Fateful Triangle

Preface27“land grab” was accelerating, including isolated settlements that wouldbe the first candidates for eventual evacuation under any settlement thatis not a complete caricature. Standard practices are being followed,among them, razing Palestinian houses in the search for “Jewisharchaeological remains” and establishing “nature reserves,” later to beconverted to Jewish housing.Of particular significance is new post-Wye development in the GivatZe’ev Bloc northwest of Jerusalem, in pursuance of the Bush-Clinton—Rabin-Peres programs of cutting off what will be left to the Palestiniansfrom the region around Jerusalem (let alone Jerusalem itself, the centerof their cultural, social, and economic existence) and from the territoryto the south. 12The UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Israel toobserve the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans settlement in theoccupied territories. The resolution was passed 115 to 2, the usualtwo. 13The Wye agreement changes territorial arrangements in trivial ways—which are not easy to determine, since it is the first redeploymentaccord without a map indicating areas to be transferred to Palestinianadministration. 14 But it is presumably a step towards something like the50-50 split of the territories that was Rabin’s goal in the Oslonegotiations, at least if Israel is sensible enough to abandon uselesslands where the population may rot in peace in scattered and isolatedenclaves. The most significant and innovative aspect of theMemorandum is its barely concealed call for state terror to achieve thegoals of the U.S.-Israel program. That breaks new ground forinternational agreements. The Memorandum emphasizes that thePalestinian security forces, which have a shocking record of torture andterror, must act to ensure the security of Israelis. The CIA will supervisethem as they carry out arrests, hold mock trials, collect arms, andClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky