Fateful Triangle

Aftermath661for what happened at Shatila and Sabra.”6.5.2 The “Brought-in” *Viorst also cites a second Habib letter, no less significant, concerningPalestinian prisoners, urging that they be accorded humane treatment.“American officials acknowledge, nonetheless, that very little has beendone to follow up on the letter’s pledges.” According to Viorst, the Israeligovernment announced that there were 8000 such prisoners in Israel inaddition to the 6-7000 in Lebanon. (Note that this estimate accordswith the Red Cross figures reported by Israeli journalist DannyRubinstein; see chapter 5, section 5.1). Viorst cites a Red Crossspokesman who stated “that the Israelis have permitted no visits offacilities in Israel, and otherwise decline to cooperate with the RedCross, so it has no idea of what it is happening there.” We have alreadyhad a glimpse of what is happening in the Lebanon “concentrationcamps,” as Israeli eyewitnesses term them, where the Red Cross doeshave some access, and in the Israeli military command post in Sidon.The State Department could cite no specific case of Americanintercession on the prisoner issue, despite the Habib commitment. In asense, this is not surprising, since the American press, public, and evenhumanitarian organizations have also shown no signs of concern overthis major atrocity, the exact dimensions of which are not yet known,and may never be known.It should be noted that reports months after the war from European*The many thousands of people carted away to Israeli prisons and concentrationcamps are not referred to as “prisoners,” which would raise questions aboutinternational conventions and other human rights considerations. Rather, a newHebrew word has been coined to refer so them: they are the ones “brought in.”Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky