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Last update - 07:27 13/06/2008
'Israel Lobby' authors in Jerusalem: Ahmadinejad not inciting to genocide
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel Lobby 

JERUSALEM - Two prominent American professors who sparked an uproar with their best-selling book critical of the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington, remarked Thursday that they felt that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be wiped off the map was not in fact incitement to genocide.

About 200 students and faculty members crammed into a stuffy lecture hall at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and grilled John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt for more than two hours about their harsh findings in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, published last year.

In the book, the pair argue that pro-Israel special interest groups have manipulated the U.S. political system to promote policies that favor Israel, while running counter to American interests. They argue that Israel is often a strategic burden, not an asset, pointing to the 1991 Gulf War as an example, when the Israel-U.S. alliance hindered the U.S. in building a coalition of forces.
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Since Mearsheimer, a University of Chicago professor, and Walt, of Harvard
University, published their working paper of the same title in 2006, they have drawn the wrath of Jewish American groups and U.S. administration officials.

During Thursday's lecture, the authors said their goal was to draw a lively academic debate over a topic that was perceived as taboo before. As a result, they have become sought after speakers the world over, yet unwelcome at some American destinations.

"If you bring up the Israel lobby, you are asking for trouble," Walt said as he opened his lecture. He said he knew he was playing with fire when he wrote the book, but said he would not be deterred by personal attacks against him.

Critics have charged them with shoddy scholarship, faulty logic and even anti-Semitism. The attacks have been compounded because Islamic militants, Holocaust deniers and even former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke are among those who have praised the book, though some mainstream analysts have said their work raised legitimate points.

On Thursday Mearsheimer and Walt, both renowned political scientists long before their book came out, outlined their findings in a brief introduction. They argued that the only logical explanation for the U.S. government handing Israel $3 billion (1.95 billion) in annual aid, far more than any other U.S. ally, and supporting it unconditionally was the pro-Israel lobby, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They said AIPAC wields disproportionate power because of deep financial resources and heavy-handed tactics.

Then they took questions, as the classroom erupted in excited conversation. The exchange was mostly cordial, with the American professors eliciting some laughs from the crowd, but at times it got testy.

At one point, 25-year-old international relations student Liad Gilhar accused the professors of distorting facts and providing fodder for anti-Semites. "You need to choose your words carefully," Gilhar said.

Walt shot back. "With all due respect, I don't think it is my words that harm Israel, but rather Israel's actions."

A professor criticized the authors for failing to condemn Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map. "I don't think he is inciting to genocide," Walt responded.

Mearsheimer said Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinians helped fuel terrorism against the United States and that, unlike in Israel, there was no healthy debate on the matter in America.

"The U.S. media coverage is heavily slanted in Israel's direction," he said.

Not all in the audience were hostile.

Korina Kagan, a political science lecturer, said she essentially agreed with their thesis and was appalled by the attacks against them, especially from academic circles.

"The smear campaign against them is worse than anything they have ever written, she said," adding that many of their positions are shared by commentators in the Israeli media. "We need to have a free academic exchange."

Mearsheimer and Walt were invited to Israel by Gush Shalom, a small, ultra-dovish political group, to speak about their book. The two said they decided to initiate the audience at Hebrew University in order to address a more diverse audience.

Later Thursday, they were to address Gush Shalom, which invited them.

"It is telling that the guests came to Israel and were hosted by a fringe group and had to solicit themselves to appear here," said Arieh O'Sullivan, director of communications for the Anti-Defamation League in Israel. "It's not academia; it's like a traveling carnival show."

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      1.   so what is it then 23:35  |  Xerces 12/06/08
      2.   "Ahmadinejad not inciting to genocide" 23:42  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08
      3.   Lucky these clowns don`t make policy 23:45  |  IW 12/06/08
      4.   fearing the truth 23:49  |  KMS 12/06/08
      5.   Proof of Israel`s broad mindedness and tolerance 23:55  |  x-ray 12/06/08
      6.   The fact they are speaking in Israel undermines their claims 23:58  |  Cynic 12/06/08
      7.   THE same professors who wrote without surveying congressmen 23:59  |  PETER SM 12/06/08
      8.   Shoddy indeed 00:00  |  Biologist 13/06/08
      9.   Mearsheimer and Walt have spoken the 00:01  |  Ray 13/06/08
      10.   Vacation homes 00:09  |  Scharker Yid 13/06/08
      11.   They are doing a great deal for AIPAC 00:11  |  Ron 13/06/08
      12.   So Some Lefties at Hebrew University Suppport Them ? Big Surprise 00:14  |  Tod Zuckerman 13/06/08
      13.   Israel Lobby 00:17  |  Martin 13/06/08
      14.   Mearsheimer @ Walt 00:17  |  Cyasher 13/06/08
      15.   I know Mearsheimer 00:18  |  Dan 13/06/08
      16.   walt and mearsheimer 00:21  |  al b 13/06/08
      17.   It is a circus 00:27  |  Ron 13/06/08
      18.   "Removed from the pages of time" 00:30  |  Cyrus 13/06/08
      19.   "eep financial resources and heavy-handed tactics" 00:30  |  JP 13/06/08
      20.   Xerces #1 00:34  |  Veritas 13/06/08
      21.   Tony Blair said he was concerned about 00:35  |  topanga 13/06/08
      22.   THESE "experts" in Scientic method study should go to the people 00:36  |  PETER SM 13/06/08
      23.   mersheimer & walt 00:37  |  Shmuelshachor 13/06/08
      24.   As much as I disagree... 00:37  |  David 13/06/08
      25.   Ahmadinejad Is A Liar 00:39  |  Tex 13/06/08
      26.   Just imagine... 00:52  |  Jabotinsky 13/06/08
      27.   Human rights in USA and Holy Land 01:03  |  German Jew 13/06/08
      28.   Israel profits from US 01:04  |  Steve 13/06/08
      29.   Ahmedinejad`s gripe is legimate 01:05  |  Milo 13/06/08
      30.   _The Protocols of the Elders of Zion_ 01:06  |  Zoey 13/06/08
      31.   There are 30,000 Jews in Iran 01:23  |  Harold 13/06/08
      32.   Israel Lobby authors 01:24  |  Peter 13/06/08
      33.   good old israel lets these monkeys speak in a israeli school 01:25  |  hal tripp 13/06/08
      34.   To the illiterate of #1 and #2 01:26  |  Harry 13/06/08
      35.   Nazis in US 01:26  |  Chaim Gorenstein 13/06/08
      36.   usa is oppressed by jew terrorist in govt 01:28  |  numerouno 13/06/08
      37.   ISRAEL BASHERAMA 01:29  |  Brant 13/06/08
      38.   I SAID THAT BEFORE, BABY 01:30  |  indrajaya 13/06/08
      39.   Buckley Called it Right 01:31  |  David Yashar 13/06/08
      40.   SELF-LOATHERS YOUR `BOOK` HAS BECOME OBAMA`S `CHANGE POLICY` 01:57  |  david p. 13/06/08
      41.   ofcourse Dr.A. has not incited to genocide! He is routinely 02:01  |  lakshmi 13/06/08
      42.   Voltaire got it right 02:03  |  Harold 13/06/08
      43.   W-M are the Iranian Moles 02:26  |  S. Kolten 13/06/08
      44.   What`s the point? 03:43  |  Josh 13/06/08
      45.   To lakshmi 03:47  |  Proud Jew 13/06/08
      46.   #23 Hey Shmuelshachor 03:48  |  ballistic 13/06/08
      47.   #24 Yes David, more and more 03:49  |  ballistic 13/06/08
      48.   These evil men 03:52  |  Yariv 13/06/08
      49.   IGNORING Ahmadinejads nation of martys&Islam to rule the- 04:28  |  PETER SM 13/06/08
      50.   Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel 04:33  |  herb glatter 13/06/08
      51.   "Playing with fire"? Whom is he kidding? 04:41  |  Bob 13/06/08
      52.   chosen people 04:44  |  peter 13/06/08
      53.   #24 David...hope does not disappoint 05:11  |  Pastor Joseph 13/06/08
      54.   #51 Lil Bob...Warriors play with fire 05:20  |  Pastor Joseph 13/06/08
      55.   Lets them write "The Saudi Lobby"!!! 05:44  |  Dr. Jack 13/06/08
      56.   It`s a lie: Iran is NOT planning "genocide" 06:35  |  Bobby 13/06/08
      57.   W and M Go Tell Iran This 06:37  |  Yosemite 13/06/08
      58.   These liers have no shame! 07:09  |  VLAD 13/06/08
      59.   #56 bobby from `dc` im in a `distant cloud` 07:24  |  Pastor Joseph 13/06/08
      60.   #55 Dr Jack 07:26  |  Pastor Joseph 13/06/08
      61.   #57, nothing a couple aircraft carriers cant fix 07:27  |  Pastor Joseph 13/06/08
      62.   WHENAre they going to"study" big oil and its connections? 07:32  |  PETER SM 13/06/08
      63.   They`re hardly on the fringe 07:37  |  Bruno 13/06/08
      64.   For Iran,"negotiation" and "compromise" are euphemisms for... 07:50  |  Jean Van Daem 13/06/08
      65.   They do not mind Ahmadinejad - they implicitly share his goal 07:53  |  Shalom Freedman 13/06/08
      66.   Pretty dumb for supposedly smart people 08:11  |  Joe Sittizen 13/06/08
      67.   Israel Lobby authors in Jerusalem: Ahmadinejad not inciting to ge 08:47  |  Sarah Lascar 13/06/08
      68.   A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD POLTICIS LITERATURE 09:07  |  indrajaya 13/06/08
      69.   Walt and Mearsheimer, the best friends of the Jewish people...... 10:05  |  Swiss (Dino) 13/06/08