Photo by John Soares

Photo by John Soares

Noam Chomsky gave at the American University in Lebanon on June 14, 2013. It was syndicated by the New York Times and it’s linked here to the Truthout site.  It’s a powerful speech, as all of Chomsky’s speeches are– it’s about borders and environmental destruction and empire:

“Almost all borders have been imposed and maintained by violence, and are quite arbitrary. The Lebanon-Israel border was established a century ago by the Sykes-Picot Agreement, dividing up the former Ottoman Empire in the interests of British and French imperial power, with no concern for the people who happened to live there, or even for the terrain… Surveying the terrible conflicts in the world, it’s clear that almost all are the residue of imperial crimes and the borders that the great powers drew in their own interests…”

It’s a good read that connects gentrification in Turkey, NAFTA, pollution of the atmosphere, Palestinian independence and indigeneity, all of which we are typically used to seeing as separate issues:

          “Or to adopt the phrase used by indigenous people throughout much of the world, Who will defend the Earth? Who will uphold the rights of nature? Who will adopt the role of steward of the commons, our collective possession?
           That the Earth now desperately needs defense from impending environmental catastrophe is surely obvious to any rational and literate person. The different reactions to the crisis are a most remarkable feature of current history.
           At the forefront of the defense of nature are those often called “primitive”: members of indigenous and tribal groups, like the First Nations in Canada or the Aborigines in Australia – the remnants of peoples who have survived the imperial onslaught. At the forefront of the assault on nature are those who call themselves the most advanced and civilized: the richest and most powerful nations…”