Chomsky: “Israel”, US Major Threats in Middle East, Gaza Siege An Act of War

In a national broadcast exclusive interview of Democracy NOW's Amy Goodman, world-renowned political dissident and linguist Noam Chomsky had his say about the claimed "Iranian threat in the Arab world revealed in the secret U.S. State Department cables by WikiLeaks published, as well as the ongoing siege on the Gaza Strip.

Commenting on the Zionist and US claims that Iran is considered a threat to the Arab world, Chomsky said that "the main significance of the cables that are being released so far is what they tell us about Western leadership, precisely people like Hillary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet, even the latter are aware of the polls of Arab public opinion."

"The Brookings Institute just a few months ago released extensive polls of what Arabs think about Iran. The results are rather striking. They show the Arab opinion holds that the major threat in the region is "Israel"- that's 80. The second major threat is the United States- that's 77. Iran is listed as a threat by 10%," Chomsky noted.

Chomsky referred to the numbers as "significant", pointing out that such information is surely not published in western media and newspapers, but he stressed that the diplomats, ambassadors as well as US and "Israeli" governments are certainly familiar with these figures and information.

"With regard to nuclear weapons, rather remarkably, a majority- in fact, 57-say that the region would have a positive effect in the region if Iran had nuclear weapons," added Chomsky.

On another note, upon a question by Goodman on the latest report that just came out- from Oxfam, from Amnesty International, and 18 other international organizations- about the effects of the siege on Gaza, Chomsky underscored that a siege is an act of war. 

"If anyone insists on that, it is "Israel". The siege is a criminal act, in the first place. The Security Council has called on "Israel" to lift it, and others have. It's designed to- as "Israeli" officials have stated- to keep the people of Gaza to minimal level of existence," the linguist said.
"They do not want to kill them all off because that would not look good in international opinion. As they put it, "to keep them on a diet." This justification began very shortly after the official "Israeli" withdrawal," continued author and institute professor. 

As for the role of the US in Zionist aggressions, Chomsky said that United States is a participant, "a direct and crucial" participant, in "Israeli" crimes, both in the West Bank and in Gaza.

"The attack in Gaza was a clear case in point: they used American weapons, the U.S. blocked cease-fire efforts, they gave diplomatic support," Chomsky stated.

"Again, this all takes place on the basis of crucial, decisive, U.S., military, diplomatic, economic support; and also ideological support- meaning, distorting the situation, as is done again dramatically in the cables," he reiterated.