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Book Reviews The Samson Option: Israel America and the Bomb By Seymour M Hersh Published by Faber and Faber. 1991. at $/5.99 Reviewed by Mike Waddington THE REVELATION IN Hersch's book of Robert Maxwell's possible involvement in the kidnapping by Israel of the scientist Mordecai Vanunu was somewhat overshadowed by the tycoon's death in typically mysterious circumstances. But Hersh, an investigative reporter. has gathered together other fascinating information in tracing the story of the development of nuclear weapons by Israel, in particular the role of France and the I'SA.
France in the 1950s faced rebellion throughout its North African 'empire and backed Israel against Nasser's Egypt, which was supporanti-imperialist moveting the ments. Israel was armed by France from 1955 in a programme started by the 'Socialist' Party premier Mollet. France and Israel collaborated on a French weapon, tested in 1960. France then gave help to build a secret weapons establishment at Dimona in the Neger desert.
Dimona was built by immigrant labour. The North African Jews were "treated like slaves br French and Israelis alike." France also gave Israel access to its own Columbus - His Enterprise By Hans Koning Published by the Latin American Bureau. 1992.
at .tt.99 Reviewed by Tony Aitman 1992 IS THE 500th anniversary of the discovery of America Christopher Columbus. and alhave ready the celebrations begun, ranging from the sentimental to the disgracetul. One such chemical and biological weapons establishment in the Sahara. France dropped Israel after the Six-Day War of 196° but the US took up the baton. with Crermany providing uranium and Norway heavy water for the purely peaceful' nuclear programme.
When Begin bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear power station in 1981 with I'S-supplied jets. Presiresponded with Reagan dent "well, bors will be bors." This is indicative of the official attitude from the 1960s. Nixon and Kissinger publicly called for support for Nuclear Non-Proliferation the treaty while privately supporting attempts to arm Israel and Japan with nuclear weapons. As early as 1973 Israel had 20 warheads. In September 1979 Israel. in collaboration with South Africa, exploded a nuclear device.
Isract protected Dimona from attack. In 196° they accidentally' attacked the IS warship Libert)' Thirty-four people were killed but the matter was overlooked by the !'S. The Israelis also shot down one of their own fighters that came too close to Dimona. In February 1973 a Libyan airliner was shot down for straying too close: 108 were killed.
The 'Samson Option' refers to Israel's deterrent theory: if they go down. like the biblical Samson. they will bring the whole edifice down with them! This justified targeting cities in the ISSk. Mordecai Vanunu was the scienevent is Liverpool's Tall Ships spectacular, doubtless celebrating the triangular slave trade with the New World which generated the city's original wealth!
It is good news. therefore. that the Latin American Bureau (LAB) has republished Columbus - His Enterprise by Hans Koning. A reappraisal of Columbus is a necess- Koning ary alternative to what calls the "Eurocentric. white raceoriented, teaching of history:" The LAB has a record over many tist responsible for giving details The Dimona of the Israeli weapons establishweapons complex.
ment at Dimona to the Sunday Times. He was kidnapped, transported back to Israel. and jailed Vanunu's assasination had been considered. His revelations in 1986 hit a raw nerve. bringing before the world details of Israel's nuclear capacity. The Sunda)' Mirror. who had also been app. roached by Vanunu's agent, described the news as "a hoax, or even something more sinister — a plot to discredit Israel." (p.309) Maxwell's probable involvement in the kidnapping of Vanunu covers only the last few pages of this book - but as a whole. The Samson Option. as a study in imperialist hypocrist. is worth the read years of producing excellent material on struggles in Latin America and the Caribbean Amongst all the material produc ed for the anniversary, for anyone wanting an accessible. easy-toread answer to the Columbus myth. this is the book. Written primarily for high school pupils. it shows clearly that the roots of Columbus journey lay not in the love of adventure - or a beliet that the world was flat! - but in VIR O29 the greed of Spanish merchants
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300 MIR for a quick route to the riches of Summer 1991 the East. in particular. Chinese gold.
Book Review's Exposing the hypocrisy of the Church, Koning shows how, in the name of love' and 'charity. Columbus led the systematic enslavement and extinction of the native of the Americas. He peoples shows that colonialism has always meant the brutal subjugation of native populations. He also exposes the irony that those who opposed the enslavement of the 'Ind. ians' because they were dying in their thousands could only propose in its place the importation of 'stronger' African slaves - thus beginning the infamous African slave trade.
As a textbook written by a non- Marxist, the book does have its weaknesses. Koning talks in the From the House of War By John Simpson Published by Arrou Books, 1991, at £6.99 Reviewed by David Kaplan JOHN SIMPSON IS is the foreign affairs editor of the BBC. He was amongst the first British journalists to arrive in Baghdad after the invasion of Kuwait, in August 1990. Based on personal experience and interviews. his book is a "viewpoint from Baghdad" of the Gulf war and the events which led up to it.
The 'unilateral' reporters like Simpson, and including Mark Urban. a BBC Neusnight reporter. introduction of asing the anniversary celebrations to find a "final reconciliation of the races of America, an impossibility as long as capitalism remains.
In the words of Malcolm X. you can't have capitalism without racism Koning hopes for "an atonement of past crimes." By whom? Are we all collectively guilty of the crimes of world capitalism. Or does he expect the ruling class to beg for giveness for its actions in the past. while continuing those self-same crimes today?
To Koning. Columbus was "a man of his race". a "typical man of the (White ) West": World War Il was "a great white-race civil war." Despite a disclaimer. itself couched in racial terms — "I am not ig noring the cruelties of other they too fill the pages of races...
and Robert Fisk, a journalist for The Independent, looked down on the official pool system set up by the western coalition forces: "It did no good to the journalists who belonged to it and who, therefore. were closely associated with the military. The unilaterals felt that living the army life and wearing uniform for its own sake blurred the necessary distinction between the reporters and the people they were reporting on." In the end. it was the 'unilaterals' who free to do the more adventurous and informative reporting Simpson tries to relate the feelings of ordinary' Iraqis: "The system of reward and punishment obliged people to come out onto the streets and go through the motions of hero-worship with enthusiasm. or face the consequences." A teacher spoke to him: "You must realise that no one here supports Saddam. No one wants this war to happen. No one wants Kuwait." She was part of a demonstration outside the British embasst: journalists had been informed that it was taking place by the Iraqi Information Ministry: Children were shouting Down. down. Bush. Down. down. Thatcher' The teacher continued: "We are only here because we have to be. No one wants to demonstrate. You must understand that." Although there was a fear of the Iraqi regime's brutal methods.
there is. however, no doubt that large sections of the Arab workers and peasants had no sympathy for the Kuwaiti regime and were totally opposed to the US-led interhistory with man's inhumanity to man" - Koning persists in talking about the West.
Not Western capitalism. not a West itself divided into classes with an oppressing and exploiting ruling class. but the West as a single entity for whose actions we all must take the blame. It is this concept of the class struggle that is missing from Koning's analysis Despite these weaknesses. most Iy confined to the introduction and afterword, the book itselt remains an interesting. worthwhile exposure of the Columbus myth. For anyone looking for an antidote to all the jingoistic ballyhoo surrounding the Columbus celebrations. I can think of no better book vention. This was especially the case in Palestine. Jordan. Algeria and Morocco. Simpson around the Arab quarters of old Jerusalem. Walls were daubed Saddam our leader' and 'U'nite for action'
Simpson argues that Saddam was taking an almost entirely unwilling country into war. Does this explain the massive defeat of the Iraqi army in a land war that finished just 100 hours after it had started? Simpson thinks so. In fact Iraq would have made a formidable opponent if the anti-imperialist feeling amongst the Iraqi people had been successfully tapped Securing democratic rights (including the right of self-determin ation of the Kurds), the arming of the Iraqi masses and exposing the reasons for the war would have gone a long way towards this In its reports on the insurrect. ion in Kurdistan at the end of the war, the book gives a vivid desc. ription of the aspirations - soon to be dashed - of those living during the apparent demise of a hated dictatorship: "There are fen more heady experiences than being with people who have liberated themselves by their own efforts from hated some regime Everyone is a brother. Revolutionary crowds cease to be a collection of cowardly: fallible individuals and become. for a briet moment, something grander and gencrous...
This book is worth reading It is a strong reminder of the swings in opinion during the crisis in both the Middle East and in the West
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