The Case Against Israel's Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace [Paperback]

 

 

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This is an articulate well-documented expose of Israel's enemies, particularly Jimmy Carter. I was surprised to have my low opinion of Carter fall even further during the reading of this book. There is much material here that I have not seen elsewhere.

Alan Dershowitz's book The Case for Israel is a powerful defense of the Jewish State. In this work he sets his sights on today's most prominent enemies of Israel, observing that support of Israel does not make one anti-Palestinian, while the reverse is nearly universally true. He considers Jimmy Carter and other influential Westerners as a far greater threat than terror groups like Hamas & Hezbollah because these opinion formers engage in many subtle forms of deceit in order to undermine the legitimacy of Israel.

Spreading disinformation with propagandistic intent, their motives are highly suspect. They use all the devious methods of rhetoric in pursuit of their goal, like omission, half-truth, inversion and innuendo. Dershowitz engages their accusations in context, investigates the facts they present in support of their arguments and discusses the host of factors that they deliberately omit when portraying the Middle East situation.

For example, Jimmy Carter never mentions the fact that at present, approximately 20% of Israeli citizens are Arab and 16% of its citizens are Muslim. At last count its Arab citizens were represented by 10 members in the Israeli parliament belonging to three political parties: Balad, Hadash and the United Arab List - Ta'al. Dershowitz considers Carter as Enemy Numero Uno due to his elder statesman status; this position he has misused for the demonization of Israel, thereby opening the door for others to follow.

Chapter One plus the Appendix are devoted to exposing Carter's agenda, tactics, errors & motivations. It should come as no surprise that this worst ex-president of all time who loves hobnobbing with murderous dictators has no problem accepting Arab petrodollars for funding his Carter Center. In this regard I also recommend Bearing False Witness edited by Andrea Levin.

Next the author tackles Mearsheimer and Walt, exposing their use of questionable sources and their distortions of truth. This includes their misuse of the work of historian Benny Morris and the way they try to create the impression that AIPAC and Israel were in favor of the Iraq War. There's definitely a sinister sub-text in their work as it employs the same outright falsehoods, half-truths and hints that have been characteristic of antisemitic libels for many centuries.

See also Bernard Harrison for the way the "new" antisemitism resembles the old; the same assumptions, imagery and concepts are used, and The New Anti-Semitism by Denis MacShane. Then poor li'l Wart & Smearsheimer had the nerve to play the persecuted victim card, presenting themselves as `courageously' speaking truth to power. It's more like slandering those under existential threat.

Chapter Three: The Case against Boycotting Israeli Academics and Divesting from Israeli Businesses examines the boycott attempts by UK academics, the politicized academic unions and the very real threat of retaliation by US universities. He looks at the Presbyterian Church which singles out Israel for divestment owing to alleged human rights abuses but remains silent about real atrocities committed by tyrants worldwide.

In the following chapter Dershowitz places the anti-Israel Left and Far Right in the spotlight, pointing out their antisemitism and support of Holocaust deniers. Those whose words & actions are scrutinized include Pat Buchanan, the UK columnist Taki, Noam Chomsky and Richard Falk, all of whom indulge in fabrications and calumnies under the pretense of serious scholarship. What Dershowitz makes clear as day is that those who attempt to undermine American support for Israel by falsely portraying Jewish Americans as one monolithic lobby group are dishonest and insincere.

In addition, Dershowitz boldly confronts the Vatican for its failure to condemn terrorism against Israeli civilians. I agree with him that the church's reluctance to do this reflects the same reason that it hesitated so long and did so little to protest the mass murder of the Holocaust. The Vatican has indeed always had a Jewish problem, as Daniel Goldhagen proves in his harrowing book A Moral Reckoning.

Turning to the Middle East, Dershowitz looks at Iran and its president's genocidal threats against Israel, and at Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, the homicide/suicide bombing phenomenon and those behind it. Calling Iran a 'suicide nation,' he juxtaposes Ahmadinejad's ravings with the political reality and the attitudes of ordinary Iranians who are tired of the corrupt ayatollocracy.

The conclusion is titled The Case against Simple-Minded, One-Sided Solutions to Complex, Multifaceted Problems. The astonishing hypocrisy and sanctimony of these anti-Israel individuals & groups defy reason whilst their demonstrable dishonesty & ill-concealed malice are not hard to discern. The author convincingly argues that the enemies of Israel are enemies of all mankind.

The appendix is titled Why Jimmy Carter Is Wrong: The Facts. Dershowitz examines an extensive list of factual errors in Carter's book to disprove the grinning peanut's insistence that what he has written about Israel is correct. Investigating the reasons why Carter has descended into the swamps of bigotry & propaganda, Dershowitz suspects that besides the aforementioned petrodollars, religious motives may be at work.

There are 35 pages of bibliographical notes and the book concludes with an index. The text is absorbing throughout as Dershowitz effectively immobilizes the flood of lies & disinformation that seems to be increasing exponentially from all quarters. Remaining indifferent is not an option; societies that permit a climate of Judeophobia always pay a steep price. Certain trends are furthermore becoming visible. From its birth in 1948 Israel has been a terrorist target. Now the whole Western world, India and Muslim states like Indonesia & Pakistan have become targets too. It follows the old antisemitic pattern of Jews being the first victims but not the last.

Before commenting on the book, let me mention that I studied Law and Medicine under Professor Dershowitz many years ago at Harvard Law School. The course was conducted as a running debate between the M.D. professor and Professor Dershowitz. Much could be learned by listening to both sides.

When it comes to Israel and Palestine (and its supporters in and out of the Arab world), there aren't very many debates. Instead, supporters of one side or the other make claims about the other side being at fault. The history is so involved and complicated that few people know enough about it to assess the assertions without doing a lot of research (something that is beyond the interest of most uninvolved observers).

Professor Dershowitz offers to debate critics of Israel, but they don't take up the challenge. As a result, books like this one are important for helping to get a balanced view of the historical perspective and the current issues (as we all watch with horror as rockets are launched at Israel and Israel attacks those who launch them . . . often in civilian dominated areas).

Let me summarize the book's key points:

1. Former President Jimmy Carter got it wrong in his book, Peace, Not Apartheid. Professor Dershowitz clearly distinguishes what South Africa did to its African and "colored" populations from what Israel does to Palestinians. Carter's book seems filled with obvious errors which are detailed pretty thoroughly in an appendix. Yet Carter stands by the book being without error.

2. Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt mischaracterized the history of Palestinian-Israeli relations in a way that is either incompetent or corrupt. The fact-checking makes the two professors look pretty bad.

3. Those who want to boycott Israeli academics and divest from Israeli businesses are acting as though stifling free debate will help create peace, on the one hand, and that Israel is a rogue nation, on the other hand. Professor Dershowitz shows that the academic community doesn't support the boycotts and that the divestiture movement isn't based on a sound factual evaluation.

4. Those who oppose Israel's activities with regard to the Palestinians from either the hard left or hard right seem to be taking positions that are racist because they don't criticize regimes that are actually engaged in genocide or severe forms of racial discrimination. Many are also quoted as having made anti-Semitic statements.

5. Those who favor suicide bombers aren't interested in peace but are rather acting on religious beliefs that require that Israel be destroyed and eliminated, and he provides many quotes to support that view.

6. The Iranian atomic program is a danger to Israel and the United States because the current leadership is committed to destroying Israel and any nation that opposes what Muslims want to do. He provides many quotes to support these views from the mouths of the appropriate leaders.

In conclusion, he argues that

1. Israel has always been willing to trade land for peace, but Palestinians haven't.

2. Israel has the right under international law to take a proportionate response to attacks on its territory and citizenry.

3. Muslims, Arabs, and Christians have more rights in Israel than they do in Muslim countries.

4. Palestinian opposition to the Jewish presence in what is now Israel dates back to the Nazi era and includes collaboration in the Holocaust.

5. Most of the current social problems that Palestinians experience are a result of Arab nations not wanting to accept them in their countries rather than mistreatment by Israelis.

After having read the book, I wanted to understand why so many people are making such preposterous statements.

In thinking about how all these falsehoods could have occurred, I realized that it was a lot like watching two football fans argue about which fan's team was the better. Each fan is convinced of its team's superiority and isn't very aware of or sympathetic to the other side. And they really don't care if they get it wrong in making their arguments. Why? Their loyalty to the team is more important than the truth. It's about emotions . . . not about facts.

If someone is outraged to see Palestinians suffer from Israeli bombs, they will see the Israelis as guilty. If someone is outraged to see Israeli civilians blown up by Palestinian suicide bombers or Hamas rockets, they will see at least some Palestinians as guilty.

When football is involved, the leagues supply independent officials to sort it all out. In the case of Israel and the Palestinians, no one is playing that role of independent officials any more. And I have to assume that few would want to be inserted into what could be hundreds of years of warfare.

It seems like a situation that will only escalate, until one side or the other has to give up because the cost of "victory" is too high. That's hardly a civilized or desirable resolution.

What's the answer? Well, if every nation is going to be at risk of these angry parties lobbing atomic weapons at one another, perhaps the time has come for the international community to realize that it had better supply those objective officials or bear a horrible price.

Who will step forward? I don't know, but I pray someone will.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Another sick book from a lier..sorry lawyer
If less than one star or no star is avaliable, this book deserves nothing more. Based on very biased pro-Israel arguments, he emphatically denies any rights to the Palestinians... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2009 by Samir Kassir

1.0 out of 5 stars and O.J. didn't do it...
The following story is told in North Carolina: A young lawyer went to an old lawyer for advice as to how to try a law suit. Read more

Published on Feb 1 2009 by M. Lloyd

1.0 out of 5 stars Another piece of defence from lawyer of OJ Simpson
This book is just part of the massive propaganda that Alan Dershowitz is engaged in and is as reliable as his defence of OJ Simpson. Read more

Published on Feb 1 2009 by Farhad

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