In his memoir The Best Defense, Dershowitz noted that "almost all of my clients have been guilty."
The well-known lawyer of OJ Simpson may be fighting a losing battle these days, the evidence is just too damning, the jury, which happens to be in this case global opinion, cannot ignore the overwhelming inconvenience of the facts of the case.
Israel's attack on Gaza involved great war crimes, and Dershowitz's shameful attack against Justice Goldstone does not change that fact.
Alan Dershowitz, lawyer, author of the book "The Case for Israel" and an occasional major speaker at the extremist lobby AIPAC seems to be quite desperate these days. Signs that the great defender is losing his case.
Dershowitz and Goldstone have been colleagues and close friends for many years before the UN Gaza probe, but once Goldstone published his report the ties between the two were severed. "The Goldstone report is a defamation written by an evil, evil man," Dershowitz said.
In an interview with Army Radio, Dershowitz said he is appalled by the report and can’t fathom how it could have been written by a Jew. He said it is as if a Jew would have written the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and that the jurist is using the fact that his last name is ‘Goldstone’ to substantiate the report’s defamation against the Jewish people....
Former minister and Meretz chairwoman Shulamit Aloni responded to Dershowitz’s comments, saying that Goldstone is far from a traitor. "Dershowitz’s statements border on hate. Goldstone is a Zionist Jew who was simply doing his job," Aloni told Army Radio. --- Haaretz
What strikes me is that Dershowitz seems to confuse the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza, and criticism thereof, with an attack on the Jewish people as a whole. Dershowitz seems to have swallowed the line that the actions/motivations of this particular State and its military is synonymous with the basic character of the Jewish people. That is precisely the line of people who do actively promote anti-Jewish hatred. So while the anti-Jewish extremists point to evidence of war crimes and go on to say that it proves their point, Dershowitz seeks to justify the actions of the Israeli military. And most importantly, Dershowitz is attacking the character of some of the people making the accusations, even if they themselves happen to be Jewish, rather than dealing with the specific charges themselves.
As an American, i see this here. Politicians use the same ploy. They defend policies in Iraq/Aghanistan just like they did with Vietnam, by suggesting that any accusation of war crimes is an attack on the very nature of the American people. So the average american, who knows many other average americans who are good, decent, caring individuals, will take any such accusations against policy as a personal attack. They did not consider that it was possible that Napalm was dropped on civilians in Vietnam villages because that would not be seen as an indictment against Nixon's policies, but an attack on themselves and their family and their friends. Therefore, they will simply not listen to it, and attack anyone who brings up these charges. Same logical fallacy at work today, for the defense of the morally indefensible.
It is wrong to confuse a people with the actions of a government. Even in a democracy when people have some say in the making of a government.
Above all, the prophets remind us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible. -- Abraham Joshua Heschel
Heschel took his responsibility seriously, by speaking out for civil rights, against the crimes of the US in Vietnam. What is happening today in Occupied Palestine demands a collective response from us, the entire world community, but particularly those of us who are Americans as it is being done with official blessing, or at least funding of the American government.
Goldstone takes his responsibility seriously, as a supporter of international law. Dershowitz is using the most vile attacks against another in the last desperate attempts to cast doubts to serve the interests of a particular government, but avoiding the substance of the charges.
I hope more Americans take responsibility by taking action. The letter signed by 54 Congresspeople, urging an easing of the criminal military siege on Gaza, is a very hopeful sign, telling us our protests and calls are paying off. (see here). It is time to end the injustice against the Palestinian people. We are in this together. It is our responsibility to act, to speak out.