Alan Dershowitz Asks and Answers "Why the Jews?"

A great read from Dershowitz.

Prominent public figures have blurred another line as well — the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, between attacking the Jewish state and attacking the Jewish people.

[…]

Former President Jimmy Carter too has contributed to this new legitimization of Jew-bashing, by echoing Tutu’s derisive talk about the Jewish domination of America (“powerful political, economic and religious forces . . . that dominate our media”) and his use of the term “apartheid” in his book about Israel.

By thus blurring the line between legitimate political criticism and illegitimate bigotry, widely admired people like Tutu and Carter legitimize the kind of anti-Semitic attitudes that manifest themselves in the rants of celebrities like Galliano, Sheen and Gibson.

This blurring has also affected the tone on university campuses around the world, where Tutu and Carter are particularly admired and imitated. I speak at universities and had never, until recently, heard and seen the kind of language now being directed against Jewish students and faculty who support Israel.

So I was not as surprised as some by the recent celebrity rants. The oldest prejudice has never quite disappeared. It just went underground — waiting for the right moment to fester.

Read the rest here.