Palestinians and Kosovars (Re: lbo-talk-digest V1 #4706

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

At 6:43 PM -0400 8/8/01, Nathan Newman wrote:
>In the case of Kosovo and Israel, some sections of the Left merely enact the
>mirror image of the hypocrisy that Chomsky noted-- they ignore and downplay
>the subjugation and mass murder of the Kosovars at the hands of the Serbs
>while highlighting the oppression of the Palestinians by the Israelis.

I don't think it is in the interest of Albanians (in Kosovo or 
elsewhere) for leftists in the USA to support the KLA & NATO, just as 
I don't think it is in the interest of Jews (in Israel or elsewhere) 
for leftists in the USA to support US aid to the state of Israel.  I 
expect you to disagree with me (as would a good number of Jews & 
Albanians currently), but it is not necessary for you to paint your 
political opponents as hypocrites in order to make an argument for 
your position.

Moreover, I don't see any point in presenting imperialism as if it 
were a problem of hypocrisy on the part of the imperial elite, so I 
disagree with Chomsky as well.  It wouldn't make imperialism OK in my 
eyes if there were no gap between imperialists' words & their deeds & 
if there were no double standard between the treatment of victims 
favored by imperialists & that of victims not so favored.

Yoshie