“There Are Always Grounds for Seeking a World That Is More Free and More Just”: An Interview with Noam Chomsky on Israel, Palestine, and Zionism

Abstract

In this dialogue, Joel Wainwright and Oded Nir interview one of the most influential commentators on Israel and Palestine, Noam Chomsky. Their wide-ranging discussion examines key controversies surrounding the issue: Israeli aggression, the paradigms for potential solutions to the conflict, early Zionism, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign, and the analogy between Israel/Palestine to apartheid South Africa.

Key Words:

• Apartheid
• Communism
• Democracy
• Palestine/Israel
• Zionism

Notes

1 See, e.g. Noam Chomsky’s (1999, ix) preface to the updated edition of The Fateful Triangle.

2 See Barsky (1998, 75).

3 For a biography of Harris, see Barsky (2011).

4 See Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 71–2).

5 See, e.g., Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 55–6).

6 The original publication was in Ha’aretz, 29 March 1972.

7 Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 45).

8 Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 115).

9 See Chomsky (2014); cf., Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 82–5, 90–5).

10 Uri Avneri (1923-2018) was a significant figure in the Israeli left. Publisher of Haolam Hazeh magazine and twice elected member of the Knesset, Avneri was a founding member of Gush Shalom, or Peace Bloc.

11 See, e.g., Chomsky and Pappé (2017, 108–13).