Reaction to Pipes, Indyk, Makovsky Congressional Testimony
Reader comment on item: My Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

Submitted by Martin Kaufman (United States), Feb 25, 2007 at 10:08

1. You didn't state the sources of the hostile comments. The mere fact that you 3 witnesses [and the committee] got hostile comments would not be remarkable at all if they are from known anti-Zionist [anti-Israel -- I'm not sure if the 2 are really equivalent] or pro-Arab sources. It would be significant if the hostile comments were from the "mainstream" press [even in the "mainstream" press, some commentators have been anti-Israel for a long, long time [e.g. Robert Novack, Armand de Borchgrave] or tohers that have long been anti-Israel or anti-Semitic.

2. I certainly agree that there has been a very noticeable increase in anti-Israel sentiment among sectors that have not traditionally been anti-Zionist/anti-Israel or anti-Semitic is especially alarming, and the degree to which it has become common on college campuses [especially among faculty and administrators] , as is the apparent alliance between "left-wing" groups [which used to be disproportionately Jewish in the U.S.] and "pro-Palestinian" and anti-Israel groups. I put "pro-Palestinian" in quotes because I don't think the thug-ocracy that has "represented" the Palestinians [whether PLO, Fatah or Hamas] has actually benefitted the Palestinian people.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

1. The titles came from writings by anti-Israel sources. I noted them to point out their sense of outrage.