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

March 22, 2024 6:30 am

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Golden Age of American Jewry May Be Ending, But Jews Thrive in Meritocracy

The headlines seem bleak for Jews: “The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending”; “Jewish Erasure From American Life”; “The Vanishing.” The articles tell a...

July 2, 2023 12:15 pm

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Supreme Court Moves Us Closer to a Colorblind Society

JNS.org - After decades of vacillation, the Supreme Court of the United States has finally and firmly declared that the Constitution does not permit publicly...

May 6, 2022 3:12 pm

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The Harvard Crimson Normalizes Growing Campus Antisemitism 

On April 30, I submitted to the Harvard Crimson a detailed op-ed refuting its recently-published blood libel against Israel. Over the next several days, the Crimson...

May 28, 2021 11:05 am

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The International Community is Encouraging Hamas to Attack Israel Again — and Again

This headline says it all: “Iran thinks Hamas ‘victory’ will lead to new attack on Israel.” The Jerusalem Post was citing predictions by the Iranian...

October 12, 2020 6:29 pm

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AOC’s Rejection of Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Crosses the Line From Extremism to Intolerance

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the young folk hero commonly known as AOC, has crossed the line from radicalism to anti-Americanism and anti-decency. Tellingly, she now operates...

September 23, 2020 4:06 pm

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Should Ruth Bader Ginsburg Have Resigned While Barack Obama Was President?

In the midst of all the well-deserved praise being accorded the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, some Democrats are grumbling about her decision not to...

August 17, 2020 1:27 pm

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The Israel-UAE Deal Is a Win-Win for Peace

The below article was originally published by the Gatestone Institute.   The agreement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to normalize relations with Israel bodes well for...

August 9, 2020 11:05 am

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Alan Dershowitz: The Rabbi Steinsaltz I Knew

The late Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was a remarkable man—a genius who made the Talmud accessible to so many. TIME magazine called him a “once in...

July 22, 2020 1:14 pm

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Dershowitz: Why I Will Continue to Celebrate George Washington, Despite His Flaws

Amidst the calls to cancel George Washington and tear down his statutes, we must remember George Washington’s unparalleled contributions to Jewish equality not only in...

July 14, 2020 3:10 pm

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Dershowitz: Beinart’s Solution for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is an Invitation to Possible Genocide

Peter Beinart's New York Times op-ed advocating the end of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is a study in historical ignorance, willful deception and arrogant...

July 9, 2020 1:52 pm

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Dershowitz: Is the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Platform Antisemitic?

In 2016 I wrote an op-ed demanding that Black Lives Matter rescind the portion of its platform that describes Israel as an “apartheid state” involved...

June 10, 2020 5:42 am

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Stop Attacking George Floyd Protests — Only Push Back on Anti-Israel Hate

As usual, anti-Israel extremists, especially some on the hard left, are trying to exploit the tragic and inexcusable death of George Floyd to level their...

November 14, 2019 2:56 pm

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Alan Dershowitz: The 92nd Street Y Engages in McCarthyite Censorship and Lies About It

The storied 92nd Street Y, which presents itself as a liberal paragon of free speech dialogue and openness, is engaging in McCarthyite censorship — and...

October 27, 2019 6:26 am

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My Torah Goes to Prison

I was recently honored for my pro bono work in the criminal justice arena, including my work on several successful clemency efforts, by having a...