I've just been reading Noam Chomsky's latest published work, Imperial Ambitions, a collection of interviews with David Barsamian on the post 11 September 2001 world. Here's an excerpt:
At the talks you give to American audiences, you often are asked the question, "What should I do?"
Only by American audiences. I'm never asked this in the third world. When you go to Turkey or Colombia or Brazil, they don't ask you, "What should I do?" They tell you what they're doing... It's only in highly privileged cultures like ours that people ask this question. We have every option open to us, and have none of the problems that are faced by intellectuals in Turkey or campesinos in Brazil. We can do anything. But people here are trained to believe that there are easy answers, and it doesn’t work that way. If you want to do something, you have to be dedicated and committed to it day after day… You want a magic key, so you can go back to watching television tomorrow? It doesn’t exist.
And just like that Chomsky unlocks a great truth, something I’ve always known at some implicit level. I’ve visited a few front line locations now, and it goes without saying that there is an inverse relationship between activism and privilege. In Palestine, for example, it’s impossible not to be political. Every checkpoint, every ID-card, every Israeli jet heard from above is a reminder of a fundamentally political, military presence which maintains a stranglehold on the Palestinians’ daily life. When women in rural Pakistan choose an education over immediate marriage, their actions are both an act of necessity and an act opposition to oppression. In so doing, they risk assault or murder.
In comparison, it’s quite difficult to mobilize the general public on a political issue in a place like Australia. On this situation I can best speak from personal experience. For years I have bemoaned the lack of opportunities for a career based on social justice, activism, and social change… and a decent pay packet.Yet such concerns are relatively absurd as recent personal activities can attest.
Imperial Ambitions is an excellent, concise summary of the Bush regime's domestic and global ambitions. It also keeps faithful to Chomsky's standard sense of understated optimism. To put it crudely; things are pretty fucked, but far from terminal, and there's something we can do about it. Educate yourself, then get involved. But don't expect any easy solutions. The world doesn't work that way.
A big thank you to Matt Godzieba from Metropolitan Books for donating the book. Metropolitan Books is presently publishing a series of books called The American Empire Project. As that name suggests, the purpose of this series is to disseminate information and opinion from respected American progressives on the present cache of American Empire builders.
3 Comments:
Totally agree about difficulty in mobilising Australians on political issues. We've created this huge delusion that our lives are not political - we've gorged ourselves on the benefits of a strong economy and convinced ourselves that the only questions that matter are those that affect our mortgage, dog and two kids. Meanwhile basic protections are being removed while we shop for bigger televisions - see, eg, industrial relations reforms, anti-terror laws. Maybe it's a bit like the irony of the West having an obesity problem when so much of the world is starving - while the daily lives of Palestinians are unavoidably and dangerously political, our own political system is collapsing under the weight of ignorance and complacency.
Have you ever noticed that Israel would lose its ability to launch military action and would be forced into activating a two-state solution if it lost the excuse of Palestinian terrorists?
Maybe it's Palestinians who need to do something, since their own terrorist groups are by far the biggest obstacle to statehood.
Splat, if only it were that simple. Now I think abstinence from attacks would make it difficult for Israel to maintain the Occupation. Sadly, this is easier said than done. There are several reasons for this. For one, Israel conducts its 'military action' whether or not there are suicide attacks.
Further, Israel is expert at provoking violence from the Palestinians. The permutations that ultimately leads to violence is never discussed in the media, so the violence (eg a suicide attack) is all we hear about, and the perception is that such violence springs forth unprovoked and gratuitously. A famous example is when Sharon visited the Al Aqsa mosque. The brutal Israeli reaction to the protests that ensued, which included the murder of many Palestinians, eventually resulted in a number of suicide attacks.
There is also the none too small matter of the constant killing of Palestinian by Israeli soldiers and settlers. We don't hear about it much in the mainstream media, but almost every week someone (or some people) are killed.
Ending the Occupation would reduce the mere probability of clashes between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Noting of course that in these clashes one belligerent is so desperate it has to resort to suicide attacks. The other is the world's 4th largest military power. Why is it that Israel's security needs requires an Israeli military presence in Palestine anyway? What about Palestine's security needs? The answer is simple. It is not for the Palestinians to have that kind of security. The only issue is for Israel to feel secure. Note the use of the world 'feel' - it is doubtful the Occupation makes Israeli safer. In fact, it probably makes it less so.
Another problem the Palestinians face is that as a nation they are fragmented because of the Occupation (communities cut off by walls and checkpoints, widespread destruction of property and infrastructure by Israel, Israeli control of the most valuable lands, and key sovereign rights like rights to airspace, control of trade, etc). This makes it very difficult for the Palestinians to coordinate a unified stance, such as steadfast abstinence from unprovoked attacks on Israel (I think that's probably what you actually mean, rather than just suicide attacks).
And yes there is the corrupt Palestinian Authority who are happy to act as Israel's middle man in the Occupied Territories. Of the militant groups I'd say Islamic Jihad is perhaps the most pernicious and nihilistic. Most of the others, such as Fatah and Al Aqsa and Hamas have been willing to negotiate with Israel. Again, you don't hear about this much but it's a fact. But frankly when it comes to the Palestinians there are a myriad of essentially punitive measures administered by the US (freezing assets, funding Israeli) and Israel (curfews, collective punishment, etc).
There's no easy solution, but a key first step is an end to the Occupation, and everything the Occupation entails - murder and daily humiliation. The Occupation is the biggest obstacle to Palestinian statehood.
Post a Comment
<< Home