Public Intelligence Blog

VIDEO: Why History Matters: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

02/22/2010 4:30 PM 66″110Victor Kattan, Fellow, University of London; Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, MITDescription: Given the volume of writing on the Arab”Israeli conflict, “you might think that everything has been said,” says Noam Chomsky. But Victor Kattan's new book, Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab”Israeli Conflict, takes a fresh look at the prehistory of the dispute, as well as the evolution of international law and its import for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, says Chomsky. While he is familiar with much of the material in this account, Chomsky also notes episodes in Kattan's narrative that open up new, “sordid chapters” in these “convoluted, complex, often painful historical events.”

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The WEST Publicly Claims To Be Fighting Terrorism, Whilst Covertly Nourishing It

Syria Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who headed his country’s official delegation to Geneva II, called at the opening session of the conference on a collective confrontation against terrorism and on starting a national dialogue in Damascus, SANA reported.

By Walid al-Moallem – Syria Foreign Minister

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Syrian Arab Republic, SYRIAN – steeped in history for seven thousand years. ARAB – proud of its steadfast pan-Arab heritage despite the deliberate acts of aggression of supposed brotherly Arabs. REPUBLIC – a civil state that some, sitting in this room, have tried to return to medieval times. Never have I been in a more difficult position; my delegation and I carry the weight of three years of hardship endured by my fellow countrymen – the blood of our martyrs, the tears of our bereaved, the anguish of families waiting for news of a loved one – kidnapped or missing, the cries of our children whose tender fingers were the targets of mortar shelling into their classrooms, the hopes of an entire generation destroyed before their very eyes, the courage of mothers and fathers who have sent all their sons to defend our country, the heartbreak of families whose homes have been destroyed and are now displaced or refugees.

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