Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians
Noam Chomsky
Pluto Press, 2016
Chomsky provides his usual insight into the Israel-Palestine conflict by examining the historical record and comparing it to the stories commonly heard in the western media. His scathing indictment of Israel, Sharon, Begin and the US helps to show how events in the conflict are distorted and important facts ignored. the book pulls no punches and provides innumerable examples of Israeli atrocities and western apologies for them. It is not for the faint-hearted and the book will likely leave the reader angry and frustrated about the crimes committed by Israel and supported by the US and its allies, and the lack of justice or even knowledge of them.
The book shows the extent of Palestinian persecution and discusses the likelihood of greater repression in the future, something which we have seen several times since its publication. While the places and names may change, the events follow a similar pattern, most recently with Israel’s new “nation-state law”
The book goes into incredible detail and provides an incredibly tragic amount of examples of Israel’s racist policy of exploitation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians with such depth and breadth as to dismiss any doubt regarding the truth of the world “most moral” army.
While the book provides a very limited history before 1948, it provides one of the most in-depth accounts of the period 1967-1983 and shows Israel and the US’ increasingly brazen defiance of Much of the world. In particular, it discusses the 1982 Lebanon war and how poorly it was discussed and handled in the west. He also provides an excellent example of how criticism of Israeli policy is often considered anti-semitic in order to silence dissent.
after Reading this one could also consult Chomsky’s other books; Gaza in crisis and On Palestine for a more updated view on the situation