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Middle East Illusions: Including Peace in the Middle East? Reflections on Justice and Nationhood

by
Noam Chomsky (Author)
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Noam Chomsky (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0742529779
ISBN-10: 0742529770
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (April 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0742529770
  • ISBN-13: 978-0742529779
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA great new offering from Chomsky
By Chris on May 17, 2003
Format: Hardcover
Chapters 1-5 and the bulk of the final chapters of 6-9 are about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first five are based on Chomsky's 1974 treatise "Peace In the Middle East." In Chapter one based on a harangue delivered at MITin 1969 attacks the concept of "retaliation" as contributing to security.He goes over the tribalalistic policy of "retaliation" launched by the Irgun and how their atrocities contributed to the escalation of violence. Of course, the mainstream Yishuv and its army, the Hagannah committed alot of atrocities too. I know Chomsky recognizes this and would probably today not repeat the rather kindly view of the Labor zionists and their intentions that he takes in Chapter one.
Israel is a state where non-Jews cannot own 92 percent of the land within pre-1967 Israel. Israeli Arabs lack the great resources in education, employment, housing, land that accords to Israeli Jews because of their exclusion from military service. He gives the example of the Druze Israeli army vetran who was not allowed to open a business in the Jewish town of Karmiel which had been expropropriated from Israeli Arabs on the grounds that it would be a military base but then it was converted into a Jewish settlement. He writes that Uri Davis, the Israeli activist was sentenced to 5 months in prison for entering this settlement without a permit. He goes over some early Israeli "fact-building" in the territories. He quotes John Cooley of the Christian Science monitor on the expropriation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land in Gaza. He quotes a report that most of the village of Aqraba on the West Bank was defoliated and its land handed over to a nearby Jewish settlement.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsUseful study of Middle East quagmire
By William Podmore on September 16, 2004
Format: Paperback
Part 1 is a reprint of Chomsky's 1974 book, Peace in the Middle East? examining the 1967 war and its results. Part 2 looks at the same themes of Israel, Palestine and the US role, from the perspective of 2002. Part 3 studies the world after 9/11 and the `war on terror'.

Israel, like most US dependencies, has huge inequality, great and growing poverty, high and rising unemployment, falling wages and worsening working conditions. It constantly expands its illegal settlements in the occupied territories, cuts the Palestinians' water quotas, and imprisons Palestinians in areas sealed by a net of bypass roads meant for Jews only.

Israel organises torture, terror, the destruction of tens of thousands of homes, and detentions without trial. Under Israeli occupation, Palestine's unemployment has doubled, investment has halved, income is down 20%, and GNP is down 40%. When the Security Council reaffirmed that the 4th Geneva Convention applies to occupied territories, Clinton abstained.

In mid-September 2000, the US shipped attack helicopters to Israel, and US Marines conducted joint exercises with elite units of the Israeli Defence Force. On 29 September, Sharon made his infamous, government-authorised visit to the Temple Mount, with a thousand armed guards. On 3 October, Israel signed its biggest arms deal for a decade, buying 35 Blackhawk military helicopters from the USA. In February 2001, Israel bought nine Apache attack helicopters. Curiously, this huge backing for Israel went virtually unreported.

In December 2001, the USA vetoed a Security Council Resolution calling for international monitors to oversee a reduction in violence. The USA has consistently rejected a Palestinian state: as elsewhere, nationalism is its enemy.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsA valuable perspective to a complex problem
By Spyguy on April 18, 2003
Format: Hardcover
Despite what the previous reviewer implies by attempting to label this book as anti-jew/anti-american, there are no simplistic answers to the complex multi-perspective problem of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. BOTH sides are at fault and both sides need to own up to their complicity, and one can either continue to take sides and cast blame based on past slights and offenses or one can proceed to attempt to move forward into the future intent on finding a solution to this miserable situation that has affected the security of not just the region but the world. Chomsky argues that "socialist binationalism offer the best long-range hope for a just peace in the region".
Don't just read one book that supports your bias at the expense of others if you are going to attempt to gain some real insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...Chomsky is one of the leading voices on the left, but I also recommend balancing his viewpoint by checking out some of right-leaning conservative David Horowitz's commentaries on his Frontpage site ...read it carefully and you may be surprised at the revealing statements made by some of Israel's earliest leaders that hint at agendas not usually discussed and highlighted by more mainstream commentators and historians putting forth "official" versions of this convoluted story.
Suffice it to say that both polar opposites, Chomsky on the left and Horowitz on the right, have intelligent and valuable insights to add to the discussion...the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. For an entirely Israeli-hawk viewpoint then go ahead and read Netanyahu's "A Durable Peace" as the previous reviewer recommends...but to only read that alone is akin to wearing blinders while denying any other perspective.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars5 Stars

Buy this book to understand the roots of the Middle East mayhem.

Published 15 months ago by Megan A
5.0 out of 5 starsInsightful

Excellent and insightful work from a well-respected author on the subject of the Middle East. An especially important read for anyone living in the U.S. Read more

Published on July 24, 2013 by Bella's mom
4.0 out of 5 starsChomsky does it again.

Noam Chomsky's Middle East Illusions is a collection of works from both the Cold War era and post-Cold War era. Read more

Published on July 11, 2011 by Zachary Rose
5.0 out of 5 starsa comment on citizen keen's panicked rant

Your contention, "[Chomsky's] infamy is merited for his lack of loyalty to his own Jewish ethnicity and the U.S. Read more

Published on May 12, 2008 by HCE
5.0 out of 5 starsComplaint

I have not read this book. I have read other books and articles by Noam Chomsky and listened to some of his speeches. Read more

Published on September 9, 2006 by Jon Thomas
1.0 out of 5 starsChomsky is intellectually brilliant and morally insane

Noam Chomsky has thrived greatly in this great country of his, yours, and mine - the United States of America. Read more

Published on August 7, 2006 by Raymond P. Keen
1.0 out of 5 starsAbsurd

Noam Chomsky has been a pioneer in the field of linguistics. He helped restore a rationalistic approach to the subject. Read more

Published on March 30, 2005 by Jill Malter
4.0 out of 5 starsDemocracy in the Middle East

This is in rebuttal to Eric kent of July 30th...Israel is NOT THE ONLY DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, NOR WAS IT THE FIRST! TURKEY WAS THE FIRST! Read more

Published on July 31, 2004 by D. Klevorn
4.0 out of 5 starsInsightful, Balanced and Tedious at times.

Middle East Illusions by Noam Chomsky is worth at least half a read. By the time you reach the middle of the book you can pretty much understand his arguments. Read more

Published on December 10, 2003
4.0 out of 5 starsA heart-breaking, must-read book.

Noam Chomsky is a highly controversial intellectual. In an age where it is almost a crime to criticize our country, America, and Israel, it is predicable that people will hate him... Read more

Published on August 29, 2003

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