ישראל קאפקעדי אומוויסנהייט פון אסאך היימישע ציוניסטן איז ווי מען זאגט אויף אידיש "מיינד באולינג"
מדינת ישראל האט די בעסטע מענטשן רעכט רעקארד? 😮 😕
איך נעם אן אז דו האסט מיר געמיינט מיט דיין תגובה, אלזא דא האסטו אן ארטיקל פון אן אום-היימישער ציוניסט, אין פאקט א פופציג יעריגער וועטעראן לעגאלע פארשער אין אלטוועלטליכע הומען-רעכטן איינגעלעגענהייטן, פראפעסאר עלען דערשאוויטץ.
ליינט, און א "מיינד דיבאולינג" וועט מעגליך פאסירן:
As an advocate, teacher and student of human rights for almost 40 years, I feel confident in asserting that Israel's record on human rights is among the best in the world, especially among nations that have confronted comparable threats.
Israel has the only independent judiciary in the entire Middle East. Its Supreme Court, one of the most highly regarded in the world, is the only court in the Middle East from which an Arab or a Muslim can expect justice, as many have found in winning dozens of victories against the Israeli government, the Israeli military and individual Israeli citizens. There is no more important component in the protection of human rights and civil liberties than an independent judiciary willing to stand up to its own government. I challenge the proponents of divestment to name a court in any Arab or Muslim country that is comparable to the Israeli Supreme Court.
As the only true democracy in the Middle East, Israel is the only country in the region that has virtually unlimited freedom of speech. Any person in Israel — whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian — can criticize the Israeli government and its leaders. No citizen of any other Middle Eastern or Muslim state can do that without fear of imprisonment or death. As one wag recently put it, citizens of Israel and the Palestinian Authority have exactly the same right of free speech — both may criticize Israel and praise Yasser Arafat.
Israel is the only country in the world that has openly confronted the difficult issue of protecting the civil liberties of the ticking bomb terrorist. The Israeli Supreme Court recently ruled that despite the potential benefits of employing "physical pressure" (that is, using non-lethal torture in order to extract information), such pressure is now illegal in Israel. Brutal torture, including lethal torture, is commonplace in nearly every other Middle Eastern and Muslim country. Indeed, American authorities sometimes send suspects to Egypt, Jordan and the Philippines precisely because they know that they will be tortured in those countries.
The list could go on and on, and by every single standard Israel would surpass other countries against which no divestiture petition has been directed. To be sure, Israel is far from perfect. I have been critical of some of its policies, as have countless Israeli citizens. Crucially, there are mechanisms within Israel for improving its civil liberties and human rights record. These mechanisms do not exist in other Middle Eastern and Muslim nations.
Even when judged against European nations, Israel's human rights record does very well. It is far better than that of France on virtually any criterion, even if one forgets about the Algerian War, in which the French military tortured and murdered thousands of people. It is least as good as the British record in dealing with terrorism in Northern Ireland. The Israeli legal system is far superior to that of Italy, Spain and many other European countries.
There are, of course, difficult issues to be resolved between Israel and the Palestinians. These include the future of the settlements, the establishment of Palestinian self-governance and the prevention of terrorism. These issues will require compromise on all sides. Americans are and must be free to criticize Israel when they disagree with its policies or actions, as they criticize any other country in the world whose record is not perfect. But to single out the Jewish state of Israel, as if it were the worst human rights offender, is bigotry pure and simple. Those who sign the Chomsky petition should be ashamed of themselves. If they are not, it is up to others to shame them.
Here's an alternative to singling out Israel for divestment: Let universities choose nations for investment in the order of the human rights records. If that were done, investment in Israel would increase dramatically, while investments in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Philippines, Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority and most other countries of the world would decrease dramatically.
I challenge Noam Chomsky to a public debate on whether universities should invest in or divest from companies that do business with Israel and other countries.
Alan M. Dershowitz is a professor of law at Harvard University and author of "Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age" (Little, Brown & Co., 2002).
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.alandershowitz.com/publications/docs/divestandconquer.html">http://www.alandershowitz.com/publicati ... nquer.html</a>