Chomsky - Power and Terror
If you’re interested in an introduction to the current problems in the middle east I can’t recommend Noam Chomsky enough. My personal introduction to his work was the book “Power and Terror: Post-9/11 Talks and Interviews” and it was a very educational read for me. While I’ve been aware of the conflicts between Israel and Palestine I really had no idea of the history behind it. The fact that many educated people don’t understand the reasons behind the events of 9/11 in New York is a sorry position to find ourselves in. That the US government has been involved in and supportive of many such acts in other places is simply unacceptable.
The book itself is a short read coming in at just under 150 pages. As the title states, most of the content comes from speeches and interviews so the narrative is somewhat choppy. I am looking forward to reading more of his work though. Hopefully the citizens of the world’s most powerful country will educate themselves about their foreign policy and effect a change for the better.
I’ll have to look into reading Power and Terror by Chomsky. It sounds interesting. Similarly, another good book on the middle eastern conflict and its roots is ‘From Beirut to Jerusalem’ by Thomas L. Friedman. It’s a good look at the Palestinian cause and its roots in Lebanon and then Isreal. Very educational on both the Palestinian and Isreali camps. It too, reads choppy - it is after all written by a journalist.
You can go to his website at: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/ (I’m going to have to learn how to use HTML again if I’m going to be blogging [is that a word] more in the future - embedding links - I’m on it!)
While the book is for the most part linear, it does jump back and forth in time and place now and again in the telling of several ’stories.’ that make up the book. It’s a good read for anyone looking for an adventuresome first look into the root of the conflicts in the middle east.
Comment by Sonny Hatton — 10/1/2004 @ 11:52 am
Thanks for the pointer Sonny. I’m in the middle of another Chomsky book now but I’ll keep Friedman in mind for the future.
Comment by Kevin LaCoste — 10/9/2004 @ 10:42 pm