The case for Israel / Alan Dershowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dershowitz, Alan M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Palestine--History.

Jews.

History.

Jews--Colonization--Palestine.

Jews--Colonization.

Jewish refugees--Palestine--History.

Jewish refugees.

Zionists--Palestine--History.

Zionists.

Arab-Israeli conflict.

Zionism.

Israel--History.

Israel.

Physical Description:

vii, 264 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, [2003]

Summary:

Even as Israel boldly offers statehood to Palestinians in exchange for an enduring peace, many academics and activists -- primarily but not exclusively from the hard left -- have gone on the attack against Israel, deriding it as an imperialist power bent on oppressing the Palestinians. On prominent campuses across the United States and throughout the world, petitions circulate asking universities to divest holdings in Israel and to boycott Israeli Jews without regard to their individual views. Virulent opponents of Israel have accused that democracy of unspeakable human rights abuses, while many who believe otherwise remain silent. Now, in this impassioned and closely argued book, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz sets the record straight and explains why Israel, while not perfect, is in fact the sole outpost of liberty and democracy in the Middle East -- a country that has earned the right to exist within secure boundaries and defend itself.

Drawing on scrupulous, unbiased research and his peerless skills as an advocate, Dershowitz conclusively refutes thirty-two separate slurs, slanders, and misrepresentations that have been hurled at Israel in recent years. In demolishing these charges, Dershowitz documents how Israel was founded with the blessing of the United Nations -- and how it was Arabs, not Israelis, who initiated the cycle of violence that still persists today. He proves that the division of Palestine between Israel and the Palestinians has long been accepted by Israel and rejected by most Arabs. He demonstrates why Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza are not motivated by territorial ambitions, but by the very real sense that Israel is under attack. And he shows how critics of Israel gloss over the terrorism, human rights abuses, and antidemocratic ideologies of other regimes in the region, substituting bigotry and veiled anti-Semitism for objective analysis. Well reasoned, hard-hitting, and provocative, The Case for Israel is essential reading for anyone who cares about Israel and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Contents:

1. Is Israel a Colonial, Imperialist State? 13

2. Did European Jews Displace Palestinians? 22

3. Was the Zionist Movement a Plot to Colonize All of Palestine? 29

4. Was the Balfour Declaration Binding International Law? 32

5. Were the Jews Unwilling to Share Palestine? 39

6. Have the Jews Always Rejected the Two-State Solution? 45

7. Have the Jews Exploited the Holocaust? 53

8. Was the U.N. Partition Plan Unfair to Palestinians? 63

9. Were Jews a Minority in What Became Israel? 67

10. Has Israel's Victimization of the Palestinians Been the Primary Cause of the Arab-Israeli Conflict? 70

11. Was the Israeli War of Independence Expansionist Aggression? 74

12. Did Israel Create the Arab Refugee Problem? 78

13. Did Israel Start the Six-Day War? 91

14. Was the Israeli Occupation without Justification? 95

15. Was the Yom Kippur War Israel's Fault? 100

16. Has Israel Made Serious Efforts at Peace? 104

17. Was Arafat Right in Turning Down the Barak-Clinton Peace Proposal? 117

18. Why Have More Palestinians Than Israelis Been Killed? 123

19. Does Israel Torture Palestinians? 134

20. Has Israel Engaged in Genocide against Palestinian Civilians? 140

21. Is Israel a Racist State? 154

22. Is the Israeli Occupation the Cause of All the Problems? 158

23. Has Israel Denied the Palestinians Statehood? 163

24. Is Israel's Policy of House Destruction Collective Punishment? 166

25. Is Targeted Assassination of Terrorist Leaders Unlawful? 173

26. Is Settlement in the West Bank and Gaza a Major Barrier to Peace? 176

27. Is Terrorism Merely Part of a Cycle of Violence? 178

28. Is Israel the Prime Human Rights Violator in the World? 181

29. Is There Moral Equivalence between Palestinian Terrorists and Israeli Responses? 189

30. Should Universities Divest from Israel and Boycott Israeli Scholars? 197

31. Are Critics of Israel Anti-Semitic? 208

32. Why Do So Many Jews and Even Israelis Side with the Palestinians? 217

Conclusion: Israel

the Jew among Nations 222.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-257) and index.

ISBN:

047146502X

OCLC:

52133082