The Little Brown Reader

A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.

On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.

On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.