First published in 1983, Fateful Triangle is a comprehensive indictment of what Noam Chomsky calls the "disgraceful and extremely dangerous" policy the United States has enacted towards Israel, particularly with regard to Israel's actions concerning the Palestinians. Supporters of Israel must willfully overlook or deny that nation's long history of human rights violations and military aggression, Chomsky writes, and they will continue to do so as long as Israel is strategically useful towards "the U.S. aim of eliminating possible threats, largely indigenous, to American domination of the Middle East region." In the course of elaborating his argument, Chomsky cuts through the myths and distortions that appear in mainstream media accounts; the damning facts that he so systematically assembles portray a government more brutally and overtly racist, perhaps, than even apartheid-era South Africa. Three new chapters, drawing upon material from Z magazine and other publications, incorporate such developments as the Palestinian uprising, Israel's war on Lebanon, and the ongoing "peace process."
From Library Journal
"A devastating collection of charges aimed at Israeli and American policies that affect the Palestinian Arabs negatively," said LJ's reviewer of this thesis on Middle East politics. With several additional chapters, a new preface, and a new foreword by Edward Said, Chomsky brings the story up-to-date. With the political situation in the Middle East just as hot now, this is bound to be an important volume. (LJ 12/15/83) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Edward W. Said, from the new foreword
There is something deeply moving about a mind of such noble ideals repeatedly stirred on behalf of human suffering and injustice.
Book Description
Volume 3 of the South End Press Classics Series. Chomsky's seminal tome on Mideast politics has become a classic in the fields of political science and Mideast affairs. For its tenth printing, Chomsky has added chapters bringing the book completely up to date, with a new preface by Chomsky, a new foreword from Palestinian author and activist Edward W. Said, and new material on the Intifada, the ongoing Israeli-PLO "peace process" (including the Oslo and Wye accords), and Israel's war against Lebanon. This new, updated edition highlights the book's lasting relevance, for readers of the first edition. It is invaluable to anyone seeking to understand the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy today.
About the Author
Noam Chomsky is a world-renowned linguist, scholar, and political analyst. He has written and lectured extensively on linguistics, philosophy, U.S. domestic and foreign policy, and other contemporary political issues. He has published twelve books with South End Press, including Year 501, Necessary Illusions, On Power and Ideology, and Powers and Prospects.
Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians FROM THE PUBLISHER
Chomsky's seminal tome on Mideast politics, a classic in the fields of political science and Mideast affairs, now includes a new introduction, a foreword by Edward Said, and new chapters on the Palestinian uprising, the ongoing "peace process" (including the Oslo and Wye accords), and Israel's war on Lebanon. This new, updated edition highlights the book's lasting relevance.
FROM THE CRITICS
Lamis Adoni - ColorLines, Spring 2001
This is an incisive and in depth analysis by one of the most important thinkers of our time on U.S. policy in the Middle East. Chomsky traces the roots of the U.S. alliance with israel and methodically dissects the myth about America's self-declared role as an honest broker of peace in the region. He links U.S. policies to its economic interests, particulary securing the flow of cheap crude oil and sustaining U.S. military prescence and Israeli prowess in the region. A must read to understand what motivates U.S. policies and their repercussions on the people of the Middle East.
Booknews
Here's the 1983 edition with a new introduction by Chomsky, Edward Said's foreword, the Palestinian uprising, and the wearying peace process. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)