Israel Matzav

Dhimmis in Waltham

Mr. Justice Louis Brandeis would be rolling over in his grave this evening, had his remains not been cremated and buried underneath the portico of the University of Louisville's Louis Brandeis Law school.

The administration at Brandeis University, which is also named after the former Supreme Court Justice and Zionist leader, has agreed to allow former President Dhimmi Carter to speak at Brandeis about his new book - which accuses Israel of apartheid - without debating Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz. (By the way, the cover at left was done by David A. Lunde). Carter declined the university's previous invitation because it insisted that he debate Dershowitz. This is from the Boston Glob:

Carter's original decision set off a furor on campus and sparked a petition of more than 100 students and faculty members, who said Carter should be invited to speak without debating Dershowitz. Others contended that inviting Carter to speak without a debate would violate the university's responsibility to promote free speech.

The invitation to Carter also triggered questions about how open the predominantly Jewish campus is to views critical of Israel.

In the end, Carter is slated to speak for 15 minutes and answer questions for 45 minutes, campus officials said. The forum is scheduled for Jan. 23, but the date may change, they said.

"We're pleased that this has all worked out," said Deanna Congileo, a spokeswoman for Carter. "President Carter looks forward to the opportunity to having a dialogue with everyone at Brandeis."

She said the president has set no conditions and would answer as many questions as possible. Carter has spoken about his book in media interviews in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities. This will be the first time he has spoken about the book at a university, Congileo said.

Well, yes, except that the way this is set up, Dershowitz is not invited, and while he says he will attend, there is room here to bar him:

In a statement, university officials said the forum will be "open to members of the university community only."

Dershowitz is a professor at Harvard and is not part of the Brandeis "university community."

The statement added that "space, time, and parking limitations, among other logistical concerns, make it impossible to offer public access to the event itself."

However, Nealon said the university doesn't plan to block Dershowitz from visiting.

In a phone interview last night, Dershowitz vowed to attend.

"I will be the first person to have my hand up to ask him a question," he said. "I guarantee that they won't stop me from attending."

Dershowitz hopes to get his debate:

He said he would like to ask Carter why the former president has accepted money from Saudi Arabia and why the Carter Center has been critical of Israel while not looking into "the far more extensive human rights abuses" in Saudi Arabia.

He added that others will attend the debate with signs written with questions, so Carter can't avoid them.

"This will be the debate, whether he wants it or not," Dershowitz said.

"He will get the first word and the last word, but he will not get the only word. This will be the toughest encounter he has ever had in his professional career. This marks the end of his softball outings with the media."

Let's hope that Dershowitz is right.

Update: 10:47 PM

Al-Guardian is reporting that fourteen members of the two hundred-member Carter Center advisory board have resigned to protest Carter's book.

Hat Tip: NY Nana

``You have clearly abandoned your historic role of broker in favor of becoming an advocate for one side,'' the departing members of the Center's Board of Councilors told Carter in their letter of resignation.

The 200-member board is responsible for building public support for the Carter Center. It is not the organization's governing board.

The board's members ``are not engaged in implementing work of the Center,'' Carter Center Executive Director John Hardman said Thursday in a news release.

...

Steve Berman, an Atlanta real estate developer among those who resigned, said members have ``watched with great dismay'' as Carter defended the book, especially as he implied that Americans might be afraid to discuss the conflict in fear of a powerful Jewish lobby.

Berman said the religious affiliation of the resigning members, which include some prominent Jewish leaders in the Atlanta area, didn't influence their decision.

Maybe 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen and 'moderate' elected 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh would like to join the advisory board.

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posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:12 PM