Controversial professor defends book

A Harvard professor whose recent book has been called “anti-Semitic” urged Friday for a more open dialogue about U.S. policies toward Israel.
Harvard Professor Stephen Walt, co-author of the controversial book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," defended his work before a group of about 150 students at American University.
“My book is not anti-Semitic and I never say that the Israeli lobby is synonymous with American Jews,” Walt said.
The book, published in 2007, received mostly negative reviews from American media outlets. It was better received in England and continental Europe, according to Walt.
The book argues that a loose and informal coalition of interest groups has dictated American foreign policy towards supporting Israel through lobbying efforts. America's unquestioning support for the state of Israel and its "special relationship" with the country is contrary to U.S. interests and is bad foreign policy, according to Walt, "Washington's close relationship with Jerusalem makes it harder, not easier, to defeat terrorists who are now targeting the United States, and it simultaneously undermines America's standing with important allies around the world," he says in the book. It also makes the case that the United States discourages open debate on the issue and marginalizes anti-Israel politicians or pundits as anti-Semitic.
"The final tactic often used to shape discourse is simply to smear anyone who questions the special relationship, who questions Israeli policy, or questions what the [pro-Israel] lobby is doing, as anti-Semitic," Walt told approximately students and professors gathered in the SIS lounge.
In reaction, one University of Chicago professor called the book "piss poor, monocasual social science." Johns Hopkins University Professor Eliot Cohen called it “a wretched piece of scholarship,” and anti-Semitic.
Ayal Chen-Zion, president of AU Students for Israel, said Walt mischaracterizes the United States' relationship with Israel but he agreed that a more comprehensive debate on the issues would be beneficial.
"It is important for everybody at all the universities to understand what is going on," he said. "I think an intellectual broadening of the debate would be great."
AU Students for Israel is a student club at AU that raises awareness on campus about both Israeli politics and Israeli society. The club supports a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, according to Chen-Zion.
Ryan DuBois, a sophomore in SIS and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, said he also agreed that the debate on Israel is not wide enough.
"If you're critical of Israel you're going to come under some harsh attacks," he said. "It's a given to a lot of people that if you are anti-Israel you are anti-Semitic but it's a political institution and if you are anti-Israel you are not necessarily anti-Semitic."
There are members of Students for Justice in Palestine who do not acknowledge Israel as a state, according to DuBois.
"A lot of people in the club don't think that Israel has the right to exist," he said. "They have the view that there should be a Palestinian state in the region."
Despite having conflicting views, members Students for Justice in Palestine and AU Students for Israel recently hosted an ultimate Frisbee match and they have taken other steps to forge a spirit of unity.
Lauren Barr, president of One Voice at AU, an international grassroots organization that works to promote peace between Israel and Palestine, said she has had great experience working with clubs on both sides of the spectrum.
"One Voice has worked with AU Students for Israel and Students for Justice in Palestine and we have had wonderful experiences with both groups," Barr said. "We find that we relate to them quite well and that a lot of them relate to each other."
But there are still entrenched differences between the groups, she said.
"There are still strong ideological differences and policy preferences between the groups," Barr said. "On one hand there is a lot of consensus but there is also reason for the divisions."