Rating: 
Summary: Interesting viewpoint but needs comparisons
Review: This was the first work by Chomsky that I have read and I found the opening few chapters quite interesting. It is definitely an eye opener on the behaviour of the Israelis, the US support and the regular cover ups that took place. The cynicism is refreshing, however starts to wear thin around the half way mark. The overly sarcastic tone detracts from the quality of the facts that are presented and it begs further reading to establish comparisons.
The fact remains that the figures that are expressed when it comes to the bloodshed are astounding. This is definitely a book that warrants a look to see inside a world of activities that have not been fully exposed in the western press.
Rating: 
Summary: Refutes all asinine "critiques"
Review: Twenty years ago, the former head of Israeli military intelligence, Yehoshaphat Harkabi, also a leading Arabist, made a point that still holds true. "To offer an honourable solution to the Palestinians respecting their right to self-determination: that is the solution of the problem of terrorism," he said. "When the swamp disappears, there will be no more mosquitoes." This is one of many Israelis Chomsky cites in his utterly reliable and sane book. Such Israelis speak with a candour and insight which is curiously absent from the pro-Zionist lobby in the USA. As Chomsky shows, people like Moshe Dayan have always been very upfront about the nature of Zionism as a colonial venture which involved the displacement and expulsion of an indigeneous people. It shoudn't need proving, but this book does it anyway!
Rating:
Summary: Great Work
Review: Well crafted in Noam's familiar style, although hard reading at times, this book illustrates clearly the many variables involved in the conflict. While painfully truthful for some, the facts are laid out to be a healing experience for any willing to accept them.
Rating:
Summary: Formidable study of American-Israeli relations
Review: While Chomsky is repeatedly criticised for his stances on American foreign policy, the book does not warrant the usual accusations of bias. Chomsky's study is exhaustively documented, including a vast array of Israeli journalistic sources, and presents an argument that the reader cannot help but consider. He makes clear that the Middle East is much more complext than we are led to believe; that numerous agendas compete for power within both Israeli and Palestinian circles. He helps us understand the motivations for actions ranging from the invasion of Lebanon (and its place in the Israeli political culture), the beginnings of the Zionist state (including terrorist methods later adopted by the PLO), and Palestinian reasonings for their retaliations. Particularly excellent, at least in the later editions, is the chapter on the Palestinian uprising. Never before, as far as I am aware, has a scholar analysed this turbulent period, and in doing so considered both sides of the issue even-handedly. Highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of the modern Middle East.
Rating: 
Summary: The Mideast Conflict Through the Eyes of an Ideologue.
Review: _Fateful Triangle_ by Noam Chomsky with a foreward by Edward Said is a long rambling screed detailing the Mideast conflict from a point of view that is 100% pro Palestinian and anti American. Upon reading this book, several things become immediately clear to the reader - Chomsky is a socialist with sympathy for the Soviet Union and Chomsky unequivocally supports the United Nations. As an ideologue of the "New Left", Chomsky allows himself to indulge in abstruse argumentation and moral equivalences attempting to equate the United States with the Soviet Union, the terrorist PLO with Israel. Chomsky is morally opposed to all war, the spread of communism does not particularly bother him, despite his occassional barb at "Stalinism" (seemingly provoked more out of jealousy than any genuine repulsion towards it). In the past, Chomsky has made several outlandish statements, including announcing his support for the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia (a black mark that has proven particularly difficult for his "New Left" followers to eradicate). As a supporter of the United Nations, Chomsky hopes for a day when the United States will completely abandon its national sovereignity to the collective wills of Third World dictators and communist nations. Chomsky believes that Zionism is a continuation of "colonialism" (something that has become very trendy to decry, among the "New Left" "intellectual" elite) and therefore unequivocally supports the Palestinian identity. This is particularly ironic given the fact that Chomsky himself is a Jew with specific links to the Jewish elite within the United States who himself lived for a time in a kibbutz within Israel. The book itself seems at times more an exercise in intellectual onanism than anything else. Newspaper clippings are cited out of order, historical events are decontextualized, obscure arguments and apparent moral equivalences are made. At times Chomsky seems more disturbed by the failure of his own anti-war cronies on the far Left (such as Jane Fonda or Alan Dershowitz) to adopt his particular point of view with regard to the Mideast conflict. Certainly nothing even approximating a genuine look at the political situation is attempted here. Since this book was written, the United States remains just as entangled in the Mideast situation as ever. Certainly such a situation is disturbing for those who recall the warnings of the American Founding Fathers to avoid foreign entanglements. In the meantime, both Israelis and Palestinians continue to murder each other. Whether or not someday this situation may heat up so as to start the Third World War remains to be seen. We can only pray that such a course of events do not come about.
Rating:
Summary: The Mideast Conflict Through the Eyes of an Ideologue.
Review: _Fateful Triangle_ by Noam Chomsky with a foreward by Edward Said is a long rambling screed detailing the Mideast conflict from a point of view that is 100% pro Palestinian and anti American. Upon reading this book, several things become immediately clear to the reader - Chomsky is a socialist with sympathy for the Soviet Union and Chomsky unequivocally supports the United Nations. As an ideologue of the "New Left", Chomsky allows himself to indulge in abstruse argumentation and moral equivalences attempting to equate the United States with the Soviet Union, the terrorist PLO with Israel. Chomsky is morally opposed to all war, the spread of communism does not particularly bother him, despite his occassional barb at "Stalinism" (seemingly provoked more out of jealousy than any genuine repulsion towards it). In the past, Chomsky has made several outlandish statements, including announcing his support for the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia (a black mark that has proven particularly difficult for his "New Left" followers to eradicate). As a supporter of the United Nations, Chomsky hopes for a day when the United States will completely abandon its national sovereignity to the collective wills of Third World dictators and communist nations. Chomsky believes that Zionism is a continuation of "colonialism" (something that has become very trendy to decry, among the "New Left" "intellectual" elite) and therefore unequivocally supports the Palestinian identity. This is particularly ironic given the fact that Chomsky himself is a Jew with specific links to the Jewish elite within the United States who himself lived for a time in a kibbutz within Israel. The book itself seems at times more an exercise in intellectual onanism than anything else. Newspaper clippings are cited out of order, historical events are decontextualized, obscure arguments and apparent moral equivalences are made. At times Chomsky seems more disturbed by the failure of his own anti-war cronies on the far Left (such as Jane Fonda or Alan Dershowitz) to adopt his particular point of view with regard to the Mideast conflict. Certainly nothing even approximating a genuine look at the political situation is attempted here. Since this book was written, the United States remains just as entangled in the Mideast situation as ever. Certainly such a situation is disturbing for those who recall the warnings of the American Founding Fathers to avoid foreign entanglements. In the meantime, both Israelis and Palestinians continue to murder each other. Whether or not someday this situation may heat up so as to start the Third World War remains to be seen. We can only pray that such a course of events do not come about.
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