Today’s New York Sun prints a vicious attack on Tony Judt as a professor who has “become hostile to the Jewish state” in an article about the Polish consulate in N.Y. abruptly cancelling a Judt speech last night under pressure from the Anti-Defamation League. Penned by Ira Stoll (who I believe is credited with the prescient statement in 2003 that demonstrators opposed to the upcoming war in Iraq should be investigated for treason).
Interesting that anyone who is critical of Israel’s regrettable policies toward its neighbors, and its overreliance on the U.S. in maintaining that posture, is said to be “hostile to the Jewish state.”
Also interesting that The Sun advertises itself—I bought a copy this morning— “100,000 Copies a day to New York City’s Most Influential Readers.” A similar boast to the claim by Sun owner Roger Hertog’s Manhattan Institute (which like the Sun is dedicated in some large part to insulating Israel from criticism), that it is turning “Intellect Into Influence.” If anyone else talked about influence this much, they’d be accused of rewriting the protocols of the elders of Zion. Once again supporting Walt and Mearsheimer’s point: the lobby brags about its power till you call them on it, and then it howls antisemitism.
