Chomsky on Israel-Palestine 21 years ago

    
2:19 Let's talk about in the Middle East for example
 where Chevron says we are experiencing terrorist 
 bombings and therefore we have to have a big 
 operation in the in the West Bank and and root out 
 terrorism

2:30 and and people say "hey you're violating human
 rights"

2:34 Yeah the what's that this is the 35th year of a 
 harsh brutal and vicious occupation supported 
 unilaterally by the United States, constant terror and

2:44 atrocities -- suppose Palestinians say

2:48 "well we're under terrorist attack for 35 years 
 therefore we have a right to carry out suicide 
 bombings" -- do you accept this? 

2:55 Does anybody except this? Nobody accepts this. 
 Right, then how come

2:59 everyone accepts the Israeli claim to be doing it 
 which is much weaker claim?

3:04  They are the military occupiers.

3:08  Those who defend suicide bombing, and 
 they're very few, have not a leg to stand on.

3:14 Those who defend the Israeli atrocities, 
 including the US government,

3:20 most intellectual opinion, a good bit of the West 
 generally, yeah they don't have a leg to stand on 
 either -- and have a much weaker position.

3:27 You asked us after September 11 one of your 
 points we ought to look in the mirror we being 
 America or the West way to look in the mirror at

3:34 our own was that a way of saying look people 
 like bin Laden are angry at us

3:41 for good reason why what I was saying

3:46 The statement of mine that you just quoted is a 
 very conservative statement;

3:51 In fact it was articulated by George Bush's 
 favorite philosopher Jesus Christ who pointed out 
 famously defined the notion hypocrite -- 

4:04 a hypocrite is a person who focuses on the other 
 fellas crimes and refuses to look at his own.