ISBN 978-1-59403-740-5 (ebook)
1. Arab-Israeli conflict. 2. Arab-Israeli conflict—Public opinion. 3. Public opinion—United States. 4. Israel—Politics and government—Foreign public opinion. 5. Israel—Politics and government—Foreign public opinion, American. 6. Arab-Israeli conflict—Influence. I. Title.
DS119.7.M844 2014
956.9405’4—dc23
2013045687
For Isaiah, Aviv, Gabriel, Shai, Aaron, Erez, Ariel, and Quinn. May the Lord bless you and protect you.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Introduction
one When Israel Was Admired (Almost) All Around
two The Arab Cause Becomes Palestinian (and “Progressive”)
three The Uses of Terrorism
four The Power of Oil
five The Arabs Take Over the United Nations
six Europe’s Socialists Go Third World
seven Edward Said Conquers Academia for Palestine
eight Israel Shows a Less Endearing Face
nine Israel Spawns Its Own Adversary Culture
ten On the Wrong Side of the Left’s New Paradigm
eleven Israel in the Dock
conclusion Israel Imperiled
Notes
Index
A great many people and institutions helped me in important ways as I worked on this book (and its companion e-book, Liberal Oasis: The Truth About Israel).
Two dear friends, Peter Collier and Neal Kozodoy, marvelous editors for whom I’ve spent a good portion of my life writing, helped and counseled me every step of the way, and Peter also edited this book with his unfailing skill and insight.
The entire project was made possible by the kind and generous financial support I received from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Paul E. Singer, the Gale Foundation, Roger Hertog, the Lisa and Michael Leffell Foundation, the World Affairs Institute, Elliot Hershberg, Malcolm Thomson, the Morris Weiser Family Foundation, David Schimel, Rebecca and Laurence Grafstein, Olivier Sarfati, Joseph Aiken, Samuel H. Solomon, David Angel, a couple of other generous individuals whom I wish I could name but prefer to keep their privacy. My friends Joshua Landes and Theodore N. Mirvis, in addition to each making generous gifts themselves, hosted a breakfast at which other funds were raised. My dear old buddy, James Denton, took the initiative of directing a grant to me even when I was reluctant to ask. The Emergency Committee for Israel underwrote a research trip I made to Israel. Last but far from least I want to say a special thank you to Dianne Sehler who has offered me encouragement and support for many years. I am deeply indebted to each of these individuals and organizations.
I am happy and honored to be a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University, and I am grateful to Dean Vali Nasr, Executive Director Carla Freeman, and Program Administrator Kristine Kuehl Kunkel, as well as to the fine reference librarians at the SAIS library.
I was most fortunate to be able to call on the resourcefulness and diligence of two outstanding research assistants, Jared Sorhaindo and Moran Stern, and also the work of three interns, Ari Grazi, Hannah Elka Meyers, and Zach Novetsky.
I benefitted greatly in my knowledge and understanding of issues touched on in this book from conversations with, among others, Michael Allen, Shlomo Avineri, Joel Fishman, Abraham Foxman, Jeffrey Gedmin, Manfred Gerstenfeld, Tom Gross, Yossi Klein Halevi, Martin Kramer, Adam Levick, Michael Lewis, Noah Pollak, Steve Rosen, Rob Satloff, and Alexander Yakobson. My wonderful daughter, Madeline Muravchik, translated some French for me. Jennifer Burns, Eric Lee and Justus Reid Weiner provided or led me to materials that were helpful. Tony Badran and Badih Chayban went to pains to find and translate a speech from Arabic. Jamie Fly took solicitous interest in my progress. Thank you all.
And finally I want to thank Sally, my beloved wife of many years whose patience is the sine qua non of my books.
I am most grateful to each of these people and to any others whom my weakening memory has caused me to omit, for which I apologize deeply.
Preface to the Paperback Edition
The seven weeks of war between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014 occasioned the greatest outpouring of raw anti-Semitism since the demise of Nazism. Ironically, relatively little of this occurred in the Arab world, at least less than usual. Cairo, Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad were quieter than during any of the other wars between Israel and its neighbors. But across Europe and here and there in Latin America, Africa, even America and Canada, incident followed upon incident of vicious Jew baiting and sometimes violence.
To recall some highlights: On Paris’s Rue de la Roquette, three hundred worshippers were besieged in a synagogue by a mob that, in the words of a French Jewish photojournalist present, “had murder on its mind,” while a similar scene played out at another synagogue on the nearby Rue des Tournelles. According to witnesses, the attackers shouted “death to the Jews,” and Le Parisien reported that six police and two members of a Jewish self-defense squad were injured holding them off. Similar chants were reported at a demonstration outside a synagogue in the Parisian suburb, Belleville, while a firebomb was thrown at yet another suburban synagogue at Aulnay-sous-Bois. In all, eight synagogues were attacked.
In Berlin, marchers chanted “Jew, Jew, cowardly swine, come out and fight,” while in Frankfurt they rhymed, “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas.” In Antwerp, a loudspeaker led the crowd in intoning “slaughter the Jews” at an anti-Israel protest featuring local politicians of the Socialist, Labor, and Green parties.
In Turkey, Prime Minister (and soon to be President) Recep Erdoğan opened the floodgates of interfaith rage—claiming that Israel “attempt[s] systematic genocide every Ramadan”—and a torrent of anti-Semitism flowed forth, including violent protests at Israel’s diplomatic missions in Istanbul and Ankara. A Turkish website reported that in one day 27,000 Turks had tweeted in praise of Hitler. And little wonder: Erdoğan accused Israel of “barbarism that surpasses Hitler.” If that were so, then Hitler was the lesser evil. Had he only finished the job, the world would have been spared something worse.
In keeping with this spirit, an Erdoğan-allied
