Alan Dershowitz

Professor Alan M. Dershowitz is Brooklyn native who has been called "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer" and one of its "most distinguished defenders of individual rights," "the best-known criminal lawyer in the world," "the top lawyer of last resort," "America's most public Jewish defender" and "Israel's single most visible defender - the Jewish state's lead attorney in the court of public opinion." He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg. He has also published more than 100 articles in magazines and journals such as The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Nation, Commentary, Saturday Review, The Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal, and more than 300 of his articles have appeared in syndication in 50 national daily newspapers. Professor Dershowitz is the author of 27 fiction and non-fiction works with a worldwide audience. His most recent titles include "an exceptional, action packed book," The Trials of Zion, a novel which has been called "a thought-provoking page turner," Rights From Wrong, The Case For Israel, The Case For Peace, Blasphemy: How the Religious Right is Hijacking the Declaration of Independence and Preemption: A Knife that Cuts Both Ways, Finding Jefferson - A Lost Letter, A Remarkable Discovery, Shouting Fire and The First Amendment In An Age of Terrorism. In addition to his numerous law review articles and books about criminal and constitutional law, he has written, taught and lectured about history, philosophy, psychology, literature, mathematics, theology, music, sports - and even delicatessens. In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith presented him with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his "compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights." In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said: "If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the 1930s and 1940s, the history of European Jewry might have been different." Professor Dershowitz has been awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree by Yeshiva University, the Hebrew Union College, Brooklyn College, Syracuse University, Tel Aviv University, New York City College and Haifa University.

ARTICLES BY: Alan Dershowitz

September 14, 2016 2:54 pm

12

Dershowitz: The Only Thing Predictable About This Election Is Its Unpredictability

This is the strangest presidential election in my memory. Despite the polls, the outcome is utterly unpredictable. This was true even before Hillary Clinton’s recent...

August 24, 2016 4:51 pm

26

Dershowitz: Are Jews Who Refuse to Renounce Israel Being Excluded From ‘Progressive’ Groups?

Last year, Rabbi Susan Talve, a longtime activist on race issues in the St. Louis area was told that her advocacy for Israel was incompatible...

August 16, 2016 9:52 am

58

Alan Dershowitz: Black Lives Matter Must Rescind Its Anti-Israel Declaration

It is a real tragedy that Black Lives Matter — which has done so much good in raising awareness of police abuses — has now...

July 13, 2016 2:24 pm

11

Alan Dershowitz: Whom Do Bigots Blame for Police Shootings in America? Israel, Of Course!

In response to the tragic deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana, the New York...

June 14, 2016 6:15 pm

0

Combating BDS by Legislation: Different Approaches, Same Goal

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently issued an executive order directing state entities to divest all public funds from companies supporting the Boycott, Divestment and...

June 8, 2016 4:46 pm

5

Advice to Clinton: Don’t Try to Placate Sanders’ Hard Left Voters

Even following Hillary Clinton’s historic victory in the primaries, there are some among the most radical Bernie Sanders supporters—let’s call them Sanderistas—who would actually like...

June 5, 2016 9:53 am

31

Alan Dershowitz: Sanders’ Bigoted Appointees Endanger Clinton’s Election

For many years now, support for Israel has been a rare point of bipartisan consensus in an increasingly polarized political climate. Bernie Sanders apparently seems...

May 17, 2016 4:54 pm

21

A Visit to the Old and New Hells of Europe Provides a Reminder of Israel’s Importance

I just returned from a week-long journey through Hell! It began with a visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps in German-occupied Poland, as...

May 2, 2016 3:20 pm

11

The Holocaust: Many Villains, Few Heroes

As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials, at which selected Nazi leaders were placed in the dock, we must ask some disturbing...

April 25, 2016 4:40 pm

32

Alan Dershowitz: Obama Must Apologize for Double Standard Toward Netanyahu

As President Obama winds up his farewell tour of Europe, it is appropriate to consider the broader implications of the brouhaha he created in Great...

April 18, 2016 1:49 pm

35

Alan Dershowitz: Bernie Sanders Is Not Pro-Israel

Bernie Sanders may not be as anti-Israel as some of his radical supporters but he can no longer be called pro-Israel. The accusations he has...

April 13, 2016 10:45 am

21

Alan Dershowitz: Bernie Sanders Must Clarify Where He Stands on Israel

Bernie Sanders’ ignorance and bias with regards to Israel have been on full view lately. In an interview with the New York Daily News editorial...

November 12, 2015 9:55 pm

37

Dershowitz: Why Are Opponents of ‘Micro-Aggressions’ Against Minorities Silent When it Comes to Jews?

Following the forced resignations of the President and Provost of the University of Missouri, demonstrations against campus administrators have spread across the country. Students – many...

September 11, 2015 1:03 pm

8

Dershowitz: Undemocratic Tactics and Bigoted Arguments Have Stifled Iran Nuclear Deal Debate

When I was growing up, “filibuster” was a dirty word.  It was a tactic used by bigoted southern Senators to prevent the enactment of any...