Baltimore Zionist District Calls on Baltimore Council on Public Affairs to Disinvite Supporter of Anti-Semitism

The Baltimore Zionist District ("BZD") has called on the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs to disinvite Professor John Mearsheimer from being its "distinguished speaker" on September 20, 2012.  In a letter sent to BCPA's President, Dr. Frank Burd, BZD noted that Prof. Mearsheimer is the co-author of the slanderous "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," which accuses Jews who support Israel of damaging  American  interests and serving the interests of the Jewish State, and the endorser of "The Wandering Who," a blatantly anti-semitic book by a self-described "proud self-hating Jew" named  Gilad Atzmon.  

Atzmon's "The Wandering Who" is a hate-filled diatribe against Jews and Israel. Among other things, the book blames the Jews for orchestrating the recession; characterizes the Holocaust as a "Zionist victory" and as "the Jewish raison d'etre;" claims that the "Jewish people" is a fictional notion, that the Jews have no origin in Palestine whatsoever, and that Zionism invented the idea of the Jewish exile;  argues that the Jews were responsible for their persecution;  asserts that Zionism is "uniquely perncious" and a "criminal enterprise" by which Israelis "mimic SS brutality" and enforce discriminatory laws comparable to the Nazi Nuremburg Laws; and calls the rockets which Palestinians fire into Israel "are nothing but love letters to their stolen villages, orchards, vineyards and fields."  John Mearsheimer endorsed "The Wandering Who" as a "fascinating and provocative book on Jewish identify in the modern world" which "should be read by Jews and non-Jews alike."

In the letter sent to Dr. Burd, BZD Vice President Jay Bernstein noted that by endorsing the repugnant Atzmon book, Prof. Mearsheimer crossed a red line which should render him persona non grata.  "While Professor Mearsheimer has the right to demonize supporters of Israel and to endorse blatantly anti-Semitic books," wrote Mr. Bernstein, "organizations like the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs have an equal right, if not a moral obligation, to shun Professor Mearsheimer, and not bestow upon him the prestige and respect afforded to its guest speakers."  A copy of the letter is attached. 

The Baltimore Zionist District is the largest independent Zionist organization in the world, which supports the democratically elected government of the State of Israel on issues of security and defense, promotes Zionist education and fosters connections between the Baltimore community and Israel.