[WCUSP] In memory of Tanya Reinhart by Noam Chomsky

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

_http://www.counterpunch.com/reinhart03192007.html_ 
(http://www.counterpunch.com/reinhart03192007.html) 
 
March 19, 2007 
She Drew Away  the Veil on Criminal and Outrageous Conduct 
In Memory of  Tanya Reinhart 
By NOAM  CHOMSKY 
Editors'  note: We have lost an outstanding intellect and one of the bravest 
voices from  Israel with the death of Tanya  Reinhart. Last October, on this 
site, we published Eric Hazan's _interview with Tanya Reinhart_ 
(http://www.counterpunch.com/hazan10022006.html)  on  the occasion of the publication of her 
latest book, _Roadmap to Nowhere_ 
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1844670767/counterpunchmaga) .  
In  conclusion Haas asked her, 
Despite  the grim events described in the book, the overall feeling that 
comes through is  that of hope. Why? 
Reinhart:  "I argue that the reason that the U.S. exerted even limited 
pressure on  Israel, for the first time in  recent history, was because at that 
moment in history it was no longer possible  to ignore world discontent over its 
policy of blind support of  Israel. This shows that persistent  struggle can 
have an effect, and can lead governments to act. Such struggle  begins with the 
Palestinian people, who have withstood years of brutal  oppression, and who, 
through their spirit of zumud--sticking to their land - and  daily endurance, 
organizing and resistance, have managed to keep the Palestinian  cause alive, 
something that not all oppressed nations have managed to do. It  continues with 
international struggle--solidarity movements that send their  people to the 
occupied territories and stand in vigils at home, professors  signing boycott 
petitions, subjecting themselves to daily harassment, a few  courageous 
journalists that insist on covering the truth, against the pressure  of acquiescent 
media and pro-Israel lobbies. Often this struggle for justice  seems futile. 
Nevertheless, it has penetrated global consciousness. It is this  collective 
consciousness that eventually forced the U.S. to pressure Israel into  some, 
albeit limited, concessions. . The Palestinian cause can be silenced for a  while, 
as is happening now, but it will resurface."  
Tanya  Reinhart was one of those whose determined voice and writings did just 
that:  change global consciousness. AC / JSC 
It  is painful, and hard, to write about the loss of an old and cherished 
friend.  Tanya Reinhart was just that. 
Tanya  was a brilliant and creative scientist. I can express my own 
evaluation of her  work most concisely by recalling that years ago, when I was thinking 
about the  future of my own department after my retirement, I tried to 
arrange to offer  Tanya the invitation to be my eventual replacement, plans that did 
not work out,  much to my regret, mostly for bureaucratic reasons. 
I  will not try to review her remarkable contributions to virtually every 
major  area of linguistic studies. Included among them are original and highly  
influential investigations of syntactic structure and operations, referential  
dependence, principles of lexical semantics and their implications for 
syntactic  organization, unified approaches to cross-linguistic semantic 
interpretation of  complex structures that appear superficially to vary widely, the theory 
of  stress and intonation, efficient parsing systems, the interaction of 
internal  computations with thought and sensorimotor systems, optimal design as a 
core  principle of language, and much else. Her academic work extended well 
beyond, to  literary theory, mass media and propaganda, and other core elements 
of  intellectual culture. 
But  Tanya's outstanding professional work was only one part of her life, and 
of our  long and intimate friendship. She was one of the most courageous and 
honorable  defenders of human rights whom I have ever been privileged to meet. 
As all  honest people should, she focused her attention and energy on the 
actions of her  own state and society, for which she shared responsibility ­ 
including the  responsibility, which she never shirked, to expose crimes of 
state and to defend  the victims of repression, violence, and conquest. 
Her  numerous articles and books drew away the veil that concealed criminal 
and  outrageous actions, and shone a searing light on the reality that was 
obscured,  all of immense value to those who sought to understand and to react in 
a decent  way. Her activism was not limited to words, important as these were. 
She was on  the front line of direct resistance to intolerable actions, an 
organizer and a  participant, a stance that one cannot respect too highly. She 
will be remembered  not only as a resolute and honorable defender of the rights 
of Palestinians, but  also as one of those who have struggled to defend the 
moral integrity of her own  Israeli society, and its hope for decent survival. 
Tanya's  passing is a terrible loss, not only to her family and those 
fortunate enough to  come to know her personally, and to those she defended and 
protected with such  dedication and courage, but to everyone concerned with 
freedom, justice, and an  honorable peace.





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