[Peace-discuss] Re: Chomsky --from Neptune?

[Robert Naiman]

Ah well. De gustibus non est disputandum. I don't think Uncle Noam
would approve of us spending our time debating this. Instead, let's
figure out if there's anything constructive we can do to stop the
Israeli army from bulldozing the houses of Palestinian families. How
about a picket at one of the Caterpillar facilities in
Champaign-Urbana?

On 4/9/06, Morton K. Brussel <brussel4 at insightbb.com> wrote:
>
> Bob, I happen to agree with the criticisms of Chomsky relative to letting
> the Zionist Lobby off the hook, and, in a certain sense, deflecting the
> attention from what Israel does because they are simply clients and agents
> and dependent on the USA. I suggest that you read the the detailed long
> article of Jeffrey Blankfort on this issue, referenced below. It is more
> researched than that of Petras, but your castigation of Petras I think is
> ill founded. I've sensed Chomsky's perverse "excuse" for Israel's admittedly
> atrocious actions and the Lobby for quite a time, and it has been
> irritating. Maybe he shouldn't have lived on a kibbutz when he was younger;
> he seems to be too linked to his idealistic Israel.
>
> The point is that the Lobby has been instrumental in framing and pushing the
> policy of the U.S. in the Middle east, although of course it has not been
> the sole agent in doing so. It's not an all or nothing argument, as Chomsky
> implies. The Lobby has been very effective in squashing criticism of Israeli
> policies in the U.S.. This is a tragedy for the Jews in whose name they
> speak. How can he not admit that ?
>
> --mkb
>
> I don't know. I kind of still have some affection for the word
> "argument." I hate to see it associated with this nonsense. Chomsky as
> a running dog of Zionist imperialism? I used to think of Petras as
> mostly sane. Is he getting senile, or was he always like this and I
> just wasn't paying attention?
>
> On 4/9/06, Morton K. Brussel <brussel4 at insightbb.com> wrote:
>
>
> The argument continues…
>
>
> Noam Chomsky and the Pro-Israel Lobby: Fourteen Erroneous Theses
> James Petras
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Morton K. Brussel" <brussel4 at insightbb.com>
> Date: March 29, 2006 5:45:59 PM CST
> To: carl at newsfromneptune.com, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu>
> Subject: Chomsky --from Neptune?
>
> You've got to read this, or at least part of it; it is very long.
>
> http://www.leftcurve.org/LC29WebPages/Chomsky.html
>
> I came to me from Mazin Q. , and is entitled Damage Control: Noam Chomsky
> and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
>
> Jeffrey Blankfort.
>
> It removes a bit of the gloss from Chomsky.
>
> --mkb
>


--
RN