch Al Jazeera in the USA.. TRY!! You may hate it, but it is JUST A TV CHANNEL. .. but you CANNOT WATCH IT!! -- Ask yourself why you can't watch "the other" channel? Hello East Germany! Patriot Act, US under emergency rule, YES YES, this is no patr-idiot militia fever dream! The USA is thought-controlled!!!!! You are!! There CAN BE NO IMPARTIAL OPINION in a thought-controlled SOCIETY. You and your peers are part of a SOCIETY, and dissidents are the sign of health. They are an immune-system, they help to cut the crap. But you can't have it. Chomsky, the mildest and superbly reasoned dissident is hated, BECAUSE THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE is too great. (We whities are the good ones, yet brown people suffer because of us!) How can that be? Why can we not even WATCH THE BROWN PEOPLE TV (Al Jazeera) and treat them like fellow humans. **** BING *** PAVLOV RESPONSE **** because they are not fellow humans, they are suicide bombing, rocket-launching, boeing-jet WTC flying, underpants-bombing -AL-BLABLA .... right? ... UNTERMENSCHEN. Corrupt tin-pot dictator street-crime-mugging hostage taking invaders with mosques of peace-loving Christian intelligent... (phew) ... Apartheid is wrong, but Hamas is so bad, Apartheid is justified. Torture is wrong, but Al Qeada is so bad, it is justified. Occupying foreign countries is wrong, but the brown people are corrupt and can't handle the oil and finance-banking, therefore it is justfied. --- Did you know that the USA has to repay huuuuuugggee debt to countries that actuall earn their way? Google: RANKING BALANCE PAYMENT WIKI and say to yourself: Since Reagan we have ammassed a debt that needs to be repaid. How about a peace economy? A new dollar and a fair finance system? HAHAHA. Not even remotely able to even THINK about it. Al Jazeera? HAHA, make me laugh. The reminder MUST BE ELIMINATED.. Hello Adolf Hitler.. Marx! boooo!! scare you!! piss your pants mighty marine special operations covert murderer. Haiti had to be invaded 4 times! Read the story of 1915.. Germans took 50 years to understand the GOEBBELS-PROPAGANDA... you US-Americans will take how long? It took you already 9 years to understand 9/11 (fishy fishy!!) how many more will suffer home-health-wage losses and STILL support the barons? How dumb do you think Nazi-supporters were in 1938? Were they?