General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNoam Chomsky: Israel’s Actions in Palestine are "Much Worse Than Apartheid" in South Africa
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, Noam, you say that the analogy between Israels occupation of the terrories and apartheid South Africa is a dubious one. Why?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Many reasons. Take, say, the term "apartheid." In the Occupied Territories, what Israel is doing is much worse than apartheid. To call it apartheid is a gift to Israel, at least if by "apartheid" you mean South African-style apartheid. Whats happening in the Occupied Territories is much worse. Theres a crucial difference. The South African Nationalists needed the black population. That was their workforce. It was 85 percent of the workforce of the population, and that was basically their workforce. They needed them. They had to sustain them. The bantustans were horrifying, but South Africa did try to sustain them. They didnt put them on a diet. They tried to keep them strong enough to do the work that they needed for the country. They tried to get international support for the bantustans.
The Israeli relationship to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is totally different. They just dont want them. They want them out, or at least in prison. And theyre acting that way. Thats a very striking difference, which means that the apartheid analogy, South African apartheid, to the Occupied Territories is just a gift to Israeli violence. Its much worse than that. If you look inside Israel, theres plenty of repression and discrimination. Ive written about it extensively for decades. But its not apartheid. Its bad, but its not apartheid. So the term, I just dont think is applicable.
the rest:http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/8/8/noam_chomsky_what_israel_is_doing
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)snip*NOAM CHOMSKY: Very definitely. Its been happening over some years. There was a kind of a point of inflection that increased after Cast Lead, which horrified many people, and its happening again now. You can see it everywhere. Take, say, The New York Times. The New York Times devoted a good part of their op-ed page to a Gaza diary a couple of days ago, which was heart-rending and eloquent. Theyve had strong op-eds condemning extremist Israeli policies. Thats new, and it reflects something thats happening in the country. You can see it in polls, especially among young people. If you look at the polling results, the population below 30, roughly, by now has shifted substantially. You can see it on college campuses. I mean, I see it personally. Ive been giving talks on these things for almost 50 years. I used to have police protection, literally, even at my own university. The meetings were broken up violently, you know, enormous protest. Within the past, roughly, decade, thats changed substantially by now that Palestinian solidarity is maybe the biggest issue on campus. Huge audiences. There isnt evenhardly get a hostile question. Thats a tremendous change. Thats strikingly among younger people, but they become older.
However, theres something we have to remember about the United States: Its not a democracy; its a plutocracy. Theres study after study that comes out in mainstream academic political science which shows what we all know or ought to know, that political decisions are made by a very small sector of extreme privilege and wealth, concentrated capital. For most of the population, their opinions simply dont matter in the political system. Theyre essentially disenfranchised. I can give the details if you like, but thats basically the story. Now, public opinion can make a difference. Even in dictatorships, the public cant be ignored, and in a partially democratic society like this, even less so. So, ultimately, this will make a difference. And how long "ultimately" is, well, thats up to us.
K&R. Thank you for posting the OP.
PoutrageFatigue
(416 posts)DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Period.
K&R