Should Israel Welcome Glenn Beck’s Support?

Alan M. Dershowitz
Hudson New York
8/22/2011

…The Jewish state is demonized by the hard left in America, by virtually the entire left in much of Europe, and by most of the left and right in Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Its right to exist is denied by a high proportion of Arabs and Muslims, and most of the Arab and Muslim nations do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

In many circles, anti-Zionism easily morphs into anti-Semitism, and in some countries Jews are afraid to walk the streets wearing any clothing or symbols that identify them as Jewish.

The general assembly of the United Nations has become the world’s new Der Sturmer, whose podium hosts, and many of whose audience members cheer, virulent anti-Semites such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Defenders of Israel, even those critical of some of Israel’s policies, are banned from speaking at universities, are attacked personally by the hard left media and are treated as pariahs by their academic colleagues.

It is against this sad and increasingly dangerous background that one must evaluate Glenn Beck’s visit to Israel. I disagree with much of Beck’s politics and with virtually all of his conspiracy theorizing. Yet I admire his courage in putting his body in the line of fire. I believe him when he says:

If the world goes down the road of dehumanizing Jews again, “then count me a Jew and come for me first.”

At a time when old friends and allies who should be supporting the Jewish state are abandoning it in droves, Beck’s willingness to stand up for Israel must be accepted with gratitude. I, for one, do not question his motives. I believe they are genuine. One need not accept all of Beck’s positions on Israel—and I certainly do not—in order to agree with him that support of Israel is one of the great moral issues of the 21st Century…

Read the entire article at Hudson New York.

Related:  The Blaze has a slide show of George Lange’s photographs from last night’s “Restoring Courage” gathering at Caesarea. At NoisyRoom, Glenn Beck Ignites Spark of Hope in Speech at Caesarea:

…“I went to Itamar in Judea and Samaria; our cameras were the first to be allowed into the [murdered Fogel family] home. It is empty now and they are ‑‑ they couldn’t get all of the blood off the walls. I will tell you, this was one of the most horrific, bloodiest massacres I could imagine. It was horrifying, horrifying. And yet in that community, profound hope. If you stand in their backyard, you can see the two mountains: The Mountain of Blessing and the Mountain of Curse. It is scriptural. Which do you choose? The mountain of blessing or curse. And this community has both. I can’t believe what people go through here in Israel, and the world stays silent. The media is distorting and lying, lying to you. Lying to you. And it is important that you know it.”…

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