Side-by-side comparison

While the main subject of her critique is Tzipi Hotovely, Melanie Phillips (“The strategic importance of the argument from law,” As I See It, November 10) also discusses the anti-Israel animus “which forms the unchallengeable orthodoxy of the universities,” as well as the “dominant narrative of falsehood, distortion and malice that forms the received wisdom about Israel.”

By promoting J Street as well as John Mearsheimer and Stephen L. Walt’s The Israel Lobby, Matt Sienkiewicz (“Reconsidering ‘The Israel Lobby,’” Observations, November 10) is one of those left-wing academics who insists on attacking people who support aid to Israel as well as the government of Israel. While couched as a desire to expose his students to a variety of opinions, Dr. Sienkiewicz reveals his own animus for what he refers to as “occupation and settlement building.”

Ms. Phillips demonstrates, by referring to history and international law, that “both Israel’s existence and its behavior are solidly based .... ” This includes the territories in the heartland of Israel that Dr. Sienkiewicz, directly across the page, insists on labeling “occupied territories” or “settlements.”

In siding with those who question Israel’s right to exist on all of its land, Dr. Sienkiewicz is propagating a biased and unfounded narrative, and is contributing to the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment on campus. He should reconsider his stance in light of the well-founded criticism of The Israel Lobby and examine his own motivations in bashing the supporters and government of Israel. YOCHEVED MIRIAM ZEMEL

Givat Ze’ev