I can see how the title ‘The New McCarthyism’ might lend itself to being interpreted as overly partisan. I myself don’t think the phrase quite gets at the issues at hand since I think that the campaign against Abu El Haj has an innately schismatic Jewish flavor to it. I’d call it “The Jewish Wars” (which I think was a title by Josephus if I haven’t forgotten all my college Jewish history) before referring to Joseph McCarthy.

But Larry has written some wonderful, complex & deeply researched work in Jewish Week & other publications. Any reporter willing to spend an entire week plowing through ‘Facts on the Ground’ deserves a medal in my book.

[UPDATE 6 November 2007: Having reflected on Richard Silverstein’s comment I’ve revised what I say in this posting about Larry Cohler-Esses’s article. I still think ‘The New McCarthyism’ partisan and not constructive, but to take the dismissive tone I did and to call it ‘ill-informed’ was incorrect. Apologies to him, and thanks to Richard for taking me to task.]

I’m not sure why you call Larry Cohler Esses an “ill informed partisan.” He’s a reporter for Jewish Week and one of the best in the country in my opinion. He actually read Facts on the Ground from cover to cover which, as a non-archaeologist/non-anthropologist is quite an achievement. His pieces on this subject appeared in The Nation and Jewish Week which are certainly respectable publications. He also interviewed Stern & elicited some damning admissions fr her which I take to be a contribution to the debate.