Word: ands
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
I defined this group, the "Zealots," as those Jews who support Israel merely because it is a Jewish state, and for whom Israel's status as a democracy is ancillary. Because the majority of American supporters of Israel--myself included--do not share this unqualified support for Israel, the Zealots...
Zealots are loathe to admit that they would support Israel even if it weren't a democracy, so they invent excuses when Israel strays from the liberal democratic path. Sometimes they deny, sometimes they rationalize, and sometimes they impute the motives of Israel's critics.
I'll let the facts speak for themselves. Since the intifada began just over two years ago, almost 600 Palestinians have been killed, about 2000 imprisoned without trial and 58 deported in violation of international law. Divide those figures by the number of days and you see just how routine...
Perhaps most disturbing to me were the letters that attributed sinister motives to my criticism of Israel. One reader informed me that he could not brook criticism from anyone "whose political purpose goes beyond that of Palestinian nationalism and human rights."
In retrospect, the choice of the word "defend" was poor. But I stand by my accusation that Dershowitz is an inveterate apologist for Israel. My point was not whether Dershowitz approves of human rights violations, but whether he rationalizes them. And indeed he does.