Comments on: Slater defends Walt and Mearsheimer from Rothkopf’s ‘Brooks Brothers’ attack http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html The War of Ideas in the Middle East Mon, 28 May 2012 08:47:36 +0000 hourly 1 By: samuelburke http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-90109 samuelburke Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:51:13 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-90109 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti..." target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...</a rel="nofollow">" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...</a></a> The Iranian People Speak By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty Monday, June 15, 2009 The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin -- greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, preelection polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our preelection survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, the second-largest ethnic group in Iran after Persians, to woo Azeri voters. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad by 2 to 1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youth and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, while 18-to-24-year-olds comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all age groups. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti... The Iranian People Speak By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty Monday, June 15, 2009 The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin — greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, preelection polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our preelection survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, the second-largest ethnic group in Iran after Persians, to woo Azeri voters. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad by 2 to 1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youth and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, while 18-to-24-year-olds comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all age groups.

]]> By: samuelburke http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-90108 samuelburke Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:50:10 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-90108 Posted on Jun 16, 2009 <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090616_learning_to_live_with_the_devil_we_know/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090616_lear...</a rel="nofollow">" target="_blank">http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090616_lear...</a></a> By Scott Ritter The Iranian people went to the polls last Friday to elect a president. Pre-election polling showed the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, consistently holding a 2-to-1 advantage over his closest opponent, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. When the final election results were announced by the Iranian Ministry of Interior (the agency responsible for counting the votes and publishing the results), President Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, with 63 percent of the vote—about a 2-to-1 advantage. And yet, when the northern suburbs of Tehran, home to a large number of moderate reform-minded Iranians who are vehemently opposed to Ahmadinejad, erupted in violent protest, and Mousavi began to cry fraud, the Western media immediately jumped on the bandwagon, giving birth to the “instant history” of the 2009 Iranian presidential elections. Ahmadinejad’s electoral victory should have come as a surprise to no one. Posted on Jun 16, 2009 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090616_lear... By Scott Ritter The Iranian people went to the polls last Friday to elect a president. Pre-election polling showed the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, consistently holding a 2-to-1 advantage over his closest opponent, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. When the final election results were announced by the Iranian Ministry of Interior (the agency responsible for counting the votes and publishing the results), President Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, with 63 percent of the vote—about a 2-to-1 advantage. And yet, when the northern suburbs of Tehran, home to a large number of moderate reform-minded Iranians who are vehemently opposed to Ahmadinejad, erupted in violent protest, and Mousavi began to cry fraud, the Western media immediately jumped on the bandwagon, giving birth to the “instant history” of the 2009 Iranian presidential elections. Ahmadinejad’s electoral victory should have come as a surprise to no one.

]]> By: samuelburke http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-90107 samuelburke Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:49:01 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-90107 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401757_pf.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...</a rel="nofollow">" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...</a></a> The Iranian People Speak By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty Monday, June 15, 2009 The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin -- greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, preelection polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our preelection survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, the second-largest ethnic group in Iran after Persians, to woo Azeri voters. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad by 2 to 1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youth and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, while 18-to-24-year-olds comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all age groups. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti... The Iranian People Speak By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty Monday, June 15, 2009 The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin — greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, preelection polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our preelection survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, the second-largest ethnic group in Iran after Persians, to woo Azeri voters. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad by 2 to 1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youth and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, while 18-to-24-year-olds comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all age groups.

]]> By: lester http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24184 lester Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24184 <p>israel lobby vs "israel lobby". Commentary and co acknowledge the first was instrumental in getting rid of freeman, but deny the latter was or that it even exists. meanwhile, they are the exact same thing. imagine if your morality allowed you to justify an obvious lie like this to yourself? that's why their combination of high 5 ing and denial is strange to normal people.</p> israel lobby vs "israel lobby". Commentary and co acknowledge the first was instrumental in getting rid of freeman, but deny the latter was or that it even exists. meanwhile, they are the exact same thing. imagine if your morality allowed you to justify an obvious lie like this to yourself? that's why their combination of high 5 ing and denial is strange to normal people.

]]> By: Susie Kneedler http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24185 Susie Kneedler Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24185 <p>Thanks, Phil and Prof. Jerome Slater.</p> <p>Rothkopf: Walt's list is <br /> “laden with a list of co-conspirators with names so Jewish that I could hardly read it without cringing.” </p> <p>Prof. Slater, you have the courage to make the point that even Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore only hinted at the other night:</p> <p>http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220592&title=The-New-White-Face-of-Crime<br /> *****</p> <p></p> <p>Rothkopf’s attack on Mearsheimer and Walt:<br /> “They may not be anti-Semites themselves [meaning: they may be] 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. They did what the most desperate members of academia do, they signed up to be rent-a-validators, akin to expert witnesses who support the defense of felons with specious theories served up on fancy diplomas…. In reality they were giving one crowd in particular precisely what it wanted to hear.”<br /> In nearly fifty years in this profession, I cannot recall seeing in a professional publication a more defamatory, demagogic, and irresponsible passage. Mearsheimer and Walt, two of our most prestigious academicians (ranked fifth and twenty-second, respectively, in a survey of international relations scholars having the greatest impact in their field), chaired professors at two of the world’s greatest universities, are either personally anti-Semitic or cynical hacks who decided to “cash in” on anti-Semitism-- presumably meaning to advance their careers, if not to become rich.</p> <p>Thanks, Jerry, for your defense of Walt and Mearsheimer:<br /> "Rothkopf’s attack on the motives of Walt and Mearsheimer is made without even a hint of evidence to support it."</p> <p>"The danger of playing the anti-Semitic card when Israel or the actions of its see-no-evil Jewish supporters are subject to perfectly legitimate criticism is not just that it is morally and intellectually disreputable to do so, but that irresponsible rants such as Rothkopf’s might eventually undermine our remarkable position."</p> <p>Could this be what people like Rothkopf need? How else could he be [so willfully] blind to the career-blighting effects of academics' criticizing Israeli government-Likud-Zionist policies, or that of its lobbies?</p> <p><br /> </p> Thanks, Phil and Prof. Jerome Slater.

Rothkopf: Walt's list is
“laden with a list of co-conspirators with names so Jewish that I could hardly read it without cringing.”

Prof. Slater, you have the courage to make the point that even Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore only hinted at the other night:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220592&title=The-New-White-Face-of-Crime
*****

Rothkopf’s attack on Mearsheimer and Walt:
“They may not be anti-Semites themselves [meaning: they may be] 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. They did what the most desperate members of academia do, they signed up to be rent-a-validators, akin to expert witnesses who support the defense of felons with specious theories served up on fancy diplomas…. In reality they were giving one crowd in particular precisely what it wanted to hear.”
In nearly fifty years in this profession, I cannot recall seeing in a professional publication a more defamatory, demagogic, and irresponsible passage. Mearsheimer and Walt, two of our most prestigious academicians (ranked fifth and twenty-second, respectively, in a survey of international relations scholars having the greatest impact in their field), chaired professors at two of the world’s greatest universities, are either personally anti-Semitic or cynical hacks who decided to “cash in” on anti-Semitism– presumably meaning to advance their careers, if not to become rich.

Thanks, Jerry, for your defense of Walt and Mearsheimer:
"Rothkopf’s attack on the motives of Walt and Mearsheimer is made without even a hint of evidence to support it."

"The danger of playing the anti-Semitic card when Israel or the actions of its see-no-evil Jewish supporters are subject to perfectly legitimate criticism is not just that it is morally and intellectually disreputable to do so, but that irresponsible rants such as Rothkopf’s might eventually undermine our remarkable position."

Could this be what people like Rothkopf need? How else could he be [so willfully] blind to the career-blighting effects of academics' criticizing Israeli government-Likud-Zionist policies, or that of its lobbies?

]]> By: ed http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24186 ed Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24186 <p>thought you might be interested is seeing this, which possibly falls under the rubric 'by their friends shall ye know them!'<br /> http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1237392661225&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull</p> thought you might be interested is seeing this, which possibly falls under the rubric 'by their friends shall ye know them!'
link to jpost.com

]]> By: anonymous http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24187 anonymous Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24187 <p><i>"I’m Jewish, which may make it somewhat more difficult to charge me with anti-Semitism....it presumably is also slightly more difficult to charge me with being “anti-Israel." </i></p> <p>The worst thing about the anti-Semitism charge is how the term is diluted from its abuse.</p> <p>The second worst thing is the "second-class" position Gentiles have in this discussion. We're always scrutinized for anti-semitism and our positions are more easily attacked on a personal level. </p> <p>I'm really tired of that. I shouldn't have to fear to engage a political discussion f this importance or be relegated to a second-class tier because I am not Jewish. As an American, this issue is extremely important, and the stratification here is awful.<br /> </p> "I’m Jewish, which may make it somewhat more difficult to charge me with anti-Semitism….it presumably is also slightly more difficult to charge me with being “anti-Israel."

The worst thing about the anti-Semitism charge is how the term is diluted from its abuse.

The second worst thing is the "second-class" position Gentiles have in this discussion. We're always scrutinized for anti-semitism and our positions are more easily attacked on a personal level.

I'm really tired of that. I shouldn't have to fear to engage a political discussion f this importance or be relegated to a second-class tier because I am not Jewish. As an American, this issue is extremely important, and the stratification here is awful.

]]> By: ed http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24188 ed Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24188 <p>is this true?<br /> http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090320/twl-israeli-army-t-shirts-mock-gaza-kill-3fd0ae9.html</p> is this true?
link to uk.news.yahoo.com

]]> By: Jaffr http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24189 Jaffr Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24189 <p>Yes, it is true!</p> <p>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072466.html </p> Yes, it is true!

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072466.html

]]> By: American http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html/comment-page-1#comment-24190 American Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/20/in-the-year-and-a-half-since-the-publication-of-john-mearsheimers-and-stephen-walts-israel-lobby-the-at.html#comment-24190 <p>Listen folks.....</p> <p>DO NOT REACT to the anti semite charge. Just DON'T REACT.<br /> LAUGH AT IT - IGNORE IT.</p> <p>Every time you react you let them change the subject from Israel to anti semitism and you lose.<br /> Every time you let them draw you into talking about "jewish peoplehood' ad nausum instead of what they are actually doing to Palestine and the US right now you lose.</p> <p>All we need to change the US relationship with Israel is for what the zionist and Israel have done to the US to become common knowledge among the public and the time is ripe right now.</p> <p>Go to goggle and put in 'US guarantees Israel government bonds' or any combination thereof and you will get years and years and example upon example of the billions upon billions Jews have sucked out of the US for Israel.<br /> These examples are FACT, the money sucked out of the American people by jews and our own congress for Israel is fact...it isn't debatable. </p> <p>The public has no idea of the trillions stolen from American taxpayers by ..no idea at all.<br /> If the public actually saw the amounts and the under handed ways congress uses legisation to give Israel our money above and beyond the publically known 3 billion in aid there would a jewish and congressional holocaust tomorrow.</p> <p>Go on, learn something...research it for yourself...what you learn will make you sick to your stomach.</p> Listen folks…..

DO NOT REACT to the anti semite charge. Just DON'T REACT.
LAUGH AT IT – IGNORE IT.

Every time you react you let them change the subject from Israel to anti semitism and you lose.
Every time you let them draw you into talking about "jewish peoplehood' ad nausum instead of what they are actually doing to Palestine and the US right now you lose.

All we need to change the US relationship with Israel is for what the zionist and Israel have done to the US to become common knowledge among the public and the time is ripe right now.

Go to goggle and put in 'US guarantees Israel government bonds' or any combination thereof and you will get years and years and example upon example of the billions upon billions Jews have sucked out of the US for Israel.
These examples are FACT, the money sucked out of the American people by jews and our own congress for Israel is fact…it isn't debatable.

The public has no idea of the trillions stolen from American taxpayers by ..no idea at all.
If the public actually saw the amounts and the under handed ways congress uses legisation to give Israel our money above and beyond the publically known 3 billion in aid there would a jewish and congressional holocaust tomorrow.

Go on, learn something…research it for yourself…what you learn will make you sick to your stomach.

]]>