Surprising

Noam Chomsky has long discussed Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories in terms of apartheid South Africa--Chomsky has used the term bantustan to describe how the IDF divvies up enclaves of oppressed Palestinians and subjects them to dehumanizing treatment.

I watched Jimmy Carter on Wolf Bliter's show, then on Hardball with David Schuster, and finally on the News Hour tonight. The former President is plugging his new book on the Middle East conflict, and his three appearances marked perhaps the first three times I remember anyone telling the truth about the situation on American television. I think Jimmy's been reading Noam's stuff, because Carter has adapted the language of apartheid to describe Israel's actions. Just check out his title:



Carter didn't tell Wolf Blitzer that Clinton was lying about Arafat at Camp David, but he inferred strongly that Bill wasn't being truthful about what went on. All three anchors tried to press him about his facts but Carter said basically: "This stuff is in the public record. Nobody talks about it here, but it's true. The Israelis refused the offer we accuse Arafat of refusing. The Israelis have a debate within their society about this conflict and we uncritically report one side of it to our population. A small minority in Israel wants to steal land and control it and will use any means to ensure they can steal it. Most Israelis disagree with this policy, and Americans don't hear the full story."

Certain powerful lobbies are not going to be pleased by this media blitz of our most successful X-Pres. Many Democratic congresspeople will likely find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to disavow or distance themselves from Carter in order to hang on to the support of said lobbyists.