Michael Scheuer at antiwar.com, reports on a debate at Georgetown University last week hosted by the Doha Foundation. Scheuer and Avraham Burg argued for the U.S. to finally get tough on Israel, and Alan Dershowitz and Dore Gold arguing agin it. The affirmative won, 2-1.
after Mr. Dershowitz — hands waving in the air — raked me over the
coals for suggesting that such a thing as the malignant influence of
Israel-Firsters even exists in U.S. politics and foreign-policy making,
I argued that the roles of Messrs. Feith, Wolfowitz, Perle and others
in facilitating America’s war of self-immolation in Iraq suggested
there was indeed a strong Israel-First influence in the highest
councils of the U.S. government. Mr. Dershowitz’s response was
classic, predictable, irrelevant, and a successful tactic to divert
debate from the issue at hand. He loudly told the audience something
akin to: "Listen to the ethnic names Scheuer is using! He is a bigot,
a bigot." As the name-caller from Harvard Yard railed on, I said that
the names James Woolsey, Victor Davis Hanson, Andrew McCarthy, and the
two evangelical preachers mentioned above could be added to the list
but I suspect the words were drowned out by my opponent’s contemptible
but effective theatrics.
Mr. Dershowitz and Mr.
Gold seem to believe that Americans who disagree with them will always
refuse to publicly attack the reality of pro-Israel subversion as long
as the Israel-Firsters can pull from the stone the great Excalibur of
U.S. politics and strike Americans with a blade emblazoned "bigot" and
"anti-Semite." Perhaps the 2-to-1 vote of the Doha Debate’s audience
against Mr. Dershowitz and Mr. Gold suggests that times are beginning
to change, at long last, in favor of genuine U.S. national interests.
coals for suggesting that such a thing as the malignant influence of
Israel-Firsters even exists in U.S. politics and foreign-policy making,
I argued that the roles of Messrs. Feith, Wolfowitz, Perle and others
in facilitating America’s war of self-immolation in Iraq suggested
there was indeed a strong Israel-First influence in the highest
councils of the U.S. government. Mr. Dershowitz’s response was
classic, predictable, irrelevant, and a successful tactic to divert
debate from the issue at hand. He loudly told the audience something
akin to: "Listen to the ethnic names Scheuer is using! He is a bigot,
a bigot." As the name-caller from Harvard Yard railed on, I said that
the names James Woolsey, Victor Davis Hanson, Andrew McCarthy, and the
two evangelical preachers mentioned above could be added to the list
but I suspect the words were drowned out by my opponent’s contemptible
but effective theatrics.
Mr. Dershowitz and Mr.
Gold seem to believe that Americans who disagree with them will always
refuse to publicly attack the reality of pro-Israel subversion as long
as the Israel-Firsters can pull from the stone the great Excalibur of
U.S. politics and strike Americans with a blade emblazoned "bigot" and
"anti-Semite." Perhaps the 2-to-1 vote of the Doha Debate’s audience
against Mr. Dershowitz and Mr. Gold suggests that times are beginning
to change, at long last, in favor of genuine U.S. national interests.
One addendum. The Doha Foundation of Qatar presumably has a lot of Arab money, and presumably paid the performers. 3/4 of whom are Jews. What is the lesson about globalized diversity, Mr Dershowitz?
