(He also accuses Jews of plagiarizing “shamelessly” from Christianity to have a holiday that “coincides with Christmas,” even though Chanukah precedes the birth of Jesus by 250 years.)
Hitchens sees the heroic Jewish revolt against the Assyrian Greeks as that of a primitive nation fighting against superior Greek enlightenment in order to sustain its superstitious ways. But such criticism is beneath Hitchens, who consistently supported the invasion of Iraq against liberal colleagues because of his noble objection to Saddam’s brutality and tyranny.
Far from being enlightened, the Greek leader, Antiochus IV, was the Saddam Hussein of his time. And just as Arab men, women and children deserved better than to be forced to live under a vicious murderer like Saddam, the ancient Jews should be applauded rather than condemned for having stood up to the same.