Cornel West and Alan Dershowitz argue over the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Dershowitz Has a Hissy Fit

By David Starr

 

In early October, Fox “news” had Cornel West and Alan Dershowitz on the Hannity show as guests. Both discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict, at least initially. As the conversation went on, West and Dershowitz began arguing about who is at fault in the conflict. Host Sean Hannity said to West, according to Charlie Bash in Mediaite, that “You always call me brother Sean, and I call you brother Cornel. I’m not that happy with you tonight.” Hannity, like other Fox hosts, doesn’t like the policies of Left/Progressives.

 

With Hannity not pleased, West defended his stance. Nash quoted West: “545 Palestinians died in August 2004, not one American said a word. I believe a Palestinian baby has the same value as an Israeli baby.” West went on to add that all war crimes are wrong, and said, “…but you cannot simply look at this particular moment without the larger backdrop of an ugly occupation and ugly attacks against Palestinians.”

 

Dershowitz claimed excitedly, “Hamas is the ones responsible for the killing of Palestinian children. People like Cornel West will engage in crocodile tears, blame it on Israel, when the entire blame is on the Palestinians, Hamas for using their children, their children, as human shields.” West assertively responded: “Don’t excuse me of crocodile tears, my brother. I have the same outrage when Palestinian babies are killed when Jewish babies or Israeli babies–I want you to have the same indignation when Palestinians are killed.”

 

Dershowitz by this time was getting hysterical, saying, “It shouldn’t be the same outrage. You can’t make a moral comparison. You’re a professor of theology! Don’t you understand the moral difference between deliberately murdering a kid and having collateral damage because they’re using human shields?” West was riled up: “Anybody who commits war crimes is barbaric. I’m saying that explicitly, but I want you to say if the Israeli Defense Forces are killing children, are they barbaric too?”

 

Dershowitz exclaimed, “No, no, no, no, no! Never in history have they ever targeted a child deliberately.” West gave a sarcastic response: “Oh brother, you got to get off the crack pipe, man. Please!” 

 

On YouTube, Sabby Sabs shows the interview in detail.

 

FactCheck came out with a report by Saranac Hale Spencer and D’Angelo Gore detailing with whether Hamas committed atrocities in its attack on Israel. It used a video shared on Facebook and Instagram, where a narrator “tries to make a case there is no mass shootings by Hamas.” FactCheck stated that “[a]t least 260 people were killed at an outdoor concert in Southern Israel on Oct. 7, but the video falsely claims that it didn’t happen.” It goes on to say that “there’s plenty of evidence.” “There is video of the aftermath, news reports about the attack, interviews with survivors, and reports about a number of victims from an Israeli rescue organization.”

 

There was also an assertion by the narrator of the video that there’s no evidence for the claim that Hamas beheaded 40 babies. FactCheck stated that that is true: “The unsupported claim about dozens of child beheadings gained traction after live news reports from Nicole Zedeck, a correspondent for Israel-based i24NEWS…” The claim was false. Further, “CNN reported on Oct. 12 that an unnamed Israeli official told the news outlet that the Israeli government has not confirmed claims, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson, that babies were beheaded.”

 

Hamas denied the claim that children were beheaded. The New Arab news outlet quoted Hamas spokesperson Izzat al-Rishheq: “We categorically affirm the falsehood of the fabricated accusations promoted by some Western media outlets…the latest of which was the claim of killing children, beheading, and targeting civilians.” But, as Factcheck stated, there is evidence of civilian casualties.   

 

There was an accusation that Hamas committed rapes, but that was not substantiated. In reactionary fashion, there were elected officials who went with the accusation. This also included U.S. President Joe Biden who mentioned rapes in Hamas’ invasion. He got the information from Netanyahu.

 

YouTube has a segment on Secular Talk about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

 

Dershowitz is of course a supporter of the various claims about alleged atrocities by Hamas and Palestinians. And this says a lot about Dershowitz, who is fanatically pro-Israel. In Current Affairs magazine, Nathan J. Robinson gives details about Dershowitz, including his “criticism” of Israel:  

 

“Dershowitz is up front about seeing his relationship with Israel as that of lawyer and client. [B]ut any lawyer knows that criticizing your client can be a way of creating the appearance of independence while burying crucial truths. Dershowitz’s stance as a ‘critic’ of Israel–e.g., making a big deal of opposing the settlements while actually not discussing the facts on the ground that make the settlements so objectionable, is a major part of what makes his writing so dishonest.

 

“Because Dershowitz is so effective [as a lawyer], I think it’s crucial to show clearly and convincingly that nothing he says about Israel can be trusted. Much of what he says is simply untrue. Of course, Dershowitz would probably discount Palestinian testimonies, since Palestinians are depicted in his books as violent, manipulative, and untrustworthy.” So, Dershowitz typically stereotypes Palestinians, when it comes down to it, as evil.

 

Similar to Dershowitz, hardline Israeli supporters don’t tolerate any criticism against the “Holy Land.” Israel is a nation like any other. But the hardliners are emphatic, claiming that Israel is super special, unlike other Nations. 

 

The clash between West and Dershowitz shows an absolute divide on the Israel-Palestine conflict. One tries to convey facts, while the other clings to myths of religious supremacy and/or ultranationalism.