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Noam Chomsky on Israel-Palestine Prisoner Exchange, U.S. Assassination Campaign in Yemen
Democracy Now! / Video Feature
Published: Wednesday 19 October 2011
Noam Chomsky: “That is, he was a person, unlike suspects who are intentionally murdered or collateral damage, meaning we treat them kind of like the ants we step on when we walk down the street. They’re not American citizens, so they’re unpeople, and therefore they can be freely murdered.”
MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned linguist and political dissident, spoke Monday night at Barnard College in New York City about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just hours before Israel and Hamas completed a historic prisoner exchange. "I think [Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit] should have been released a long time ago. But there’s something missing from this whole story. There’s no pictures of Palestinian women, and no discussion, in fact, in the story of—what about the Palestinian prisoners being released? Where do they come from?" Chomsky says. "There’s a lot to say about that. So, for example, we don’t know—at least I don’t read it in the Times—whether the release includes the elected Palestinian officials who were kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel in 2007 when the United States, the European Union and Israel decided to dissolve the only freely elected legislature in the Arab world."
Chomsky also discusses the recent U.S. assassination of U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. "Almost all of the critics, of whom there weren’t many, criticized the action or qualified it because of the fact that Awlaki was an American citizen," Chomksy says. "That is, he was a person, unlike suspects who are intentionally murdered or collateral damage, meaning we treat them kind of like the ants we step on when we walk down the street. They’re not American citizens, so they’re unpeople, and therefore they can be freely murdered."
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ABOUT Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of "Breaking the Sound Barrier," recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.
ABOUT Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and pressor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific communities as one of the fathers of modern linguistics, and a major figure of analytic philosophy. Chomsky is the author of more than 150 books and has received worldwide attention for his views.
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13 comments on "Noam Chomsky on Israel-Palestine Prisoner Exchange, U.S. Assassination Campaign in Yemen"
October 20, 2011 6:00am
Chomsky; always an inspiration
One sign I LOVED in the Occupy Wall st. Demonstration, especially as an ISraeli- was "Finally an occupation radical jews can identify with".
There are mass protests in Israel that are strikingly similar to the Wall st. demos against corporations and the greed of the tycoons running the country. Obviously in Israel the most obvious connection has not been made- to the injustices perpetrated towards Palestinians since 1948, and before.
To all readers interested in this topic and living in the NYC area- there will be a "Breaking Silence" event in which former IDF soldiers, such as myself, speak of their experience and advocate for peace in the Middle East now. It is hosted by JStreet, a semi-liberal Jewish lobby. Although JStreet is still too zionist for my taste, I believe this forum can bring awareness and perhaps clue in some of the Jewish and non-Jewish Americans as to the real realities and brutalities of the occupation in Israel/Palestine. see: http://action.jstreet.org/c/8199/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=...
October 20, 2011 5:07am
Chomsky's one-sided view towards Israel is getting pretty old. When does Chomsky talk about the over one million Jews who were killed or driven out of all of the surrounding lands. What about the right of return of the great Jewish communities of Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, Libya etc? Let's face reality -- Israel will always be held to a higher standard than any other country. Who else could keep their objectivity, compassion and humanity while surrounded by enemies that wish to destroy them and teach their children in their homes, schools and mosques that the Israelis are pigs and monkeys that deserve to be killed? Yes Israel must be paranoid about defense to survive, yet they have retained their humanity. The same cannot be said for their neighbors.
October 20, 2011 6:06am
More boring and outdated rhetoric. Maybe it's time Israel took responsibility for its actions. Only then it will be a viable and moral state. Chomsky is king!
October 20, 2011 2:58am
Can anyone explain why Noam Chomsky, arguably the most informed person on the planet on the subject of U.S. international relations, is never seen on mainstream television? Listening to Chomsky brings a measure of peace and sanity much needed in today's madness.
November 06, 2011 1:38pm
becauise he is not informed
October 19, 2011 7:40pm
The Declaration of Independence acknowledges 'all men are created equal', thus citizen and non-citizen alike are entitled to a judge and jury.
October 19, 2011 6:38pm
Injustice is injustice no matter where or when it happens or worse carried out and sanctionned. Due deligence and process need to be the basis in dealing with it. That's just the way democracy works, did I say democracy? Which?
October 19, 2011 5:36pm
Fantasy. Is it why Mr Shalit is in favor of fairness and release of Palestinian prisoners? Perhaps he could have been encourage to take some outdoor excercize during on of the ruitein F16 attacks on Palestinian civilians by the ever even handed Isrealis?
October 19, 2011 3:27pm
Correction: Injustices to Palestinians rather than Injustices of Palestinians
October 19, 2011 3:25pm
Correction: Injustices to Palestinians rather than Injustices of Palestinians
October 19, 2011 3:23pm
ALDORT1940, Gilad Shalit case seems similar to many of America's black prisoners in places like Angola. Many innocent prisoners are thrown in prison, in America, spend endless days, some over 20 years in solitary confinement. We may be critical of those who imprison outside of the United States, but we have a slew of prisoners whose fate are equally as bad. These lives are never questioned by the American masses and they are no less than "ants" as well.
My hope one day is to see a film documentary by someone Jewish, like Spielberg, to do a film on the injustices of Palestinians. Yes, he did a films on the injustices to the Jews, but the fact is these are human beings who all deserve the right to a normal life. The politics prove that some things are "taboo", "verboten" when the politics is so polarized. Chomsky breaks the "taboo". I can trust someone who has the will and the guts to do that!
October 19, 2011 3:19pm
We can't get Israel to come clean on their murder of the USS Liberty sailors so don't expect much now.
October 19, 2011 2:05pm
One can see the stark contrast between the healthily fed Palestinian prisoners and Gilad Shalit who didn't see the sun for five years and did not have his wounds treated.