Alan Dershowitz has now written three “Case” books in which he argues for Israel (No. 1), for Middle East peace (No. 2) and against Israel’s enemies (No. 3).
As a distinguished professor of law, it is incumbent on the author to systematically describe, analyze and interpret the thorny topics at hand. He does so with the meticulous, wide-ranging scholarship that runs throughout his writing and speaking.
In his latest “Case” book, “The Case Against Israel’s Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace,” Dershowitz provides 35 pages of notes and citations to the main text, providing an impeccable dissection of all sides of the argument.
But Dershowitz does not just offer a cut-and-dried law school case study. His presentation is suffused with conviction and passion. He cares deeply about Israel and feels obliged to refute its critics who would delegitimize and destroy the tiny nation.
Dershowitz is a one-man information and opinion dynamo, creating a constant stream of books (he has written 28 in all), magazine articles and newspaper columns, appearing in the media and on the Internet. His public appearances draw big crowds, and he has a reputation for knowledgeable and thoughtful analysis and straight-talking.
In his book, Dershowitz poses the basic question: Why is Israel so hated? Why does Israel have “proportionally more enemies than any nation on Earth?” Why is Israel the object of so much scorn, beginning with boycott and isolation, and running to existential threats of genocide and annihilation?
The great paradox is that over the last 60 years, no nation on the planet has contributed more per capita to the general welfare of the world’s populations.
Israel has devised and exported world-class medical, environmental, and agricultural technologies. Her legal system safeguards human rights without peer throughout the Middle East. She is the only democracy in the region, surrounded by 21 Arab nations, with some of them (like Iran) pledged to Israel’s destruction.
Dershowitz answers his own question by plunging into the historical backgrounds, geopolitics and motivations of Israel’s enemies. He reveals their intellectual dishonesty, their hypocrisy and their scapegoating of Israel to cover their own problems and failures.
The book, like his earlier “Case” books, uncovers the ugly speech and actions of Israel’s opponents, which have created unrelenting reproach toward Israel at the United Nations (“Zionism is racism”) and other international forums.
Dershowitz organizes the book’s chapters in terms of Israel’s various foes, including President Jimmy Carter, who compares Israel to apartheid-era South Africa; professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, who believe the “Israel Lobby” controls American politics; boycott-happy academics who call for expulsion of Israeli professors and scientists; and Israel’s suicidal and genocidal antagonists, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with his trigger finger on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Dershowitz reserves special treatment for Carter, author of “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” In addition to the chapter covering Carter, there is a special 20-page appendix titled “Why Jimmy Carter is Wrong: The Facts.” Dershowitz accuses the self-appointed peace envoy of “factual shoddiness” and reveals Carter’s long history of manipulations, lies and distortions.
“The Case Against Israel’s Enemies” could hardly have any other verdict but guilty on all counts.
Dershowitz persuasively unmasks the hypocrisy of Israel’s critics. He disassembles Mearsheimer and Walt’s canard of dual loyalty, and strips away the immorality and bigotry of hardcore extremists and classical anti-Semites such as Noam Chomsky (far left) and Pat Buchanan (far right).
Reading Dershowitz is always a pleasure because his writing flows so naturally. He is one of the most lucid communicators of the English language, transforming “Case” into understandable prose, without jargon or hyperbole.
Of course, the subject is not light and the reader may be disturbed by the magnitude of the threat, which has created front lines and battlefields on which Israel must defend itself. But that is all the more reason to get this book into the hands of American policymakers.
Dershowitz closes the book with this plea: “I call on all people of goodwill, everyone who truly wants a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict, to stop demonizing Israel, to end the double standard that has been imposed on Israel, to cease the name-calling, to terminate the bigoted calls for boycotts and divestment against the Jewish state, and to stop encouraging terrorism.”
From his mouth to God’s ear.
“The Case Against Israel’s Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace” by Alan Dershowitz (293 pages, John Wiley & Sons, $25.95)