fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page i THE CASE FOR ISRAEL Alan Dershowitz John Wiley & Sons, Inc. fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page i fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page i THE CASE FOR ISRAEL Alan Dershowitz John Wiley & Sons, Inc. fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page ii This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2003 by Alan Dershowitz. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Design and production by Navta Associates, Inc. Maps used by permission: Atlas Arab-Israeli Conflict, 7th Edition, Sir Martin Gilbert. Published by Routledge, © 2002 ISBN: 0415281172 (PB) and ISBN: 0415281164 (HB). Please visit our web site for further details on the new edition: www.taylorandfrancis.com. 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For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Dershowitz, Alan M. The case for Israel / Alan Dershowitz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-471-46502-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Jews—Palestine—History. 2. Jews—Colonization—Palestine. 3. Refugees, Jewish—Palestine—History. 4. Zionists—Palestine—History. 5. Israel— History. 6. Arab-Israeli conflict. 7. Zionism. I. Title. DS125.D47 2003 956.94 2003009481 Printed in the United States of America 10 987654321 fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page iii This book is respectfully dedicated to my dear friend of nearly forty years, Professor Aharon Barak, the president of Israel’s Supreme Court, whose judicial decisions make a better case for Israel and for the rule of law than any book could possibly do. fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page iv fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page v CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 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 v fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page vi vi CONTENTS 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 245 Index 258 fmatter.qxd 6/26/03 12:58 PM Page vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been working on this book since 1967, when I first began to make the case for Israel on university campuses, in the media, and in my writings. Over the years I have had the assistance—often the critical assistance— of too many colleagues to list and thank. Among those who deserve spe- cial mention are Professor Irwin Cotler, now a member of the Canadian Parliament, with whom I have worked on so many causes and projects; Justices Aharon Barak and Yitzak Zamir, who have taught me so much; Professor George Fletcher, who educates me by arguing and challenging; Professor Amnon Rubinstein, with whose writings I nearly always agree; Israel Ringel, who gently corrects my misperceptions about Israel; and generations of students who educate me about current matters. In writing this book, I have benefited greatly from the research assis- tance of Owen Alterman, Mara Zusman, Eric Citron, Holly Beth Billing- ton, Natalie Hershlag, and Ayelet Weiss. My assistant, Jane Wagner; my agent, Helen Rees; my editor, Hana Lane; and my temporary assistant, Robin Yeo, have provided invaluable assistance. For perceptive comments on the manuscript, I thank my friends Bernard Beck, Jeffrey Epstein, Steve Kosslyn, Alan Rothfeld, and Michael and Jackie Halbreich. My wife, Carolyn, and my daughter, Ella, inspired me, debated with me, and encouraged me. My sons, Elon and Jamin, my nephew Adam, my nieces Rana and Hannah, my brother Nathan, and my sister-in-law Marilyn all made useful suggestions, which I much appreciate. I acknowledge the people of Israel who have sacrificed so much in their historic efforts to achieve peace, prosperity, and democracy in the face of such enduring enmity and violence. Finally, I acknowledge the peacemak- ers and peace seekers on both sides of this conflict, especially those who gave their lives so that others might live in peace and security. vii cintro.qxd 6/25/03 7:59 AM Page 1 Introduction he Jewish nation of Israel stands accused in the dock of interna- tional justice. The charges include being a criminal state, the prime T violator of human rights, the mirror image of Nazism, and the most intransigent barrier to peace in the Middle East. Throughout the world, from the chambers of the United Nations to the campuses of uni- versities, Israel is singled out for condemnation, divestment, boycott, and demonization. Its leaders are threatened with prosecution as war criminals. Its supporters are charged with dual loyalty and parochialism. The time has come for a proactive defense of Israel to be offered in the court of public opinion. In this book, I offer such a defense—not of every Israeli policy or action but of Israel’s basic right to exist, to protect its citi- zens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies. I show that Israel has long been willing to accept the kind of two-state solution that is now on the proposed “road map” to peace, and that it was the Arab leadership that persistently refused to accept any Jewish state—no matter how small—in those areas of Palestine with a Jewish majority. I also try to present a realistic picture of Israel, warts and all, as a flourishing multiethnic democracy, similar in many ways to the United States, that affords all of its citizens—Jews, Muslims, and Christians—far better lives and opportunities than those afforded by any Arab or Muslim nation. Most important, I argue that those who single out Israel for unique criticism not directed against countries with far worse human rights records are themselves guilty of inter- national bigotry. This is a serious accusation and I back it up. Let me be clear that I am not charging all critics of Israel with anti-Semitism. I myself have been quite critical of specific Israeli policies and actions over the years, as have most Israel supporters, virtually every Israeli citizen, and many American Jews.