Dershowitz on Leftists

Once again Dershowitz uses a broad brush attack and collectively lumps those with whom he generally disagrees as “left wingers� or “extreme left wingers.� As usual, his attacks are based on innuendo and half-truths. For instance, Chomsky’s defense of a “Holocaust denier� was a defense of the right to do research and publish the findings of one’s research. Chomsky made it very clear at the time that he was in total disagreement with the thesis of the person whose rights he was defending.

I’m convinced that Dershowitz’s periodic attacks on Chomsky are motivated by Chomsky’s criticism of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories. Dershowitz is a passionate defender of Israel and has always managed to overlook the total denial of basic democratic rights to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the bulldozing of homes and imprisonment without specified charges on trial of anyone they label as “terrorist,� or Israel’s failure to condemn the racist policies of South Africa.

MELVIN REIER

Northridge