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The Case for Israel - Wikipedia

The Case for Israel - Wikipedia

The Case for Israel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Case for Israel
First edition cover
AuthorAlan Dershowitz
LanguageEnglish
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons
Publication date
2003
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages264
ISBN978-0-471-46502-7

The Case for Israel is a 2003 book by pro-Israel American lawyer Alan Dershowitz in which the author responds to common criticisms of IsraelThe Case for Israel was a New York Times bestseller.[1]

It also led to the public controversy known as the Dershowitz–Finkelstein affair.

Summary

The book is divided into several chapters, each of which addresses what Dershowitz identifies as being particularly strong accusations and myths about Israel, such as "Israel is the 'prime' human rights violator in the world" and "Israel is the cause of the Arab–Israeli conflict." Each chapter is divided into several sections. "The Accusation" states a common criticism of Israel, "The Accusers" lists several quotations from critics supporting the accusation, "The Reality" contains a short statement contradicting the accusation, and "The Proof" contains Dershowitz's explanation of his viewpoint. Edward Said and Noam Chomsky are among the critics that he quotes the most heavily. The research assistants mentioned in the book's acknowledgements include Natalie Hershlag, the birthname of Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman.[2][3][4]

Dershowitz has released a sequel in 2005 championing the two-state solution. The book, The Case for Peace, explains what he believes is needed to be done in order to achieve peace in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Critical responses

In a New York Times review, Ethan Bronner called the book a polemic that argues "vehemently -- and fairly convincingly -- that contemporary European and Arab discourse on the Middle East is indefensibly unbalanced against Israel" without dismissing the scholarship of the New Historians. He notes that "Dershowitz is especially effective at pointing to the hypocrisy of many of Israel's critics."[5]

The political scientist Norman Finkelstein has claimed the book is a "hoax"[6] and that some of its citations are plagiarized from From Time Immemorial, a 1984 book by Joan Peters.[7] After a heated exchange between the two on Democracy Now!, in which Finkelstein repeatedly accused Dershowitz of plagiarism and questioned his credentials to teach at Harvard University,[8] Finkelstein released a book, Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, whose second part is about The Case for Israel. The book lists many examples of text that Finkelstein claims Dershowitz to have lifted from Peters. A Harvard Law School investigation led by former Harvard president Derek Bok found the plagiarism charges to be without merit. Finkelstein later agreed to delete all references to "plagiarism" from his book, instead writing that Dershowitz "lifted" or "appropriated" text from Peters, but said he only did it to avoid a lawsuit.[9][10]

See also

References

  1.  Dershowitz, Alan (2003). The Case for Israel. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-46502-X.
  2.  Dershowitz (2003), p. 11
  3.  "Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson at DNC" by Yair Rosenberg, Tablet Magazine, 5 September 2012
  4.  "What Natalie knows" by Evgenia Peretz, Vanity Fair, April 2006
  5.  Bronner, Ethan (November 9, 2003). "The New New Historians"The New York Times.
  6.  Finkelstein, Norman G. "THE DERSHOWITZ HOAX". Norman G. Finkelstein. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  7.  Finkelstein, Norman G. "Alan Dershowitz Exposed: What if a Harvard Student Did This?". Norman G. Finkelstein. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  8.  Finkelstein versus Dershowitz debate, part 1 of 11 on YouTube
  9.  "Dershowitz in plagiarism spat – Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews"Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. July 17, 2005. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  10.  "Academic fight heads to print"The Boston Globe. July 9, 2005. Retrieved November 12, 2013.

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THE DERSHOWITZ HOAX

Dershowitz Hoax: the Video

Search the website for more articles.



Alan Dershowitz Exposed: Quote by Quote

09.26.2003
Will Lawrence Summers Take Action? Alan Dershowitz, Plagiarist?Counter Punch, by Alexander Cockburn

09.29.2003
Dershowitz Accused Of PlagiarismThe Harvard Crimson, by By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER, Crimson Staff Writer

10.02.2003
Dershowitz Defends BookThe Harvard Crimson, by By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER, Crimson Staff Writer

10.02.2003
ANOTHER MIDDLE EAST CONFLICTThe Boston Globe, by ALEX BEAM

10.03.2003
Finkelstein Proclaims 'The Glove Does Fit'The Harvard Crimson, Letters, by Finkelstein

10.03.2003
Professor Dershowitz 'Rests His Case'The Harvard Crimson, Letter to the Editors, by Dershowitz

10.03.2003
"Dershowitz Rebuts Critics' Plagiarism Charges"The Forward, by Eric Marx

10.04.2003
A case of plagiarism?The Globe and Mail (Toronto), p. D20, by Nomi Morris

10.09.2003
Dershowitz denies plagiarism chargesThe Record (Harvard Law School), by Adina Levine

10.13.2003, 10.27.2003
Part 1: Dershowitz vs. CockburnThe Nation, article, exhange of letters

12.15.2003
Part 2: Dershowitz vs. CockburnThe Nation, Letters exchange

12.20.2003
Dershowitz Exposed Yet Again: The Critique of Pure Cant, by Finkelstein; Dershowitz in The Daily Bruin (UCLA)

04.08.2005
Opposition raised to UC Press publication: Alan Dershowitz questions release of book on Israel-Palestine conflictThe Daily Bruin (UCLA), by Derek Lipkin

04.18.2005
A New Publication by Alan Dershowitz: The Committee to Expose Norman Finkelstein's Close Connections to Neo-Nazism, Holocaust Denial, and His "Big Lie" of an "International Jewish Conspiracy"CampusJ.com, by Dershowitz

04.18.2005
Harvard professor criticizes top scholarsThe Chronicle (Duke), by Andrew Gerst and Emily Rotberg

04.30.2005
Stirring stuffThe Guardian, by Aida Edemariam

05.17.2005
Behind Beyond Chutzpah: Professor's Allegations Sets Dershowitz In MotionPublishers Weekly, by Steven Zeitchik

05.19.2005
Dershowitz In Panic Mode
The Hazards of Making The Case for IsraelJbooks.com, by Dershowitz

05.19.2005
Dershowitz replies to Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, by Dershowitz

05.20.2005
The Chomsky Conspiracy
Dershowitz Fires Back at His CriticsThe Forward, by Steven I. Weiss

05.23.2005
Getting Published While a Spat Is HotThe New York Times, by ALEX MINDLIN

05.28.2005
Nutty Professor Screams About "Plot" Against Him, Cites Troika of EvilCounter Punch, by Alexander Cockburn

06.23.2005
Giving Chutzpah New MeaningThe Nation, by Jon Wiener

06.28.2005
University of California professor says UC press must publish Beyond Chutzpah, by Beshara Doumani

06.27.2005
First Amendment FurorInside Higher Ed, by Scott Jaschik

07.05.2005
ALAN DERSHOWITZ'S LATEST ACCUSATION, READ AND COMPARE
Why is the University of California Press Publishing Bigotry?FrontPageMagazine.com, by Dershowitz

07.06.2005
Prof. Doumani Reports that Beyond Chutzpah Will Be Published on Schedule, by Beshara Doumani

07.08.2005
Accusations Fly in Academic FeudThe Harvard Crimson, by DANIEL J. T. SCHUKER

07.09.2005
Academic fight heads to print. Authorship challenge dropped from textThe Boston Globe, By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

07.10.2005
Dershowitz fights publication of critic's bookEyeWitnessNewsTV.com (WPRI, FOX Providence)

07.11.2005
Chutzpah and free speech: Civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz is out of line in challenging the decision to publish a book that harshly criticizes him. The LA Times, by Jon Wiener

07.11.2005
U. of California Press to Publish Book That Alan Dershowitz Has Criticized as Anti-SemiticCHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, by JENNIFER HOWARD

07.13.2005
New Challenge to Columbia and to Chomsky, Finkelstein, and CockburnFrontPageMag.com, by Dershowitz

07.14.2005
Dershowitz in fued over plagiarism allegationThe Associated Press, by Michael Kunzelman

07.15.2005
UC PRESS'S statement on the publication of the bookUCpress.edu/

07.18.2005
Don't Stop the PressesThe Daily Californian, by Michael Kunzelman

07.22.2005
Calif. Press Will Publish Controversial Book on Israel. Legal wrangling and disputes over the author's claims plagued 'Beyond Chutzpah'CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION , by JENNIFER HOWARD

08.10.2005
J'accuseThe Guardian, by Gary Younge

08.15.2005
STATEMENT OF ALAN M. DERSHOWITZwww.law.harvard.edu, by Dershowitz (w/Finkelstein's reply)

08.29.2005
Dershowitz-Billiington et al. - Wiener exchange in The Nation; Finkelstein commentsThe Nation, Letters

09.01.2005
Letter to Lynne Withey Director of the University of California Press, by Dershowitz

09.08.2005
Alleged Errors in Beyond Chutzpah, by Finkelstein

09.17.2005
Radio interviewWNUR 89.3 Chicago, by Chuck Mertz

10.07.2005
His own best defenseThe Jerusalem Post, by Nathan Burstein

10.10.2005
Norman Finkelstein's Fraudulent ScholarshipCAMERA.org by Deborah Passner (w/Finkelstein's email reply)

10.12.2005
Beyond Chutzpah ReviewNatoinal Catholic Reporter , by Neve Gordon (w/letters exchange bet. Dershowitz, Gordon and Finkelstein)

10.13.2005
Beyond Chutzpah reviewTikkun, by Ari Paul

10.21.2005
Sharon recommends a bookHaaretz, by Tom Segev

11.01.2005
Dershowitz Discusses Middle EastThe Harvard Crimson, by CORMAC A. EARLY, Contributing Writer

11.01.2005
Norman Finkelstein's worldThe Jerusalem Post, by Isi Leibler

11.01.2005
Beyond Chutzpah reviewZ Magazine, by Vijay Prashad

11.04.2005
The Rights and Wrongs of Alan DershowitzClaremont Review of Books, by Hadley Arkes

11.08.2005
Keeping it Civil: When controversial speakers like Norman G. Finkelstein come to speak, let themThe Harvard Crimson, by THE CRIMSON STAFF

11.08.2005
Liar, liar, Pants on fire: Dershowitz Was To Meet With Israeli OfficialsThe Harvard Crimson, by Finkelstein (w/ English translation of Yedioth Ahronot article)

11.12.2005
New evidence of old lies, by Finkelstein

11.24.2005
Logic, Harvard-style
Chasing peaceMontreal Mirror, by MATTHEW HAYS

12.05.2005
The Chutzpah of Alan DershowitzThe American Conservative, by Michael C. Desch (w/ letters exchange bet. Desch & Dershowitz)

12.07.2005
Middle East Studies Association Salutes University of California Press for Publishing Beyond Chutzpah, MESA

12.12.2005
His own worst enemyThe Jerusalem Post, by BEN NAPARSTEK

12.16.2005
The good Jewish boys go into battleTimes Higher Education Supplement , by Mandy Garner

12.22.2005
A review that's actually about the book!
Beyond Chutzpah reviewRed Pepper, by Mike Marqusee

01.06.2006
Dershowitz Letters to New Press and one of the ones to University of California Press, by Dershowitz (w/Finkelstein's comment)

01.27.2006
Occupation Hazard: Norman Finkelstein Challenges the Conventional Line on Israel.BOOKFORUM , by Ilan Pape

05.30.2006
Another Day, Another Lie
Plagiarism Accusations Unfairly CharacterizedThe Harvard Crimson, by Alan Dershowitz (w/Finkelstein's comment); "Political Allegiance Shouldn’t Bear On Merit Of Argument," The Harvard Crimson, by Finkelstein

08.10.2006
Should Alan Dershowitz Target Himself for Assassination? (w/ endnotes), by Finkelstein

09.11.2006
Amnesty v. Dershowitz
Right of Reply: Biased against Israel? Not at allThe Jerusalem Post, by Ian Seiderman, senior legal adviser for the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

09.07.2006
HRW v. Dershowitz
Human Rights Watch respondsThe Jerusalem Post, by SARAH LEAH WHITSON, Middle East Director, Human Rights Watch, New York

09.27.2006
Does this bore get paid per word?
To Kill an Alan DershowitzFrontPageMag.com, by Dershowitz

10.01.2006
Regarding the GuardianThe Jerusalem Post, by ALAN RUSBRIDGER, Editor, The Guardian, London

10.11.2006
Freemasons rally behind Dershowitz
DePAUL PROFESSOR DEFAMES CATHOLIC EDUCATION: DONOHUE DEFENDS DERSHOWITZThe Catholic League, by Bill Donohue

10.17.2006
Little Prissy Al
The Lerner-Finkelstein duet, by Dershowitz (w/ Finkelstein's comment)

10.23.2006
Alan Dershowitz! Stop your personal attacks!The Jerusalem Post, by Michael Lerner

10.27.2006
Harvard undergrad sacked for pulling a Dersh
Crimson Cuts Columnist for Lifting MaterialThe Harvard Crimson, by ANTON S. TROIANOVSKI, Crimson Staff Writer

11.16.2006
Moment of Truth: Will Dershowitz Release the Letters?, by Finkelstein

12.12.2006
Dershowitz continues to bat 1000
Is Norman Finkelstein in Tehran?, by Dershowitz, The Huffington Post ; "Prosecution rests at US trial of 2 men accused of aiding Hamas," International Herald Tribune, w/Finkelstein's comment

12.16.2006
Carter refuses to debate head of YENTASFORZION.com
Carter nixes debate with outspoken profThe Associated Press

12.16.2006
A quote destined for Bartlett's
Jimmy Carter: "I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz. There is no need for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine."
Carter book won't stir Brandeis debateThe Boston Globe

12.18.2006
Carter maybe No. 6 on Amazon but Finkelstein is No. 1 on the Stalker from Boro Park's homepage
Norman Finkelstein has been urging people to write to meAlanDershowitz.com

12.24.2006
Harvard's Hadassah Chair in Yenta Studies to write new column. First installment: Why apple strudel and latkes don't mix on Hannukah!
Jews for AhmadinejadThe Jerusalem Postm, Alan Dershowitz

12.28.2007
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Yenta
Keynote Speaker: Professor Alan Dershowitz; Rally for Truth, Light and Freedom. Iran ExposedUIA Federations Canada / UJA

12.31.2006
Carter, the media and Dershowitz: Reflections by Finkelstein
"When the Talk Gets Too Serious, Send in the Clown", by Finkelstein

01.13.2007
Finkelstein recommends Dershowitz instead
Interview request, HUSTLER Magazine, by Mark Johnson, Asst. Managing Editor / Research Director, LFP Publishing Group, LLC

02.01.2007
Brandeis Rabbis rule: Alan Dershowitz, Kosher. Daniel Pipes, Kosher. Norman Finkelstein, Not Kosher
The [Brandeis] Justice: "Admin rejects Finkelstein visit"

02.06.2007
Doesn't he have better things to do?
The [Brandeis] Justice: "OP-ED: Finkelstein should not be welcomed to speak at Brandeis", by Alan Dershowitz

02.16.2007
Finkelstein, Dershowitz and Brandeis
The [Brandeis] Justice: "OP-ED: Sapere Aude! (Dare to think for yourself)", by Finkelstein, w/ Letter to the Editor

02.17.2007
He who pays the piper calls the tune
The Jewish Week: "Brandeis Donors Exact Revenge For Carter Visit"

03.06.2007
Brandeis undergrad v. Harvard Law Professor
The Brandeis Hoot: "Dershowitz response astonishing;" Alan Dershowitz: "Letter to the editor: Column contained many falsehoods;" The Brandeis Hoot: "Why I ignored the man from Harvard"

03.06.2007
Running Scared
Alan Dershowitz, The Huffington Post: "Would You Invite David Duke to Your Campus?... Recently Norman Finkelstein has been making the rounds of American college campuses--Stanford, Brandeis, Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Northwestern and more--having been invited by various departments, groups and individuals. Many of the people extending the invitations are unaware that by inviting this person on their behalf, they are becoming complicit with neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and anti-Semites."

03.28.2007
Colleagues Gather to Honor the Life and Work of Xaveria Hollander, author of The Happy Hooker
Albany Law School: "Free Conference Honors Work, Scholarship of Special Guest Alan Dershowitz"

04.06.2007
Tenure?
The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Harvard Law Professor Works to Disrupt Tenure Bid of Longtime Nemesis at DePaul U;" Inside Higher Ed: "Furor Over Norm Finkelstein;" The Harvard Crimson: "Feud Weakens Prof's Tenure Bid;" FrontPageMag.com: "Will America's Largest Catholic University Give Tenure to a Fan of the Hezbollah?"

04.12.2007
No tenure for Finkelstein!
StandWithUsCampus.com: "No Tenure for Dr. Norman Finkelstein"

04.12.2007
Tenure and the Times
The New York Times: "A Bitter Spat Over Ideas, Israel and Tenure"

04.14.2007
Fisk on Tenure
The Independent: "Fear and loathing on an American campus"

04.16.2007
"He had a horrible cartoon on his Web site that was grotesque and horrible. It involved defecation by Alan Dershowitz."
The Jewish Week: "Finkelstein In Nasty Tenure Battle"

04.18.2007
On Dershowitz and Finkelstein
CommonDreams.org: "On Finkelstein and Dershowitz"

04.18.2007
National Catholic Reporter on Tenure
National Catholic Reporter: "Effort to deny tenure ignites protests at DePaul"

04.18.2007
Chomsky on Dershowitz, Finkelstein and tenure
Democracy NOW!: "Noam Chomsky Accuses Alan Dershowitz of Launching a "Jihad" to Block Norman Finkelstein From Getting Tenure at Depaul University"

04.21.2007
Jerusalem Post on tenure
The Jerusalem Post: "Dershowitz, Finkelstein and a bitter tenure battle"

04.21.2007
Menace II Society
Jewish Defense Organization: "JDO Launches Campaign "Operation Drive Out!" to Drive Self-Hating Jewish Professor Hater of Israel- Mocker of the Holocaust- Out of De Paul University. JDO Goes After Traitor to the Jews Finkelstein." GlobalPolitician.com: "JDO Launches Drive To Fire Prof. Finkelstein"

04.21.2007
Princetonian on tenure
The Daily Princetonian: "Up for tenure and under fire"

04.23.2007
PLAUT ON TENURE
FrontPageMag.com: "The Finkelstein Affair"

04.26.2007
From Deep Inside the Heart of Darkness
DePaul's Activist Student Union: "DePaul Students Demonstrate in Support of Norman Finkelstein for Tenure"

04.29.2007
Roz Rothstein completes copying names from Beverly Hills phone book; now copying names from Manhattan White Pages for Upper East side.
StandWithUs.com: "NO TENURE FOR NORMAN FINKELSTEIN-- Please sign the petition"

05.04.2007
The Nation on Tenure
The Nation: "The Chutzpah Industry"

05.04.2007
For insomniacs and masochists: More Dershowitz
The American Legion Magazine: "Minimizing the Holocaust. How Enemies of the West are succeeding at diminishing history's darkest hour", Alan M. Dershowitz

05.07.2007
Hitlerjugend to Rid German Universities of Jewish Professors
StandWithUs.com: "NO TENURE FOR NORMAN FINKELSTEIN-- Please sign the petition"

05.07.2007
CUNY on Tenure
The [CUNY Graduate Center] Advocate: "A Question of Scholarship: On the tenure controversy of Prof. Norman G. Finkelstein"

05.09.2007
Dershowitz in Wall Street Journal on tenure
The Wall Street Journal: "Finkelstein's Bigotry;" Matthew Abraham's Letter to the WSJ

05.11.2007
Finkelstein Makes FOX NEWS or Hannity & Colmes on tenure
News Hounds blog: "One-Sided Attack On Professor Norman Finkelstein. Is there any field in which college drop-out Sean Hannity is not a self-appointed expert? On the 5/10/07 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity launched an effort to meddle in the tenure application of Professor Norman Finkelstein at DePaul University"

05.11.2007
Chicago Tribune on tenure
Chicago Tribune: "Teacher's tenure bid is DePaul hot potato. Norman Finkelstein, who is Jewish, has been accused of anti-Semitism in his Israel criticism."

05.11.2007
Electronic Intifada on Tenure
Electronic Intifada: "Suppressing critics of Israel: The campaign against Norman Finkelstein"

05.14.2007
Chicago Sun-Times on Tenure
The Chicago Sun-Times: "Tenure or trouble?"

05.15.2007
Ringling Bros at Stanford
The Standford Daily: "Dershowitz calls for a shift in dialogue"

05.15.2007
The Torturer as Victim
Alan Dershowitz, The New Republic: "Taking the Bait"

05.15.2007
Tenure, from a mile high
The Denver Post: "Holocaust/tenure slugfest unfolds on websites"

05.18.2007
Shouldn't he find a hobby?
Alan M. DershowitzFrontPageMag.com: "Democracy Not!"

05.18.2007
Martin Peretz mourns Anna Nicole Smith's death: "It's like losing your better half."
Marty Peretz, The New Republic: "DEPAUL'S DISGRACE:"

05.23.2007
A Letter in the Wall Street Journal
Robert Trivers: "What I said to Dershowitz "

05.26.2007
Comment on Tenure
Robert Jensen: "What the Finkelstein Tenure Fight Tells Us About the State of Academia"

05.27.2007
Alan Dershowitz and Peter Novick in Chronicle of Higher Education on Tenure
The Chronicle of Higher Education: "A Battle Between Authors Over a New Book"

05.27.2007
Chicago Jewish News on Tenure
Chicago Jewish News on Tenure: "Why the famous lawyer is working so hard to deny tenure to a Jewish professor in Chicago"

05.27.2007
Advocate of Targeted Assassinations Calls in Harvard Police After Threat of Targeted Meeting in His Office
Boston Globe: "Scientist says Harvard canceled talk"

05.29.2007
Bangkok Times on Tenure
Bankok Post: "Witch Hunt"

06.04.2007
Hitlerjugend Present Chancellor with Petition Demanding Jews be Purged From German Universities
StandWithUs.com: "STANDWITHUS DELIVERS PETITION WITH 8,000 SIGNATURES TO DEPAUL UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS") w/ Finkelstein's comment

06.05.2007
A letter to The New Republic
Noam Chomsky, The New Republic: "Match Point;" w/ response from Dershowitz

06.05.2007
Will somebody please teach him how to knit?
Alan Dershowitz, FrontPageMag.com: "Radical Reverse Psychology"

06.05.2007
YentasforZion.com proudly announces: "We've finished copying all the names out of the Beverly Hills white pages"
JTA: "Student group petitions against prof"

06.06.2007
Audio: Finkelstein on the June 1967 war and tenure
Chicago Public Radio: Worldview: "6 Days of War: Day 2"

06.09.2007
One Child Left Behind
'Professor Dershowitz... In your latest article you ended it with, "I cannot believe that DePaul University will fall for this absurd form of "new speak...." Have you ever read "1984"?'

06.10.2007
Chicago Sun-Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune on denial of tenure
Chicago Sun-Times: "DePaul denies tenure for controversial professor;" The Chronicle of Higher Education: "DePaul Rejects Tenure Bid by Finkelstein and Says Dershowitz Pressure Played No Role;"

06.10.2007
Reverend Holtschneider's Friends Celebrate the Good News
Steven Plaut, Israel National News: "Norman Finkelstein gets Canned, at Last"

06.10.2007
More soulmates of Reverend Holtschneider Celebrate

06.11.2007
Raul Hilberg:
"I have a sinking feeling about the damage this will do to academic freedom..."
Chicago Tribune: "Controversial professor denied tenure at DePaul"


===
Alan Dershowitz Exposed: What if a Harvard Student Did This?

Editor's note: For more documentation see Appendix I of Beyond Chutzpah. Finkelstein used Harvard's own style manual, used to teach Harvard students, that can be obtained online here: Writing With Sources. See also: Crimson Cuts Columnist for Lifting Material (10.27.2006, The Harvard Crimson, By ANTON S. TROIANOVSKI, Crimson Staff Writer)



In the introduction to The Case for Israel, Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School asserts that his account is supported by "facts and figures, some of which will surprise those who get their information from biased sources" (p. 2).  Yet, the evidence Dershowitz adduces will surprise no one familiar with the most notorious source of historical bias on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever published in the English language.  The charts below document Dershowitz's wholesale lifting of source material from Joan Peters's monumental hoax, From Time Immemorial.  Dershowitz not only copies Peters shamelessly, but knowingly does so from a book serious scholars have uniformly condemned.  (For details on the Peters hoax, see Norman G. Finkelstein, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, and Yehoshua Porath, "Mrs. Peters's Palestine," The New York Review of Books, 16 January 1986.)  He is effectively no different from a professor lifting sources wholesale from a leading Holocaust revisionist in a book on the Holocaust.  On a note both humorous and pathetic, Peters, in From Time Immemorial and claiming to be inspired by George Orwell, coins the term "turnspeak" to signal the inversion of reality (pp. 173, 402).  Dershowitz, apparently confounded by his massive borrowings from Peters, credits the term "turnspeak" to Orwell [1], accusing critics of Israel of "deliberately using George Orwell's 'turnspeak'" (p. 57) and "Orwellian turnspeak" (p. 153).  Is this scandalous scholarship, or is it plagiarism, or is it both?

Norman G. Finkelstein

1. Changed from "turnspeak" to "newspeak" on Amazon Online Reader* in 2007 because the Online Reader displays only the later paperback edition; see original hardcover 2003 edition & debate.

* Amazon has since corrected this and added the original hard cover edition back to Online Reader with 'George Orwell's "turnspeak"' and 'Orwellian turnspeak' alongside the revised paperback edition (October 2007).


In the sixteenth century, according to british reports, "as many as 15,000 jews" lived in safad, which was a "center of rabbinical learning." (p. 17)

source cited: palestine royal commission report, pp. 11-12.

safad at that time, according to the british investigation by lord peel's committee, "contained as many as 15,000 jews in the 16th century," and was "a centre of rabbinical learning." (p. 178)

source citedpalestine royal commission report, pp. 11-12.



[a]ccording to the british consul in jerusalem, the muslims of jerusalem "scarcely exceed[ed] one quarter of the whole population." (p. 17)

source citedjames finn to earl of clarendon, january 1, 1858.



in 1858 consul finn reported the "mohammedans of jerusalem" were "scarcely exceeding one-quarter of the whole population." (p. 197)

source cited: james finn to earl of clarendon, january 1, 1858.



by the middle of the nineteenth century […] jews also constituted a significant presence, often a plurality or majority, in safad, tiberias, and several other cities and towns. (p. 17)

source citedjames finn to viscount palmerston, november 7, 1851.



meanwhile, the jewish population had been growing.  they were the majority in safed and tiberias by 1851. (p. 199)


source cited: james finn to viscount palmerston, november 7, 1851.



in 1834, jewish homes in jerusalem "were sacked and their women violated." (p. 18)



source citedjacob de haas, history of palestine (new york: 1934), p. 393.



[i]n 1834, […] "forty thousand fellahin rushed on jerusalem…the jews were the worst sufferers, their homes were sacked and their women violated." (p. 183)

source cited: jacob de haas, history of palestine (new york: 1934), p. 393.                                                    



the british consul, william young, in a report to the british foreign office […] painted a vivid and chilling picture of the life of the jews in jerusalem in 1839: "i think it is my duty to inform you that there has been a proclamation issued this week by the government in the jewish quarter - that no jew is to be permitted to pray in his own house under pain of being severely punished - such as want to pray are to go into the synagogue…  there has also been a punishment inflicted on a jew and jewess - most revolting to human nature, which i think it is my duty to relate.  in the early part of this week, a house was entered in the jewish quarter, and a robbery was committed - the house was in quarantine - and the guardian was a jew - he was taken before the governor - he denied having any knowledge of the thief or the circumstances.  in order to compel him to confess, he was laid down and beaten, and afterwards imprisoned.  the following day he was again brought before the governor, when he still declared his innocence.  he was then burned with a hot iron over his face, and various parts of the body - and beaten on the lower parts of his body to the extent that the flesh hung in pieces from him the following day the poor creature died.  he was a young jew of salonica about 28 years of age - who had been here but a very short time, he had only the week before been applying to enter my service.  a young man - a jew - having a french passport was also suspected - he fled - his character was known to be an indifferent one - his mother, an aged woman, was taken under suspicion of concealing her son - she was tied up and beaten in the most brutal way….  i must say i am sorry and am surprised that the governor could have acted so savage a part - for certainly what i have seen of him, i should have thought him superior to such wanton inhumanity - but it was a jew - without friends or protection - it serves well to show, that it is not without reason that the poor jew, even in the nineteenth century, lives from day to day in terror of his life." (p. 18)






source cited: wm. t. young to colonel patrick campbell, may 25, 1839.



in may 1839, for instance, the complaints registered with the british foreign office by consul young in jerusalem were appalling.  in one day, in one report: "i think it is my duty to inform you that there has been a proclamation issued this week by the government in the jewish quarter - that no jew is to be permitted to pray in his own house under pain of being severely punished - such as want to pray are to go into the synagogue…  there has also been a punishment inflicted on a jew and jewess - most revolting to human nature, which i think it is my duty to relate - in the early part of this week, a house was entered in the jewish quarter, and a robbery was committed - the house was in quarantine - and the guardian was a jew - he was taken before the governor - he denied having any knowledge of the thief or the circumstances.  in order to compell him to confess, he was laid down and beaten, and afterwards imprisoned.  the following day he was again brought before the governor, when he still declared his innocence.  he was then burned with a hot iron over his face, and various parts of the body - and beaten on the lower parts of his body to that extent that the flesh hung in pieces from him.  the following day the poor creature died.  he was a young jew of salonica about 28 years of age - who had been here but a very short time, he had only the week before been applying to enter my service.  a young man - a jew - having a french passport was also suspected - he fled - his character was known to be an indifferent one - his mother, an aged woman, was taken under suspicion of concealing her son - she was tied up and beaten in the most brutal way…. i must say i am sorry and am surprised that the governor could have acted so savage a part - for certainly what i have seen of him, i should have thought him superior to such wanton inhumanity - but it was a jew - without friends or protection - it serves well to show, that it is not without reason that the poor jew, even in the nineteenth century, lives from day to day in terror of his life." (p. 184)   


source cited: wm. t. young to colonel patrick campbell, may 25, 1839.



nor could the jew seek redress, as the report observed: "like the miserable dog without an owner he is kicked by one because he crosses his path, and cuffed by another because he cries out - to seek redress he is afraid, lest it bring worse upon him; he thinks it better to endure than to live in the expectation of his complaint being revenged upon him." (p. 20)

source cited: wm. t. young to viscount palmerston, may 25, 1839.



[t]he life for jews described in 1839 by british consul young: "[…] like the miserable dog without an owner he is kicked by one because he crosses his path, and cuffed by another because he cries out - to seek redress he is afraid, lest it bring worse upon him; he thinks it better to endure than to live in the expectation of his complaint being revenged upon him." (p. 187)
source cited: wm. t. young to viscount palmerston, may 25, 1839.



several years later, the same consul attributed the plight of the jew in jerusalem to "the blind hatred and ignorant prejudice of a fanatical populace," coupled with an inability of the poverty-stricken jewish community to defend itself either politically or physically. (p. 20)


source cited: wm. t. young to viscount canning, january 13, 1842.



in palestine, [it] was reported: "it is a fact that the jewish subjects…do not enjoy the privileges granted to them….this evil may in general be traced …: i. to the absence of an adequate protection whereby they are more exposed to cruel and tyrannical treatment. ii. to the blind hatred and ignorant prejudices of a fanatical populace….iv.  to the starving state of numerous jewish population." (p. 188; peters's emphasis)
source cited: wm. t. young to viscount canning, january 13, 1842.



mark twain, who visited palestine in 1867, offered this description: "stirring scenes . . . occur in the valley [jezreel] no more.  there is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent - not for thirty miles in either direction.  there are two or three small clusters of bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation.  one may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings. . . . come to galilee for that . . . these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of capernaum: this stupid village of tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal palms. . . . we reached tabor safely. . . .we never saw a human being on the whole route.  nazareth is forlorn. . . . jericho the accursed lies in a moldering ruin today, even as joshua's miracle left it more than three thousand years ago; bethlehem and bethany, in their poverty and their humiliations, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the savior's presence, the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang, `peace on earth, good will to men,' is untenanted by any living creature. . . . bethsaida and  chorzin have vanished from the earth, and the `desert places' round about them, where thousands of men once listened to the savior's voice and ate the miraculous bread, sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes." (pp. 23-4)




source cited: mark twain, the innocents abroad (new york: 1996), pp. 349, 366, 375, 441-442.




mark twain […] visited the holy land in 1867.  in one location after another, twain registered gloom at his findings: "stirring scenes . . . occur in the valley [jezreel] no more.  there is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent - not for thirty miles in either direction.  there are two or three small clusters of bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation.  one may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings. […]  come to galilee for that . . . these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of capernaum: this stupid village of tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal palms. . . . we reached tabor safely. . . .we never saw a human being on the whole route.  nazareth is forlorn. . . . jericho the accursed lies in a moldering ruin today, even as joshua's miracle left it more than three thousand years ago; bethlehem and bethany, in their poverty and their humiliations, have nothing about them now to remind one that they once knew the high honor of the savior's presence, the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang, `peace on earth, good will to men,' is untenanted by any living creature. . . . bethsaida and  chorzin have vanished from the earth, and the `desert places' round about them, where thousands of men once listened to the savior's voice and ate the miraculous bread, sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes." (pp. 159-60)

source cited: mark twain, the innocents abroad (london: 1881), pp.  349, 366, 375, 441-442.




a christian historian has reported that several villages throughout palestine "are populated wholly by settlers from other portions of the turkish empire within the nineteenth century.  there are villages of bosnians, druzes, circassians and egyptians." (p. 26)

source cited: james parkes, whose land?, p. 212.



"in some cases villages [in palestine] are populated wholly by settlers from other portions of the turkish empire within the nineteenth century.  there are villages of bosnians, druzes, circassians and egyptians," one historian has reported. (p. 156)

source cited: james parkes, whose land?, p. 212.  



the 1911 edition of encyclopaedia britannica described the population of palestine as comprising widely differing "ethnological" groups speaking "no less than fifty languages."  it was daunting therefore to "write concisely" about "the ethnology of palestine," especially following the influx of population from egypt "which still persists in the villages."  in addition to arabs and jews, the other ethnic groups in palestine at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century included kurds, german templars, persians, sudanese, algerians, samaritans, tatars, georgians, and many people of mixed ethnicities.  (p. 26)



source cited: no volume or page number cited.



another source, the encyclopaedia britannica, 1911 edition […] finds the "population" of palestine composed of so "widely differing" a group of  "inhabitants" - whose "ethnological affinities" create "early in the 20th century a list of no less than fifty languages" - that "it is therefore no easy task to write concisely . . . on the ethnology of palestine."  in addition to the "assyrian, persian and roman" elements of ancient times, "the short-lived egyptian government introduced into the population an element from that country which still persists in the villages."… "there are […] persians […] kurds…german `templar' colonies […], a large algerian element   […] sudanese, […] the samaritan sect." (pp.  156-7)

source citedencyclopaedia britannica, 11th ed., vol. xx, p. 604.



an 1857 communiqué from the british consul in jerusalem reported that "the country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population." (p. 26)

source cited: james finn to the earl of clarendon, september 15, 1857.



the british consul in palestine reported in 1857 that "the country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population." (p. 159)

source cited: james finn to the earl of clarendon, september 15, 1857.



it also noted that although the arabs tended to leave and not return, the jewish population was more stable: "[w]e have jews who have traveled to the united states and australia," and "instead of remaining there, do return hither." (p. 26)


source cited: james finn to the earl of clarendon, september 15, 1857.



finn wrote further that "[…] we have jews here , who have been to the united states, but have returned  to their holy land - jews of jerusalem do go to australia and instead of remaining there, do return hither." (p. 485)


source cited: james finn to the earl of clarendon, september 15, 1857.



four years later, it was reported that "depopulation is even now advancing." (p. 26)


source cited: j.b. forsyth, a few months in the east (quebec: 1861), p. 188.



in the 1860s, it was reported that "depopulation is even now advancing." (p. 159)

source cited: j.b. forsyth, a few months in the east (quebec: 1861), p. 188.



and four years after that, it was noted that in certain parts of the country "land is going out of cultivation and whole villages are rapidly disappearing . . . and the stationery population extirpated." (p. 26)

source cited: h.b. tristram, the land of israel: a journal of travels in palestine (london: 1865), p. 490.



h.b. tristam noted in his journal that "the north and south [of the sharon plain] land is going out of cultivation and whole villages are rapidly disappearing […] and the stationery population extirpated." (p. 159)

source cited: h.b. tristram, the land of israel: a journal of travels in palestine (london: 1865), p. 490.



other historians, demographers, and travelers described the arab population as "decreasing," and the land as "thinly populated," "unoccupied," "uninhabited," and  "almost abandoned now." (pp. 26-7)

sources cited:
samuel bartlett, from egypt to palestine (new york: 1879), p. 409.  cited in fred gottheil, "the population of palestine, circa 1875," middle eastern studies, vol. 15, no. 3, october 1979.
edward wilson, in scripture lands (new york: 1890) p. 316.  cited in gottheil
w. allen, the dead sea: a new route to india (london: 1855), p. 113.  cited in gottheil.
william thomson, the land and the book (new york: 1871), p. 466.  cited in gottheil.



report followed depressing report, as the economist-historian professor fred gottheil pointed out: […] "wretched desolation and neglect"; "almost abandoned now"; "unoccupied"; "uninhabited"; "thinly populated." (p. 160)

sources cited:
s.c. bartlett, from egypt to palestine (new york: 1879), p. 409. cited in fred gottheil, "the population of palestine, circa 1875," middle eastern studies, vol. 15, no. 3, october 1979.
w. allen, the dead sea: a new route to india (london: 1855), p. 113.  cited in ibid.
w.m. thomson, the land and the book (new york: 1862), p. 466.  cited in ibid.
e.l. wilson in scripture lands (new york: n.d.), p. 316.  cited in ibid.



the plain of sharon […] was described by reverend samuel manning in 1874 as a "land without inhabitants" that "might support an immense population." (p. 27)



source cited: reverend samuel manning, those holy fields (london: 1874), pp. 14-17.



many writers, such as the reverend samuel manning, mourned the atrophy of the coastal plain, the sharon plain […]: "this fertile plain, which might support an immense population, is […] `the land […] without inhabitants'." (p. 160)

source cited: reverend samuel manning, those holy fields (london: 1874), pp. 14-17.



j.l. burkhardt [sic] reported that as early as in the second decade of the nineteenth century, "few individuals…die in the same village in which they were born.  families are continually moving from one place to another…in a few years…they fly to some other place, where they have heard that their brethren are better treated." (p. 27)


source cited:  john lewis burckhardt, travels in syria and the holy land (new york: 1983), p. 299.



john lewis burckhardt graphically described the migratory patterns he found in the early 1800s:  "[…] few individuals…die in the same village in which they were born.  families are continually moving from one place to another […] in a few years […] they fly to some other place, where they have heard that their brethren are better treated." (p. 163)

source cited: john lewis burckhardt, travels in syria and the holy land (london: 1882), p. 299.



a study of the jewish settlement of rishon l'tzion, first established in 1882, showed that the 40 jewish families that settled there had attracted "more than 400 arab families," many of which were bedouin and egyptian.  these families moved into areas around the jewish settlement and formed a new arab village on the site of  "a forsaken ruin."  the report observed a similar pattern with regard to other settlements and villages. (p. 27)


source cited: a. druyanov, ketavim letoldot hibbat ziyyon ve-yishshuv erez yisra'el (writings on the history of the hibbat ziyyon and the settlement of the land of israel) (odessa, tel aviv, 1919, 1925, 1932), vol. 3, pp. 66-67.



[i]n the jewish settlement rishon l'tsion (founded in 1882), by the year 1889 the "forty jewish families" settled there had attracted "more than four hundred arab families," most of them "bedouin and egyptian."  they had come to "surround the moshava" (settlement) in a "now-thriving village" that, before the founding of rishon l'tsion, had been sarafand - "a forsaken ruin."  the report from rishon pointed out that many other arab villages had sprouted in the same fashion. (pp. 252-3)

source cited: a. druyanov, ketavim letoldoth hibbat ziyyon ve-yishshuv erez yisra'el) (odessa, tel aviv, 1919, 1925, 1932), vol. 3, pp. 66-67.



according to one historian, "at least 25% of [the muslims who lived in all of palestine in 1882] were newcomers or descendants of those who arrived after [the egyptian conquest of 1831]." (p. 28)


source cited: ernst frankenstein, justice for my people (london: 1943), p. 127.



one historian deduced that of 141,000 settled muslims living in all of palestine (all areas) in 1882, "at least 25% of those 141,000…were newcomers or descendants of those who arrived after 1831 (egyptian conquest)." (pp. 196-7)

source cited: ernst frankenstein, justice for my people (london: 1943), p. 127.



a british official reported in 1937 that "the growth in [the numbers of arab fellahin] had been largely due to the health services combating malaria, reducing infant death rates, improving water supply and sanitation." (p. 28)


source citedreport to his britannic majesty's government to the council of the league of nations on the administration of palestine and trans-jordan for the year 1937, colonial no. 146, pp. 223-224.




an official 1937 report found that "the growth in their numbers [arab fellahin-peasants] has been largely due to the health services, combating malaria, reducing the infant deathrate, improving water supply and sanitation." (pp. 223-4)

source citedreport to his britannic majesty's government to the council of the league of nations on the administration of palestine and trans-jordan for the year 1937, colonial no. 146, pp. 223-224.

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