Monday, July 17, 2006

Did Israel start the current crisis by kidnapping a doctor and his son?

The website of Demcracy Now has a typescript of an apparent broadcast with Noam Chomsky, according to which Israel took the first aggressive action by kidnapping two people FIRST: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/14/146258#transcript

The entire transcript was sent to me by my friend Nadia, and I responded to her as follows.

> Dear Nadia
>
> I am a bit puzzled by Noam Chomsky's apparent assertion, in the material below, that the whole crisis has been sparked by Israeli abduction of a doctor and his son.
>
> If this is true, why have Hamas and other parties to the conflict (I mean on the Palestininan side) not stated this as the cause - and made the return of the two civilians the key issue? Had they done so, I doubt that anyone in the world would have supported Israel. As it is, support for Hamas and the Palestinians is divided because of the prior fact that Hezbollah refuse to be disarmed and thereby give the Lebanese government a chance to become an effective government in Lebanon. Without that, there can be no peace, because no country can go around dealing with terrorist groups within another countriy. Each country has to pacify the different groups within itself, only then can countries deal with each other and expect to be taken seriously. Imagine what would happen if right-wing militias existed in Israel, each deciding what actions to take without reference to the Israeli government? Its bad enough as it is....
>
> Indeed, if the story of the abduction of the doctor and son is true, why has none of the pro-Palestinian media (and that's the majority of the European media), not picked up and broadcast the news of the abduction itself, let alone that it was/is the immediate cause of the crisis?
>
> Normally, I take Chomsky very seriously. In this case, I doubt whether to do so.
>
> warm regards and best wishes
>
> Prabhu

Nadia now says, "I did a little web research but cannot confirm Noam Chomsky's assertion".

Of course that is not the entire story on the current crisis, but I hope that quietens the story of the poor doctor and his son. Sphere: Related Content

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