Customer Reviews

The Case For Moral Clarity: Israel, Hamas and Gaza

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I have read (and in some cases) purchased several of Alan's books. The latest on the Gaza war of 2009 puts quite a few facts in perspective, and provides some good pithy and easily assembled responses to the usual run of mis-informed critics. While repetitive, given that is a series of articles all written for different audiences, it nevertheless provides some new facts in each article. The length of the book is a result of a lot of white space at the end of some articles, and this is regrettable in some ways. Having said this, the latest Dershowitz offering does provide an way to read summary of the key issues and answers. Whuile I do not share all his moral views on other social issues, Dershowitz does provide a good rationale and moral explanation for Israel's actions. In short, a must read for those interested in Israeli and Middle East affairs.

Dershowitz's "The Case for Moral Clarity" is as impressive as his other writings: Brilliant, poignant, intelligent. His style is clear and straight-forward and his arguments rock solid. We are extremely lucky to have such an extraordinary intellectual who also has the courage to speak up for truth, balance, and non-bias, and to fearlessly go against many of his biased colleagues in academia.

I must admit I didn't like the format of this one: A series of articles rather than a true novel. But the words need to be said, and Dershowitz has done a great job yet again.

Professor Dershowitz provides a clear and thoughtful analysis of many current aspects of the Arab/Israeli conflict. This is a collection of previously written letters, essays, and debates. But they all are quite recent (mostly 2009) and applicable to the recent fighting in Gaza. Dershowitz clearly shows that there is no moral equivalence between the Israeli and the Arabs positions. The Arabs are using the methods of terrorism and committing crimes against humanity. Israeli is making extraordinary efforts to avoid harming civilians and is being inappropriately blamed for the Arab civilian casualties.

Dershowitz clearly favors Israel but I believe that his statements are, by and large, factual and unbiased. As another reviewer noted, he may use the term "antisemite" too broadly. Also, I think he lumps too much into the term "hard left." But this is not supposed be a book about the nuances of the extreme left wing position. It would take a much longer book to dissect the psychology, motives, and methods of various academics who persistently distort the facts to place not only Israel, but the United States and other democratic countries and institutions in a bad light. For a short text, this give an amazingly clear and understandable, not to mention, accurate picture of the current Arab/Israeli conflict.

This is not a newly written book, but rather a collection of several of professor Dershowitz's articles on the Israel-Palestine conflict published in newspapers, internet blogs etc. And it's a very thin book, only some 80 pages. However, it is well written and always to the point. Professor Dershowitz is always well informed and nearly always draws a conclusion with which it is hard to believe that anyone would fundamentally disagree. The main exception to this rule is that he seems a little too much inclined to call people antisemites. He does not, however, brand everyone who is critical to Israel as an antisemite, far from it - and most people called antisemites by Dershowitz probably are. This book (like all other "The case for" books by professor Dershowitz) should be read by everyone who takes an interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

It is sad to read Dershowitz' latest one-sided screed in defence of Israel's disaproportionate use of force against the hapless Palestianians in Gaza in 2008. For an unbiased summary of the Gaza killing spree of 2008, see Judge Goldstone's Report.