Joe McCarthy is Alive and Well and Living in Great Britain

It was one of the darkest times in American History. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his evil band of Hyenas (including famous lawyer Roy Cohn ) were all trying to make it big by trouncing on the truth and the US Constitution with a witch hunt. In this case it was a commie hunt he was trying to find communists in the US Government and within Government Contractors. In the process this cadre of zealots ruined people's lives, broke up families, and destroyed the careers of others.

In the end, this horrible bully McCarthy was brought down by one decent man standing up to him on national TV.

In a now famous interchange, McCarthy responded to aggressive questioning from the US Army's attorney, Joseph Welch. Welch challenged Roy Cohn to give the US Attorney General McCarthy's list of 130 communists or subversives working in defense plants that he claimed to have "before the sun goes down." McCarthy responded by saying that if Welch was so concerned about persons aiding the Communist Party, he should check on a man in his Boston law office named Fred Fisher, who had once belonged to the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a group which U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr. had called "the legal mouthpiece of the Communist Party." At the time Brownell was seeking to designate the NLG as a Communist front organization. This was a violation of a pre-hearing agreement not to raise the issue because the designation was being litigated. Welch responded:

"Until this moment, Senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness...."

When McCarthy resumed his attack, Welch cut him short:

"Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.... You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

That one decent man standing up for what's right, changed the course public opinion and American history. Today, Joe McCarthy's bullying witch hunts are alive and well and living in Great Britain. But this time the scapegoats aren't suspected communists, this time they bullies are going after an entire country Israel. It seems that each day brings another trade union calling for a boycott against the Jewish state. And like McCarthy the perpetrators are holding up empty note pads or false human rights violations. This time the evil zealots want delegitimize our homeland.

Where is the Joseph Welch? Why won't a leader such as the Prime Minister or the Queen stand up to these bullies and say, "Let us not assassinate this country any further.... We've done enough. Have we no sense of decency as a people, at long last? Have the British people left no sense of decency?"

'Boycott call reminiscent of witch hunt'

Responding to UK lecturers' call to boycott Israel, Bar Ilan professor says Israel not apartheid state, shouldn't be held to higher standards than other countries, including US and Britain

"The British lecturers' union is trying to de-legitimize Israel by promoting radical prejudice," Dr Jonathan Rynhold of Bar Ilan University and member of the international Advisory Board for Academic Freedom said Wednesday following a decision by Britain's University and College Union (UCU) to consider boycotting Israeli academic institutions.

According to Rynhold, the decision was reminiscent of "McCarthy's witch hunt."The UCU has called on the European Union to cut funding to the Israeli academia until Israel obeys UN Security Council resolutions and withdraws from the West Bank. This is the fourth time since 2003 that British lecturer groups are calling to boycott Israeli universities.

Rynhold stated that the UCU's "hypocritical" decision was the result of pressure by the radical Left, which believed Israel had no right to exist. "This isn't anti-Semitism, but it's prejudice, according to which the Palestinians and other nations have the right for self-determination, while the Jews don't.

"It's clear to everyone that Israel is not one of the most problematic countries in terms of human rights violations, such as China, Saudi Arabia and even the United States and Britain, which operate in Iraq and whose behavior is much more problematic. And still, it is Israel that is being threatened with this boycott."

Rynhold warned of the dangerous link between the academic world and politics. "Only in very extreme cases should academia and politics be bound together, but what goes on in Israel is far from being an extreme case. There is no apartheid here, as some try to portray it.

"In an apartheid state there wouldn't be Arab parties or an Arab judge. We have academic freedom and minority rights, and the Israeli academia encourages peace and enables both sides to get to know each other better."

Rynhold also referred to the University of Haifa, where 20 percent of the students are Arab and where the university's vice president was also Arab.

However, he admitted that the treatment of minorities in Israel left a lot to be desired. "Just like there's discrimination against minorities in every place across the world, it's likely to exist in Israel too. But Israel isn't an apartheid state. The discussion over the Israeli policy is legitimate and even praiseworthy, but boycott is an extreme move, which holds Israel to higher standards than any other country," he concluded.