http://www.flagrancy.net/chomskyplanet.html

I find it rather interesting that in the transcript that appears on the democracynow.org Web site, the entire exchange between Zilberstein and Chomsky has been excised.

I also took Chomsky’s advise and went to the Peres Center Web site and read the Pundak documents. One must realize that Ron Pundak, having been one of the chief Oslo negotiators, is also an “interested party”, who was neither a part of nor consulted with at Camp David. His survey of the events are, in my opinion, no less self-serving than those of Dennis Ross and President Clinton.

From watching the debate, it seems to me that the most glaring flaw in Chomsky’s argument is the fact that he repeatedly elides the fact of the violent reaction to Camp David on the part of the Palestinian side (although he does make a point of bringing up the Israeli response to the intifada), with the apparent support, or at least lack of a restraining response, on the part of their leadership. Instead, he simply goes from Camp David to Taba, ignoring the several months of intervening Palestinian violence.

One last interesting point in Chomsky’s argument that, again, appears to put his command of the evidence, if not honesty, in question is his repeated assertion concerning the use, by Israel, of helicopters. Chomsky asserts that,

“Israel, in the first few days of the Intifada, was using U.S. helicopters Ã?¢âÂ?‰Â?Â? they donÃ?¢âÂ?‰Â?¢t make them Ã?¢âÂ?‰Â?Â? U.S. helicopters to attack civilian complexes, apartment houses and so on, killing and wounding dozens of people.”

This is, quite false. The first use of helicopters by the IDF in the current intifada was immediately following the brutal lynching of two unarmed reservists in Ramalla some four weeks after the start of the intifada. The attack was on the police complex (not a “civilian complex” or “apartment house”) where the two were brutalized and beaten before being dropped out of a second-storey window to the lynch mob below, This attack was carried out only after the PA had been warned and the target evacuated. This attack resulted in damage to the building but not in civilian casualties. In fact, this was the case for almost all of the helicopter attacks that occurred from the start of the Intifada (immediately after Camp David) through the end of Barak’s term and well into Sharon and the Likud assuming office.

Norman takes him on and charges that Dershowitz makes numerous factual errors in his book:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/24/1730205

It tells what kinda scholar this Dershowitz really is..

Both of them slanted the history horribly and I think the only ones to acknowledge terrorist crimes from Israelis AND Palestineans were the audience members posing questions

Does this debate help students? I doubt it seriously.

But you are comparing Clinton and Ross to Goerring. Do you have a clue what a hateful, bigoted, biased and disreputable space your thoughts on this issue occupy?

Dave’s comments are a wonderful example of the hysteria around Chomsky that allows people to slander him with any ridiculous gossip that comes to mind. Stalinist? Interesting since the Soviet Union wouldn’t allow his books to be published there because he was conistently critical of both the US and the USSR. He’s been anti-Stalinist his whole life and this point would be obvious to anybody who actually read his writings and was capable of interpreting his words. The rest of Dave’s comments reach about the same level of honesty.

- Adam

Btw, if youÃ?Â?Ã?´re really interested in reliable information on Camp David, there are other “authorities” , besides the obviously interested ones, you can soncult, for instance

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/14380

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/24/1730205