New York, NY, August 29, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said the appearance of two prominent academics under the auspices of an American Muslim group with ties to Hamas demonstrates "they have crossed the line from academia to advocacy by adopting the Arab/Muslim narrative and finding a comfort zone where they can promote their sinister thesis that Israel and the Israel Lobby control American foreign policy."

Professors Stephen Walt of Harvard and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago presented their case against Israel in the war with Hezbollah and the "Israel Lobby" at a press event convened by the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.  CAIR has consistently refused to condemn by name the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah and alleges that U.S. counter-terrorism initiatives are directed by the pro-Israel lobby.  In recent weeks, CAIR has participated and endorsed several rallies in support of Hezbollah and the "resistance" fighting American forces in Iraq.

"It appears that Professors Walt and Mearsheimer have crossed the line from academia to advocacy by adopting the Arab/Muslim narrative and finding a comfort zone where they can promote their sinister thesis that Israel and the Israel Lobby control American foreign policy," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

At their bristling at charges that they are engaging in anti-Semitism, Mr. Foxman paraphrased Shakespeare by saying, "I think the professors protest too much."

Mearsheimer and Walt put the blame on Israel and Jewish members of the U.S. Administration for the Iraq war, said that Israel had a plan to invade Lebanon even before Hezbollah killed and kidnapped Israeli soldiers that was sanctioned by the Administration, cited polls to shore up their claim that the American people did not support Israel, and stated that the Israel Lobby, i.e. Jewish organizations, "controls discourse in the U.S. about the issues."

"Mearsheimer's and Walt's so-called scholarship is skewed, based on selective use and on conspiratorial sources," said Mr. Foxman.  "By presenting their views on a platform provided by CAIR, any appearance of academic objectivity was dispelled and their credibility became dubious at best."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.