1. The Israel Test, by George Gilder
- Author:
- Daniel Wahl
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Objective Standard
- Institution:
- The Objective Standard
- Abstract:
- According to George Gilder, Israel's defenders have failed to make a compelling case for the country's right to exist-though not for lack of trying. Gilder cites, as one example, Alan Dershowitz, who has contributed two books offering "over thirty chapters of evidence against [anti-Israel] propaganda."Dershowitz cogently contests the proposition that Israel is a racist bastion of apartheid, a genocidal expansionist power, and a crypto-Nazi perpetrator of "massacres." He ably refutes the verdict of the relevant UN committee that Israel is "the world's primary violator of human rights" . . . [And he] even takes the trouble to answer charges of the ineffable Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as if the ruler were moved by legal niceties and resourceful argument (pp. 20-21). But, although Gilder acknowledges that Dershowitz's arguments refute the typical charges made against Israel, he says that this defensive posture is an all-too-typical mistake. "The central error of Israel's defenders is to accept the framing of the debate by its enemies. . . . Locked in a debate over Israel's alleged vices, they miss the salient truth running through the long history of anti-Semitism: Israel is hated above all for its virtues" (pp. 21-22). For all its special features and extreme manifestations, anti-Semitism is a reflection of the hatred toward . . . capitalists that is visible . . . whenever an identifiable set of outsiders outperforms the rest of the population in an economy. This is true whether the offending excellence comes from the Kikuyu in Kenya, the Ibo and the Yoruba in Nigeria . . . [or] the over 30 million overseas Chinese [throughout] Southeast Asia (p. 36). In The Israel Test, Gilder zeros in on both the source of Israel's success and the source of hatred toward the nation, making a strong case for why the nation's continued existence should be both supported and celebrated. . . .To read the rest of this article, select one of the following options: Subscriber Login | Subscribe | Renew | Purchase a PDF of this article
- Topic:
- Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Israel