Fateful Triangle

Israel and Palestine: Historical Backgrounds2677. The Cycle of Occupation, Resistance, Repression andMoral DegenerationThese developments in Israel and the occupied territories were adirect consequence of the 1967 military victory, which a numberof perceptive Israeli observers saw as a long-term defeat for thesociety they cherished, not without certain illusions of their own,in some cases. They were aware of what Eric Rouleau of Le Mondedescribed in the early days of the occupation as “the classical chainreaction—occupation, resistance, repression,—more resistance,” and offurther links in the chain: Israeli journalist Victor Cygielman wrote in1968 that “One thing is sure, terrorism will not succeed in wreckingIsrael, but it may succeed in ruining Israeli democracy,” referring to thedemoralizing effect of “such measures of collective punishment as theblowing up of houses, administrative arrests and deportation to Jordan.”At the same time, Uri Avneri noted further that the “steep spiral of terrorand counter-terror, killing and retaliation, sabotage and massdeportation.. .will bring undreamt-of miseries to the Palestinianpeople…[while] turning Israel into an armed and beleaguered campforever,” leading ultimately to “Semitic suicide.” 1507.1 Americans Hear the NewsSimilar warnings have repeatedly been voiced through the years byIsraelis and others who called for an end to the occupation. By late1982, the message had even reached the New York Times. Editor MaxFrankel noticed that Israeli “dissenters fear endless cycles of Palestinianterror and Israeli war—and the degradation of Israeli society as it growsClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky