I resisted writing about Christopher Hitchens for weeks after his passing because so many knew him so much better than I. I followed him from afar for years and knew his writings well, but our personal interactions were limited. Upon further reflection, I wanted to share the moments between us because they exemplify the qualities that endeared him to so many. The first time I met Hitchens was as an undergraduate at UCLA. He gave a rousing defense of the liberation of Iraq and after his speech I saw him sitting completely alone, sipping a small bottle of alcohol. I approached him warily and introduced myself as a fan. Just as my luck would have it, Hitchens forgot where he had parked his car and we spent more than an hour wandering through the UCLA campus. We had a spirited debate about the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the precise meaning of U.N. Resolution 242. This superstar writer saw fit to spend more than an hour debating with a lowly undergraduate, away from any cameras or press. It said a lot about the mans integrity. He listened to my arguments with genuine curiosity. It meant a great deal to those of us who favored the liberation of Iraq to have this brilliant and indefatigable debater on our side. Others who came through UCLA during the same period sickened me, like Scott Ritter, who shouted to an ecstatic crowd that the U.S. should support the Baathist insurgency in Iraq. Unlike Ritter, Hitchens had no illusions about the evil of Baathism or Saddam. When asked about terrorists who hated the West, Hitchens replied that they did not hate him half as much as he hated them. That was the sort of cultural and civilizational confidence which attracted so many to Hitchens. There was no hyperbole in that statement either. Add up the rage of bin Laden, Saddam and Mullah Omar toward the ideals that Hitchens embodied and it was a fraction of the rage he felt toward the totalitarianism they exemplified. The popular refrain among many who opposed the liberation of Iraq --Im not saying Saddam is a good guy-- should have sickened anyone who actually listened to that statement. That is not the way you talk about a genocidal dictator and Hitchens reminded everyone of that. His love of the Kurdish people and genuine concern for the well-being of Iraq led him to the positions he held. Allowing Saddam to continue committing mass slaughter and terrorizing 25 million people simply was not an option. In more recent interactions with Hitchens, we spoke about Malcolm Muggeridge, Jacobo Timerman and Richard Pipes. Last year, I asked if I could come see his mythic library. Hitchens emailed me as soon as he returned from traveling, saying I could swing by. Once he got sick, though, I did not want to impose. He did follow up, however, to say that he was monitoring the clashes in the human rights community into which I had been dragged. Hitchens, known for his erudition and mastery of the English language, called my opponents the f**kwits. My last memory of Hitchens was standing next to him at NYU when a student approached him and asked in all earnestness, How do you have time to read all the books you reference- Oh, Hitchens replied, I dont know what Id do if I couldnt read! I never got to see Hitchens library, but I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of his appeal.
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Moments with Hitchens
מערכת היום
מערכת "היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
