Fateful Triangle

Rejectionism and Accomodation150for the pre-state Zionist terror organizations, which, Simha Flapanwrites, “established the pattern of terrorism adopted 30 years later byAI-Fatah.” 96According to official Israeli army statistics, 106 people died in thecourse of all terrorist actions in the north since 1967, considerably fewerthan the number of victims of a single Israeli bombing raid. 97 Or to takeanother comparison, the total number of Israeli victims is approximatelythe same as the number killed when Israel shot down a civilian Libyanairplane over the occupied Sinai in February 1973; the plane hadbecome lost in bad weather and was one minute flight time from theSuez Canal, towards which it was heading, when shot down by theIsraeli air force. 98 The total number of Israelis killed in all acts of terrorfrom 1967 is 282, 99 less than the number killed by Israel’s air terroristsin Beirut on July 17-8 1981, in “retaliation” after a PLO response toIsraeli bombing that broke the cease-fire. 100 What of recent years? *According to figures provided by Minister of the InteriorYosef Burg, in 1980 10 Jews were killed by terrorists and in1981—8. In contrast, we have killed about a thousandterrorists in 1982, and caused the loss of life of thousandsof inhabitants of an enemy country. If so, it results that forevery 6-8 Jews sacrificed, we kill in return thousands ofGentiles. This is, undoubtedly, a spectacular situation, anuncommon success of Zionism. I might even dare to say—exaggerated. 101*Note that we are taking these Israeli figures at face value, not asking how thevictims were killed, though a closer look at the terrorist incidents shows that thequestion is worth asking.Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky