[lbo-talk] On Chomsky's remark about Israeli society

s11131978 s11131978 at gmail.com
Sat Oct 1 16:16:13 PDT 2011


On 10/1/2011 6:00 PM, Joseph Catron wrote:


> . Please show me evidence concerning, let's say, Fatah. Evidence that Fatah
>> advocates the purist position (i.e. your position)
> My God! Is that supposed to be a challenge? So that I'm not accused of
> introducing dated material, here's something from earlier this year:
>
> http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387217

So "The Position" of Fatah on the refugee issue consists of hortatory press statements made by the PLO's refugee liaison -- not Arafat's written statement that “We understand Israel’s demographic concerns and understand that the right of return of Palestinian refugees…must be implemented in a way that takes into account such concerns.” Not the PLO's formal written position, as found on their website - http://www.nad-plo.org/etemplate.php?id=12&more=1#4 - which directly contradicts the statement of this PLO official.

We could go on quote-slinging forever, but it would only confirm my point that contrary to what you claim, there is a debate among Palestinians over the purist vs. pragmatist positions on the RoR, even if the debate is partially submerged by the norms and rituals of collective rights reaffirmation. So while you're free to indulge your teenage-tantrum impulse to call people who disagree with you racists, don't do it on the basis of a mendacious depiction of Palestinian opinion.

Everyone is entitled to his own Byronic opinion, but not to his own Byronic facts.

SA



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