Matory’s Words Are 'Demonstrably False'

To the editors:



Every single word written about me by Professor J. Lorand Matory '82 is demonstrably false (“Israel and Censorship at Harvard,” op-ed, Sept. 14), as any review of what I have written will demonstrate. No one was ever dis-invited from Harvard because they “disagreed sharply with Harvard Law School Professor Alan M. Dershowitz regarding Israel’s military conduct.” Indeed, I publicly opposed the cancellation of Professor Paulins’ talk, and I would never support the cancellation of talks by anyone, even Professors Finkelstein and Trivers, because they disagreed with me. Hundreds of speakers who disagree with me have been invited to Harvard. Indeed, I have debated several of them, including Noam Chomsky. Nor have I “endorsed Israel’s torture of Palestinian prisoners.” Indeed, I wrote a law review article criticizing Israeli interrogation practices. Matory simply makes up out of whole cloth everything he says about me. I can only surmise that what he has written about others is equally false.



ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ

Cambridge, Mass.

September 17, 2007



The writer is Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of “The Case for Israel.”