Hit Piece

Steven Zipperstein's hit piece on the newly deceased Tony Judt in the Chronicle is unfortunate to say the least.

Zipperstein's claim that Judt did not think in a nuanced fashion about Israel because he turned against Zionism is absurd and not backed up by Judt's writings on the subject. Rather, we are again reminded here that no one can speak against the state of Israel and come away unattacked, not even one of the world's most prominent Jewish intellectuals.

And I don't care about speaking ill of the dead, but it seems somewhat inappropriate for Judt's former friend Zipperstein to publish this when Judt can no longer defend himself.