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KKK leader praises essay on Israel lobby
Former U.S. Congressman David Duke says work by Harvard, University of Chicago professors 'validates' position that Israel lobby helps control media, U.S. government; Harvard Prof. Dershowitz: paper is 'recycled garbage'
It's not the kind of acclaim Harvard's Stephen Walt and the University of Chicago's John Mearsheimer have welcomed, but former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke has praised their working paper "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" as a "new American Declaration of Independence."
The pair claims Israeli special interest groups have manipulated the U.S. to enact policies that favor Israel and work against American interests — and has been pounded by criticism in many circles since appearing on the John F. Kennedy School of Government Web site late last month. Walt is the Kennedy school's academic dean.
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The Anti-Defamation League called it a "classical conspiratorial anti-Semitic analysis invoking the canards of Jewish power and Jewish control." Renowned Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz called it "David Duke with footnotes."
Damage control
The paper has created public relations problems for the Kennedy school, though it has taken steps — including removing its logo from the paper — to make clear that the co-authors are solely responsible for its content. Duke, meanwhile, calls it "the Harvard paper."
David Ellwood, the dean of the Kennedy school, said the paper was published under the principles of academic freedom, and like all scholarly work, should be accepted or rejected in "the marketplace of ideas."
"Good ideas will rise, weaker ideas will fade away," he said.
Mearsheimer stood behind his work and urged people to read it before judging it.
"We said in our paper that anyone who criticizes Israel or America's relationship with Israel is almost sure to be called an anti-Semite and have his or her scholarship impugned, and, of course, that is what we see happening to us," he said. "This is hardly surprising. We would simply urge readers to read our article carefully and make up their own minds."
Walt did not respond to attempts to contact him by phone and e-mail.
Christian, media lobby
The paper describes what it says is "unwavering" support by the U.S. for Israel, economically and militarily, and rejects the moral or strategic cases for such backing.
The authors contend that a powerful "Israel Lobby" — a loose coalition of groups, including Christian evangelicals, pro-Israel lobbyists and mainstream media — pressures lawmakers and opinion makers to adopt policies that help Israel, but often hurt U.S. interests.
Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for instance, the paper says, "Thanks to the Lobby, the United States has become the de facto enabler of Israeli expansion in the Occupied Territories, making it complicit in the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians."
The authors also write: "The U.S. has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around."
U.S. media, the paper says, take a consistently pro-Israel viewpoint. "It is hard to imagine any mainstream media outlet in the United States publishing a piece like this one," the authors say.
Duke's praise
Duke, a one-time Louisiana state representative, hailed the paper.
"The fact that I have previously documented and expounded on the basic issues presented in the Harvard paper does not invalidate its easily documented truth," he wrote in a statement on his Web site. "It validates me and my work."
Mearsheimer said that he and Walt "deplore what David Duke stands for, and we do not condone his use of our paper to further his agenda."
Dershowitz said the paper's claims are "recycled garbage" that has been forwarded by hate groups for years. A paper he wrote to expose what he said are the paper's numerous factual and logical errors was posted Wednesday on the Kennedy school's Web site.
Dershowitz said the principle of "academic freedom" isn't enough to justify posting the "Israel Lobby" paper, which he said is bigoted against Israel.
Ellwood said the paper's contents weren't out-of-bounds for the site. He added that papers are supposed to be academic in style, but aren't vetted for quality or content by the university and shouldn't be. The scholars, not the university, are responsible for the ideas in any paper posted, Ellwood said. If universities start policing papers or ideas, he said, they could start shutting new ideas out.
