John Mearsheimer Endorses a Hitler Apologist and Holocaust Revisionist

[shira]

<snip>

If you recall from the fight over "The Israel Lobby," which Mearsheimer wrote with Stephen Walt, of Harvard, the authors claimed that they were simply writing a critique of American foreign policy, and of certain American citizens who, they said, "distorted" foreign policy. Many of us disagreed. Here is a bit of what David Rothkopf wrote about Mearsheimer and Walt: "W)hatever the pale intellectual merits of his hackneyed argument may be (the authors) know full well that their prominence on this issue has come not because they have had a single new insight but rather because they were willing and one can only believe inclined to play to a crowd whose 'views' were fueled by prejudice and worse. They may not be anti-Semites themselves but they made a cynical decision to cash in on anti-Semitism by offering to dress up old hatreds in the dowdy Brooks Brothers suits of the Kennedy School and the University of Chicago."

Now, Mearsheimer is endorsing the writing of a man who espouses neo-Nazi views. In other words, he's not even bothering to make believe anymore -- he's moved from a self-described critic of Israel to a corrosive critic of Jewry itself. The blogger Adam Holland, like yours truly, didn't quite believe that Mearsheimer would endorse such a crude anti-Semite, so he asked him to confirm:

I had trouble believing that a distinguished professor at one of the world's greatest universities would link himself to a hatemonger like Atzmon. So I sent Professor Mearsheimer an email quoting the blurb and asking him to verify it's accuracy. I also gave him an opportunity to amend it or add to it. Here's what he wrote back:

"The blurb below is the one I wrote for "The Wandering Who" and I have no reason to amend it or embellish it, as it accurately reflects my view of the book."

more...
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/john-mearsheimer-endorses-a-hitler-apologist-and-holocaust-revisionist/245518/

[vminfla]

1. the distance between two points

The distance between self-described critic to espousing hate is generally a straight line. This is clearly a case in point. Sadly, these men are in higher education, espousing their irrational hate to tomorrow's generation. You can see the ramifications of this trans-generational hatred manifested with the Irvine 10.

[aranthus]

2. And we're surprised by this? n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. Never been a fan of Mearsheimer; but my estimate of him is lowered further by this

Atzmon is (1) antisemitic; (2) nutty; (3) nuttily antisemitic.

[Mosby]

11. +1000

[shira]

28. Go further. Atzmon is beyond nuttily antisemitic. He's a fucking neo-nazi. And worse...

...the anti-Israel Left absolutely loves him! From Richard Falk and John Mearsheimer to Team Mondoweiss and the Free Gaza flotilla movement....

He's wonderful!

:eyes:

Those on the anti-Israel Left who realize what a piece of excrement he really is are, for some reason, not courageous enough to call him out for who he really is.

They fear such an act would be anti-Palestinian (and rightwing) since so many beloved and adored "anti-Zionists" are in bed with the Left's version of "David Duke".

=========

ETA

There are some anti-Israel Jews willing to stand up to Atzmon...
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/10/10/the-nadir-of-the-anti-zionist-jews/

Unfortunately, these anti-zionist Jews (mocked by Atzmon and the rest of the Leftist anti-Israel movement) aren't much different than Atzmon. Rather than sign up with his Nazi style anti-zionism, they cling to old Soviet defamations of Jews that are not significantly different than Atzmon's. After having defended so much bigotry and antisemitism in the past against Jews and Israel, they're finding they have no allies now against Atzmon.

[shira]

4. Mearsheimer and Walt defend antisemite who thinks Hitler will be proved right

Walt’s logic goes like this: if you think his co-author is backing a Nazi sympathiser, you prove their “Israel lobby” theories to be right all along.

But that’s just silly. Atzmon is a Nazi, and Walt and Mearsheimer are now providing cover for him.

more...
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/26/mearsheimer-and-walt-defend-antisemite-who-thinks-hitler-will-be-proved-right/

[King_David]

5. I am surprised by this,

NOT !!

[shira]

6. Wart and Smearshiner still have their fans here, unfortunately. n/t

[geek tragedy]

7. Indefensible. nt

[shaayecanaan]

8. Mearsheimer to Goldberg: I'm no anti-semite

http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/25/mearsheimer_responds_to_goldbergs_latest_smear

"The book, as my blurb makes clear, is an extended meditation on Jewish identity in the Diaspora and how it relates to the Holocaust, Israel, and Zionism. There is no question that the book is provocative, both in terms of its central argument and the overly hot language that Atzmon sometimes uses. But it is also filled with interesting insights that make the reader think long and hard about an important subject. Of course, I do not agree with everything that he says in the book -- what blurber does? -- but I found it thought provoking and likely to be of considerable interest to Jews and non-Jews, which is what I said in my brief comment.

Goldberg maintains that Atzmon is a categorically reprehensible person, and accuses him of being a Holocaust denier and an apologist for Hitler. These are two of the most devastating charges that can be leveled against anyone. According to Goldberg, the mere fact that I blurbed Atzmon's book is decisive evidence that I share Atzmon's supposedly odious views. This indictment of me is captured in the title of Goldberg's piece: "John Mearsheimer Endorses a Hitler Apologist and Holocaust Revisionist."

This charge is so ludicrous that it is hard to know where to start my response. But let me begin by noting that I have taught countless University of Chicago students over the years about the Holocaust and about Hitler's role in it. Nobody who has been in my classes would ever accuse me of being sympathetic to Holocaust deniers or making excuses for what Hitler did to European Jews. Not surprisingly, those loathsome charges have never been leveled against me until Goldberg did so last week."

*****************

Still a failure of judgment, IMO.

[oberliner]

9. Goldberg: Dr. Mearsheimer is not telling the truth

Dr. Mearsheimer is not telling the truth. Two of the three Atzmon quotations I published in this post appear in the very same Atzmon book praised by Mearsheimer.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/a-mearsheimer-falsehood-and-other-reactions-to-atzmon/245711/

And on it goes.

[geek tragedy]

10. Everyone to Mearsheimer: stop digging. nt

[King_David]

21. He is way past the digging stage.

I think he actually does agree with the dude.

[shira]

23. They all are. They'd have to admit they've been promoting, excusing, ignoring and denying evil...

...if they were to ever come clean and start doing the right thing.

Don't worry, they won't.

[King_David]

14. Of course not, some of his best friends are Jewish

'' Nobody who has been in my classes would ever accuse me of being sympathetic to Holocaust deniers ''

Yep those 'best friends' will vouch for me ;)

[shira]

12. The "progressive" Guardian gives platform to Atzmon

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/28/moral-obligation-and-jewish-identity

[shira]

13. Giving John Mearsheimer a Chance to Climb Down

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/giving-john-mearsheimer-a-chance-to-climb-down/245693/


According to the blog Harry's Place, the new, John Mearsheimer-endorsed book, "The Wandering Who?", by the anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon provides the following "classically fascist/Nazi position on Jewish finance":

"You may wonder at this stage whether I regard the credit crunch as a Zionist plot or even a Jewish conspiracy. In fact the opposite is the case. It isn't a plot and certainly not a conspiracy for it was all in the open."

This is from a book, you'll recall, that John Mearsheimer, a distinguished faculty member at the University of Chicago, has endorsed as "fascinating and provocative."

There is also this, from "The Wandering Who?":

"Fagin is the ultimate plunderer, a child exploiter and usurer. Shylock is the blood-thirsty merchant. With Fagin and Shylock in mind, the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians seems to be just a further event in an endless hellish continuum."

Here is Harry's Place on this very revelatory line:

"We should look closely at what Atzmon is saying here. According to Atzmon, Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is only the latest chapter in a "hellish continuum" of Jews plundering goods and exploiting children. This means that however you consider Israeli actions, they are only the latest in a continuum of wicked actions carried out by world Jewry. In Atzmon's "continuum" Israeli evil carries on from ancient Jewish evil, in which Shylock and Fagin are not vile racist caricatures at all, but accurately reflect Jews. That is why Atzmon can write in The Wandering Who: 'Some Jews are rather unhappy with Charles Dickens' Fagin and Shakespeare's Shylock, who they regard as 'anti-Semitic.'

So, two questions John Mearsheimer might want to ask himself, before he digs himself (and Stephen Walt) any deeper: Was the most recent world economic meltdown caused by Zionists, or Jews? And, two, are Shylock and Fagin historically accurate representations of Jews? If Mearsheimer disagrees with Atzmon, he might want to consider withdrawing his endorsement of this book.

[King_David]

15. At the time some people said Mearsheimer was not an antisemite

But just a critic of Israel's policy.



The sun is shining in.

[TomClash]

16. Jeffrey Goldberg and Antisemitism

"Anti-Semitism is a constant. So, too, is the urge, among Jews of cosmopolitan, universalist bent, to separate themselves from their tribe,. Being in rebellion against Judaism is in itself a form of Judaism. These Jews separate themselves by conversion, by public disassociation, or by excoriation of the tribe for its moral and spiritual failings."

"The fear of antisemitism is the forge on which many American Jews built their identities. This is how I built mine."

Jeffrey Goldberg, p. 42 and 43, Prisoners: A Muslim and A Jew Across the Middle East Divide

[King_David]

17. A Mearsheimer Falsehood, and Other Reactions to Atzmon

Sep 26 2011, 9:34 PM ET

John Mearsheimer writes on Stephen Walt's Foreign Policy blog:

"...Goldberg's assault on me steers clear of criticizing Atzmon's book, which is what I blurbed. In short, he falsely accuses me of lending support to a Holocaust denier and defender of Hitler on the basis of writings that I did not read and did not comment upon."

Dr. Mearsheimer is not telling the truth. Two of the three Atzmon quotations I published in this post appear in the very same Atzmon book praised by Mearsheimer. From Harry's Place:


Of all the ridiculous points made by Walt and Mearsheimer in their latest Foreign Policy article, this sentence is the most ludicrous:


Goldberg's indictment of Atzmon does not rely on anything that he wrote in The Wandering Who?

Goldberg's piece quotes from Atzmon three times.

Two of the three quotes in Goldberg's article about Atzmon are also found in The Wandering Who:

- see page 175 for the "65 years after the liberation of Auschwitz" comment
- see page 51 for the Fagin/Shylock comment

Whatever next?

What's next is Jon Chait:


Now, obviously, the fact that Mearsheimer endorsed Atzmon's book does not mean Mearsheimer has endorsed every one of Atzmon's beliefs. Mearsheimer could certainly choose to endorse this particular book without defending Atzmon as a general thinker. Yet here is Mearsheimer today, writing on Walt's blog, defending Atzmon as a general thinker. And the book itself contains such charming observations as:


You may wonder at this stage whether I regard the credit crunch as a Zionist plot or even a Jewish conspiracy. In fact the opposite is the case. It isn't a plot and certainly not a conspiracy for it was all in the open.


and:


Fagin is the ultimate plunderer, a child exploiter and usurer. Shylock is the blood-thirsty merchant. With Fagin and Shylock in mind, the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians seems to be just a further event in an endless hellish continuum.



Now, I haven't read the book and I don't know the context of these quotes. But unless the context is something like, "The following paragraph was inserted surreptitiously by a Nazi infiltrator at the printing house and it's too late to excise it but please don't associate me with these crazy statements," then it probably can't help much.

And Adam Holland files this report about another bizarre aspect of Mearsheimer's Atzmon defense:

The strangest thing about Mearsheimer's very strange defense of Atzmon against charges that Atzmon is anti-Jewish is that it runs counter to Atzmon's own statements about himself. Atzmon actually calls himself a "proud self-hating Jew".

Such ideas, and far worse, appear throughout Atzmon's writings and interviews. Joseph W, writing at Harry Place, points to a recent interview in which Atzmon made the following astounding declaration of anti-Jewish sentiment:

Interviewer: I tell people we are almost getting into a Weimar situation, do you see that happening?

Atzmon: Absolutely. It is very tragic to say, but I can see it. And the only thing that can save the Jews from themselves is if we, the goyim, let's say --

Interviewer: I heard you joined the goyim a few years ago, you are on the goyim team now.

Atzmon: Yes -- if the goyim, the gentiles, basically -- find within ourselves the powers to contain this sinister ideological collective.


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/a-mearsheimer-falsehood-and-other-reactions-to-atzmon/245711/

[shira]

18. The Antisemitism Lobby

Did you know that the Jews declared war on Germany well before the Nazis adopted anti-Jewish policies?

I have to confess that despite my Ph.D. in contemporary history, I was completely ignorant of this “fact” – but that’s because this particular spin of the Jewish anti-Nazi boycott of late March 1933 is of course a favorite among people who think the Nazis were right about the Jews.

Just like how Joseph Goebbels, the notorious Nazi Minister of “Public Enlightenment and Propaganda,” felt that there was “intrinsic” truth to the antisemitic forgery known as “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” there are still people who see “prophetic qualities” in this forgery, which reads to them like an accurate description of “the political reality in which we live.”

Such views are not restricted to the far-right fringes and neo-Nazi groups, but are also held by supposedly leftist “anti-Zionists.”

Among the latter type is the Israeli-British jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, who apparently has a lot of spare time that he devotes to expressing his disdain and hatred for all things Israeli and Jewish.

<snip>

However, the Guardian’s description of Atzmon’s views as “blunt anti-Zionism” is simply an attempt to whitewash Atzmon’s rabid antisemitism. It is plainly not anti-Zionism when somebody rejects comparisons between Nazi Germany and Israel by hysterically claiming that such a comparison is really unfair to Nazi Germany because “Israel is nothing but evilness for the sake of evilness. It is wickedness with no comparison.”

Indeed, in fall 2006, the Guardian itself published a piece by David Hirsh, an expert on antisemitism, who made the case that Atzmon’s views represented a “new strain of openly anti-semitic anti-Zionism.”

But when Atzmon demanded and got a right of response, he defended his views by citing “the work of the prominent American academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt who have exposed the vast influence of the Israel Lobby in America.” Atzmon added confidently: “In fact the views expressed by myself in the piece quoted by Hirsh are no different than those of Mearsheimer and Walt. Those views are now becoming an integral part of the Anglo American academic discourse.”

As it turns out, Atzmon was on to something: in late 2006, he was a fan of Mearsheimer’s and Walt’s work on the “Israel Lobby” – and by now, Atzmon has written a book, and Mearsheimer and Walt are his fans.

more...
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/505/the_antisemitism_lobby

[shira]

19. On Israel, Palestine and Antisemitism

As is often, and rightly said, criticism of Israel and its policies does not constitute antisemitism. However, it has become increasingly clear that antisemitism has permeated “Palestinian Solidarity” politics, and that very little has been done either to recognise or to challenge it.

There are two consequences to this state of affairs. Antisemitism has been normalised in a section of Palestinian Solidarity advocacy, which now argues that combating antisemitism is “anti-Palestinian”. As a consequence, the impression has been created that pro-Palestinian activism is part and parcel of the promotion of antisemitism.

<snip>

Antisemitic rhetoric was traditionally quite rare within British Palestinian solidarity politics. Although you can argue that the denial of the right of Jews, uniquely, to self-determine is antisemitic, and conspiracism about “Zionist power” often echoes ancient racist tropes about Jews, explicit and undisguised antisemitism was usually opposed, and entryist Nazis shown the door.

All this is changing. First, a tolerance of antisemitism within Palestinian solidarity politics has arisen as a consequence of the decision to support Hamas, whose founding Covenant is a diatribe of racist invective, and whose officials repeatedly make genocidal threats against Jews. If Hamas is to be supported, it is necessary for Palestinian Solidarity activists to deny antisemitism, and indeed to paint Hamas’ critics as racists and fanatics. Secondly, I believe that a more terrible realisation has dawned on some Palestinian solidarity campaigners. While some fear that the association of the Palestinian cause with antisemitism will harm their movement, others have discovered that tapping into age-old hatreds of the scheming, controlling, corrupting Jew actually helps to attract passionate support.

<snip>

The defence of antisemites, the denial of antisemitism and the attack on Jewish anti-racist organisations could not be in more stark contrast to the conduct of those Jewish anti-racism organisations themselves. The CST has repeatedly and loudly opposed anti-Muslim groups, such as the English Defence League. It has spoken out against the very small number of Jews attracted to the ranks of anti-Muslim organisations. You certainly wouldn’t find the CST, or any Jewish or pro-Israel organisation of note, supporting Kahanist politics. It really is a startling difference between the two camps.

The sad truth is this. Antisemitism, when dressed up as a “pro Palestinian” politics, is now the norm. It is effectively unchallenged. Anti-racist organisations like Hope not Hate timorously steer clear of this issue, Unite Against Fascism is run by the Socialist Workers Party which promoted the antisemitic Atzmon, and continue to deny his antisemitism. Amongst many Palestinian solidarity campaigners, objecting to antisemitism is presented as a Jewish trick, and in newspapers like The Guardian, is depicted as a conspiracy against Palestinians. Even Andy Newman, who happily condemns Atzmon, won’t say a word against Hamas’ far worse antisemitism.

more...
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/10/06/on-israel-palestine-and-antisemitism/

[vminfla]

35. I never understood the logic

rooting for the underdog because he does not have enough weapons to wage his seige is just silly.

[shira]

20. Promoters and Deniers of Antisemitism Attack the Community Security Trust

Seriously, you have to read the stunning attack on the Community Security Trust by Raed Salah supporter, Asa Winstanley.

Make no mistake: a significant part of pro-Palestinian politics now consists of promoting antisemites, denying antisemitism, and attacking Jews who object to antisemitism.

That’s their strategy. And they’re shameless about it.

<snip>

As I argued yesterday, although some pro-Palestinian activists object to antisemitism, it has become increasingly clear that antisemitism has permeated Palestinian solidarity politics, and that very little has been done either to recognise or to challenge it.

The reason, I suggested, is that it is necessary for those who support Palestinian political groups – in particular, Hamas – which push genocidal antisemitism, to justify their own alliance with racists. They do so, as we have seen, by pretending it doesn’t exist, and attacking those who point it out.

This is a textbook example of that process at work.

If you consistently make excuses for the clearest cases of antisemitism, that means you’re an antisemite.

That’s why the Palestinian Solidarity movement has increasingly come to look like the English Defence League: angrily denying the evidence that they’re packed with bigots, racists and haters, while the truth is plain to anybody who cares to look.

http://hurryupharry.org/2011/10/07/promoters-and-deniers-of-antisemitism-attack-the-community-security-trust/

[shira]

22. Antisemites, terror supporters & Holocaust deniers: aka just another Palestinian Solidarity Campaign

Richard Millett’s recent post, “Sizer, the Rivercourt Methodist Church and Holocaust Denial” should be read in its entirety to see how depraved discourse by anti-Israel activists in the UK has become, but here are a few highlights from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign event that Millett attended.

The event was held by the West London Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Due to speak were Reverend Stephen Sizer, Arthur Goodman (Jews for Justice for Palestinians), Linda Ramsden (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) and Daud Abdullah (of Middle East Monitor, and CiF contributor). Ghada Karmi (a one-state solution proponent and CiF contributor) couldn’t make it, so was replaced by a “member” of Anarchist Against the Wall

Rev. Stephen Sizer, who has a habit of associating with Holocaust Deniers, notorious antisemites, and Islamists who support terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, said that church leaders refuse to speak out about Israel’s crimes because of “guilt for the Holocaust and fear of anti-Semitism”. Sizer further added that churches which side with “the occupation” and Zionism have “repudiated Jesus, have repudiated the bible and are an abomination”

...


This is the hatred that the anti-Israel movement engenders: a coalition which includes Christian inspired antisemitism, Sizer, Islamists who support terror attacks against Israeli civilians, Abdullah, and a PSC groupie who denies the Holocaust and thinks Israeli Jews are Nazis.

That two of the scheduled speakers at this hate fest have been given a platform by the Guardian comes as no surprise.

To turn an axiom coined by liberal Jewish pundit Peter Beinart around, it is simply undeniable that the pro-Palestinian camp increasingly demands that adherents to their cause leave any semblance of liberalism at the door.



more...
http://cifwatch.com/2011/10/09/antisemites-terror-supporters-holocaust-deniers-aka-just-another-palestinian-solidarity-campaign-event/

[shira]

24. Jonathan Cook: “I have no idea whether Atzmon has expressed anti-semitic views”

Former Guardian journalist Jonathan Cook has published a piece about Gilad Atzmon for the website Global Research, complaining about the “cult” of the Guardian. He writes:

"I have no idea whether Atzmon has expressed anti-semitic views – and I am none the wiser after reading Newman’s piece."

Atzmon has written that the credit crunch was a Jewish attack on global financing, thinks that the Shylock and Fagin accurately represent Jews, and thinks that the evil of the Jews will eventually prove Hitler right. Even after reading this, I am fully confident that Jonathan Cook will be “none the wiser” still.

more...
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/28/jonathan-cook-i-have-no-idea-whether-atzmon-has-expressed-anti-semitic-views/

[shira]

25. Richard Falk's endorsement of Gilad Atzmon's book (blurb on front cover)

"Gilad Atzman has written an absorbing and moving account of his journey from hard core Israeli nationalist to a de-Zionized patriot of humanity and passionate advocate of justice for the Palestinian people. It is a transformative story told with unflinching integrity that all (especially Jews) who care about real peace, as well as their own identity, should not only read, but reflect upon and discuss widely."

[shira]

26. Gilad Atzmon's June 2011 interview of Phillip Weiss of Mondoweiss...

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-jews-their-self-interest-an-interview-with-phil.html

[shira]

27. U.S. Boat to Gaza – West presents Gilad Atzmon

In concert and talk.

A benefit for the Bay Area’s flotilla passengers who will be onboard The Audacity of Hope. You’ll meet them as they get ready to go on the “Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” to break Israel’s illegal naval blockade, an awesomely courageous revolutionary liberatory, even world-history-making action.

Atzmon is a worldwide-renowned jazz saxophonist par excellence. He was born and raised in Israel. After serving in the Israeli military he became an expat and lives in London. He also holds a PhD in philosophy and is a prolific writer and speaker on Israel-Palestine.

Please join Gilad, his pianist Daniel Raynaud, and the passengers.

May 10, 2011 at 4:30pm


http://ustogaza.org/events/u-s-boat-to-gaza-west-presents-gilad-atzmon/

[shira]

29. The Guardian is selling Atzmon's latest hate screed online...

http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781846948756

Note the editor’s synopsis of Atzmon’s book:

“An explosive unique crucial book tackling the issues of Jewish identity Politics and ideology and their global influence.“

To be clear, here’s how the Guardian describes the aim of their online bookshop:

“The aim of this site is to present you with a tailored selection of handpicked books that reflect the Guardian and Observer’s well-respected literary coverage and reviews.

So among the “tailored selection of handpicked books which reflect the Guardian and Observers well-respected literary coverage and reviews” is an expose on world Jewry’s injurious “global influence”.

And, how helpful of “the world’s leading liberal voice”: the extremist Judeophobia of Gilad Atzmon is ready to ship in just one business day – and 20% off the cover price!

The Guardian: Your one-stop, hassle-free, 24/7 purveyor of antisemitism.

http://cifwatch.com/2011/10/16/at-the-guardians-online-bookshop-antisemitism-is-shipped-within-24-hours/

Absolutely shameless and disgusting!

:puke:

[shira]

30. Within 24 hours of CiF Watch post, Guardian removes Gilad Atzmon’s book from their online shop.

http://cifwatch.com/2011/10/17/within-24-hours-of-cif-watch-post-guardian-removes-gilad-atzmons-book-from-their-online-shop/

[shira]

31. Jews 4 Justice 4 Palestinians promotes fan of rabid antisemite Gilad Atzmon

http://hurryupharry.org/2011/10/19/anti-zionist-jews-of-jfjfp-promote-gilad-atzmon-fan/

[shira]

32. Jonathan Cook rips the Guardian for commissioning an article criticizing Gilad Atzmon

Cook writes of Atzmon:

I have no idea whether Atzmon has expressed anti-semitic views...
http://www.countercurrents.org/cook290911.htm

[shira]

33. US academics challenged over praise of 'anti-Semitic' book

LONDON – Uproar has broken out since American academics John Mearsheimer and Richard Falk have endorsed a new book by a London-based Israeli musician accused of being an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier.

Chicago University professor John Mearsheimer, author of the 2007 book The Israel Lobby, and Princeton professor Richard Falk, the UN rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, gave promotional words for a book written by Gilad Atzmon.

His book, titled The Wandering Who, has been described as contemporary cultural racism and as an attack on Jewish identity inspired by Soviet anti- Semitism, by analysts and experts.

Renowned American law professor Alan Dershowitz said the book has crossed the line from anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism and said their endorsement was something he has not seen in his lifetime.

“I challenge Mearsheimer and Falk to a debate on whether they have endorsed an anti-Semitic book,” he told The Jerusalem Post on Friday. He said he plans to expose their action widely, both in the academy and elsewhere.

more...
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=242902

[shira]

34. Lauren Booth of FreeGaza defends Gilad Atzmon...

http://lauren-booth.blogspot.com/2011/11/three-people-in-this-marriage-psc-jc.html

The same Lauren Booth talking to the head of Hamas here, alongside her buddies from FreeGaza like Jeff Halper in red on the left...