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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 23, 2004 / 6 Elul, 5764

Boot U.S. apologist for Iran's bigotry

By Alan Dershowitz


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There should be no double standards, especially given Olympic history


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | Imagine the following Olympic scenario: A white American Olympic wrestler draws as his first opponent a black wrestler from an African country. Rather than touch a black man, the American wrestler forfeits the match. When the head of the American wrestling team is asked for his reaction, he says, "That's his choice, and I have to say that, frankly, I respect it."


The outcry would be instantaneous. The American wrestler would be permanently banned from Olympic competition and the U.S. would be condemned for having selected so bigoted a representative. The head of the team, who commended the wrestler, would be immediately replaced.


This is not quite what happened during the first days of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but it's awfully close. An Iranian judo athlete drew as his first competitor a Jewish wrestler from Israel. Rather than compete against this son of a monkey and an ape, as Iranian mullahs repeatedly refer to Jews, Arash Miresmaeili avoided the competition. His teammate Haji Akhondzade claimed in public "Israel [is] no country," suggesting that the entire nation of Israel is really Palestine.


The Israeli opponent, Ehud Vaks, who knows Miresmaeili, said the decision to withdraw was not made by the wrestler himself, but rather by the Iranian government. This seems likely, especially since Iran publicly urged its other Olympians not to compete against Israelis. Had the Iranian wrestler drawn an Israeli Muslim as an opponent, I have no doubt that he would have wrestled him, despite the Iranian statement that this was a boycott of all Israelis.


This is to be expected from Iran, known for its anti-Jewish bigotry and for ordering its athletes to refuse to compete against Israelis in other international events.


The shock is that this bigoted decision has been praised by the leader of the U.S. judo team, an American named Buck Wessel. Wessel actually said that he respected Miresmaeili's decision, and he compared it to the American decision to pull out of the Olympic Games in 1980 to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.


Wessel should immediately be relieved of his responsibility as an American team leader. He does not speak for Americans in supporting the Iranian bigotry.

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This particular act of Olympic bigotry took place in the shadow of the 1972 mass murder of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches. That massacre was approved in advance by Yasser Arafat, who boasted of it to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The group that actually carried out the killings was supported by the Iranian government, which continues to be the No. 1 supporter of worldwide terrorism.


If Israel is not a country, and if athletes from Israel are not acceptable competitors, then this is only a short step from advocating physical attacks against them. In 1972, after the murder of the Israeli Olympians, business went on as usual with barely a pause for a memorial. This time, there must be a powerful response to the Iranian bigotry and its acceptance by the head of the American team.

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Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's most recent book is "The Case for Israel." (To purchase, click HERE. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.


© 2004, Alan Dershowitz