Free Republic

On April 30, I submitted to the Harvard Crimson a detailed op-ed refuting its recently-published blood libel against Israel. Over the next several days, the Crimson first said they were “reviewing” my submission; then that they were “interested in running it;” and, on May 4, that they would run my piece “probably tonight,” promising to “reach out with edits later today if needed.” As a result of these assurances, I withdrew my op-ed from any other publications. Then, on May 4, they “decided not to publish” my piece, using the phony excuse of “very high number of submissions . ....

Connecticut: Where Ridicule is a Crime by Alan M. Dershowitz November 2, 2019 at 5:00 am Among the most fundamental First Amendment rights is to ridicule — regardless of the reason. The same is true of holding people or groups up to contempt. Were Connecticut's absurd statute to be upheld — which it will not be — it could be applied to comedians, op-ed writers, politicians, professors and other students. And what about "creed"? Is being a conservative or a Trump supporter a creed that cannot be ridiculed?... [T]herein lies its greatest danger: selective prosecution based on current political correctness....

Ed Koch: I Knew Obama Would Betray IsraelI admire former Mayor Ed Koch’s willingness to break with his own party on issues of principle, but his comments to the Algemeiner today are mind-boggling. In between some very strong denunciations of the Chuck Hagel nomination, Koch casually let it drop that he suspected Obama would abandon his pro-Israel positions after the election. The former mayor, of course, endorsed Obama’s reelection and served as one of his surrogates to the pro-Israel community: “Frankly, I thought that there would come a time when [Obama] would renege on what he conveyed on his support...

A paradigmatic characteristic of all bigotry is to take a fault that is widespread among all cultures, races, religions and nationalities and to attribute it singularly to one group. For example: “Blacks are violent.” “Jews are cheap.” “Asians are sly.” “Gays are pedophiles.” “Women are irrational.” “Romanies (gypsies) cheat.” The truth, of course, is that all groups have some among them with these negative characteristics. The bigots who make these claims correctly point to the fact that some members of these groups display the negative characteristics attributed to the groups as a whole. But the bigotry consists of singling out...

The Palestinians are in the process of seeking sovereignty from the United Nations, but in doing so, they are asking for more than what was offered them in any prior negotiation with Israel—including during the talks involving President Clinton and Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001. Rather than more, it is imperative that the Palestinians get less. It is imperative to world peace that the Palestinians pay a price—even if it’s only a symbolic price—for rejecting the generous Clinton/Barak offer and responding to it with a second intifada in which 4,000 people were killed. It is also important that Israel...

The Palestinians are in the process of seeking sovereignty from the United Nations, but in doing so, they are asking for more than what was offered them in any prior negotiation with Israel—including during the talks involving then-president Bill Clinton and then-prime minister Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001. Rather than more, it is imperative that the Palestinians get less. It is imperative to world peace that the Palestinians pay a price—even if it's only a symbolic price—for rejecting the generous Clinton/Barak offer and responding to it with a second intifada in which 4,000 people were killed. It is also...

Ahmadinejad's Holocaust Myths   By Alan M. DershowitzFrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, September 28, 2007 In his speeches, most especially the one at Columbia University, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats two myths about the Holocaust. The first every reasonable person knows is a total lie: namely that the Holocaust did not occur. The second myth, however, is one that escapes critical attention for the most part, because many people are not aware of its falsity. The myth is that the Palestinian people and their leadership had absolutely nothing to do with the Holocaust. The conclusion that is supposed to follow from this “fact”...

The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has now called for revenge against Israelis and Jews around the world, for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, which he claims was done by Israel. It does not matter, of course, who actually pulled off the assassination. Israel and the Jews would be blamed by Hezbollah even if Syria had been responsible. Blame Israel and the Jews for everything is what Hezbollah always does. In the past, Hezbollah has taken revenge against what it claimed to be Israeli actions by murdering Jewish school children in Argentina. Once again it is threatening to attack...

Israel has its air force, nuclear facilities and large army bases in locations as remote as anything can be in that country. It is possible for an enemy to attack Israeli military targets without inflicting "collateral damage" on its civilian population. Hezbollah and Hamas, by contrast, deliberately operate military wings out of densely populated areas. They launch antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel, designed by Syria and Iran to maximize civilian casualties, and then hide from retaliation by living among civilians. If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have...

There was a time when the press was the strongest guardian of free expression in this democracy. Stories and celebrations of intrepid and courageous reporters are many within the press corps. Cases such as New York Times v. Sullivan in the 1960s were litigated so that the press could report on and examine public officials with the unfettered reporting a free people deserved. In the 1970s the Pentagon Papers case reaffirmed the proposition that issues of public importance were fully protected by the First Amendment.

Let us now try to understand the Vatican’s bizarre policy on terrorism. Recently Pope Benedict XVI condemned terrorist attacks against civilians in Great Britain, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey. In a pregnant omission – very pregnant in light of the Vatican’s long history of silence in the face of attacks against Jews – the Pope omitted any mention of the country that has suffered the largest number of terrorist attacks against civilians since 9/11, namely, Israel. When the Israeli government understandably protested the omission, the Vatican’s position became even more troubling. It singled out Israel for criticism, saying that that beleaguered...