The Brooklyn College BDS debate and me: the critics' real agenda

[Valin]

The Guardian :

The reason I attract such vicious attacks for speaking up for Israel is to scare and silence other, more vulnerable advocates

Alan Dershowitz

Friday 8 February 2013

 

Whenever I speak in support of Israel or in criticism of its enemies, the dogs of defamation are unleashed against me. The attacks, all from the hard left, seemed coordinated, focusing on common ad hominem themes. They accuse me of being a plagiarist, a supporter of torture, a rightwing "Zio-fascist", a hypocrite, an opponent of the two-state solution and a supporter of Israel's settlement policies. All these allegations are demonstrably false, but this does not seem to matter to those whose job it is to try to discredit me.

 

(Snip)

 

The most recent unleashing of the dogs of defamation was stimulated by the position I took on a BDS conference at Brooklyn College. Although I support the conference going forward, and oppose any attempt to censor it, I raise troubling questions about whether the Brooklyn College political science department should be sponsoring and endorsing that advocacy event, if they would not be willing to sponsor and endorse an anti-BDS event by an equally radical anti-Palestinian rightwing group.

 

 

(Snip}

 

The message is clear: if you support Israel, we will attack you like we attack Dershowitz, but you will be hurt much more that Dershowitz would. We will damage your reputation, hurt your student evaluations and decrease your chances for tenure.

 

(Snip)

 

The Comments

 

H/T Legal Insurrection: Alan Dershowitz — Point Man