Defending My Enemy - by Aryeh Neier (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

With a foreword by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and an afterword by Nadine Strossen

A new edition of the most important free speech book of the past half-century, with a new chapter by the author on some of the top First Amendment controversies of today

"If Aryeh Neier had done nothing else in his absolutely towering human rights, civil liberties career other than write Defending My Enemy, that still would have made him a hero and a giant."
--Nadine Strossen, former president, American Civil Liberties Union

When Nazis wanted to express their right to free speech in 1977 by marching through Skokie, Illinois--a town with a large population of Holocaust survivors--Aryeh Neier, then the national executive director of the ACLU and himself a Holocaust survivor, came to the Nazis' defense. Explaining what many saw as a despicable bridge too far for the First Amendment, Neier spelled out his thoughts about free speech in his 1979 book Defending My Enemy.

Nearly fifty years later, Neier revisits the topic of free speech in a volume that includes his original essay along with a new chapter addressing present-day First Amendment battles, including the Charlottesville march, book bans, the heckler's veto, attacks on free speech on college campuses, and the threat to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in The New York Times v. Sullivan.

Including a foreword by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and an afterword by longtime free speech champion Nadine Strossen, Defending My Enemy offers razor-sharp analysis from the man Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute describes as "an icon of justice and fearlessness."

Review Quotes

Praise for Defending My Enemy:
"A timely reminder that the ACLU's old-guard approach to free speech was anything but naive."
--The New York Review of Books

"An indispensable book to help us navigate today's convulsive debates over free speech on American campuses and throughout our society."
--LA Progressive

"Aryeh Neier's Defending My Enemy is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The book is a powerful reminder of why free speech matters--not just for the voices we agree with, but for the voices we abhor. Neier's story of defending Nazis' rights to speak in Skokie underscores a timeless truth: If we want to preserve freedom for our selves, we must be willing to defend it for others, no matter how deeply we disagree. At a time when censorship is on the rise globally, Defending My Enemy stands as a bold and principled call to action. Every advocate of free expression needs to read this book--and more importantly, live its lessons."
--Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

"Aryeh Neier's work is a classic that should be read and reread. Its republication by The New Press is a timely gift to the nation."
--Robert Post, professor of law, Yale Law School

"Defending My Enemy is more than a historical account of the ACLU's commitment to defending everyone's right to speak freely--it's a blueprint for principled advocacy in a time of deep division. Aryeh Neier, who led the ACLU during one of its most defining chapters, offers a powerful account of standing up for the First Amendment--even when it meant defending the rights of those with abhorrent views. His story speaks to the core of what it means to uphold civil liberties in a democracy. As debates over free speech, protest, and democratic norms grow more urgent today, the questions Neier confronted remain strikingly relevant. This book is not just a reflection on a pivotal chapter in our past--it's a call to courage and clarity in the ongoing struggle to defend freedom for all."
--Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU

"To defend the rights of one's partisans is easy. To defend the rights of one's enemies takes courage. That Aryeh had the wisdom and backbone to defend the Nazis in Skokie has been an inspiration for an entire generation of human rights defenders who, to be true to their cause, must prioritize principle over political preference. That commitment, Aryeh teaches, is the best way to ensure that the horrors of the Nazis are not repeated--for Jews or anyone else."--Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, visiting professor, Princeton University, and author of Righting Wrongs

"Aryeh Neier is an icon of justice and fearlessness, and no one--really, no one--has shaped the fields of human rights and civil liberties more profoundly. To reread this book is to be reminded of how immensely fortunate we've been to have had him as a leader for so many decades."
--Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University

"Aryeh Neier's remarkable Defending My Enemy, which tells the extraordinary story of the ACLU's courageous defense of the First Amendment right of members of the Nazi Party to march in Skokie, Illinois, almost half a century ago, is brilliantly insightful and compelling--and it is especially important today in light of the terrifying efforts of Donald Trump to silence the views of those with whom he disagrees. This is a book that brings to life, for all Americans, the profoundly essential nature of free and open speech in a truly democratic society."
--Geoffrey Stone, professor of law, University of Chicago

"This edition of Aryeh Neier's Defending My Enemy is an extraordinary contribution. At its center is his impassioned, accessible, and instructive chronicle of the ACLU's defense of Nazis' right to march in Skokie, Illinois, in 1977. Nothing better has been written about that landmark episode. This edition supplements Neier's classic, moreover, with an incisive retrospective essay that takes into account the struggle over Skokie in light of events in subsequent decades, including immediate menaces to freedom of expression. This edition also features commentary by two leading First Amendment evangelists--Eleanor Holmes Norton and Nadine Strossen. This republication of Defending My Enemy is, in brief, essential reading."
--Randall Kennedy, professor of law, Harvard Law School

Praise for Defending My Enemy:
"A timely reminder that the ACLU's old-guard approach to free speech was anything but naive."
-The New York Review of Books

"An indispensable book to help us navigate today's convulsive debates over free speech on American campuses and throughout our society."
--LA Progressive

"Aryeh Neier's Defending My Enemy is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The book is a powerful reminder of why free speech matters--not just for the voices we agree with, but for the voices we abhor. Neier's story of defending Nazis' rights to speak in Skokie underscores a timeless truth: If we want to preserve freedom for our selves, we must be willing to defend it for others, no matter how deeply we disagree. At a time when censorship is on the rise globally, Defending My Enemy stands as a bold and principled call to action. Every advocate of free expression needs to read this book--and more importantly, live its lessons."
--Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

"Aryeh Neier's work is a classic that should be read and reread. Its republication by The New Press is a timely gift to the nation."
--Robert Post, professor of law, Yale Law School

"Defending My Enemy is more than a historical account of the ACLU's commitment to defending everyone's right to speak freely--it's a blueprint for principled advocacy in a time of deep division. Aryeh Neier, who led the ACLU during one of its most defining chapters, offers a powerful account of standing up for the First Amendment--even when it meant defending the rights of those with abhorrent views. His story speaks to the core of what it means to uphold civil liberties in a democracy. As debates over free speech, protest, and democratic norms grow more urgent today, the questions Neier confronted remain strikingly relevant. This book is not just a reflection on a pivotal chapter in our past--it's a call to courage and clarity in the ongoing struggle to defend freedom for all."
--Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU

"To defend the rights of one's partisans is easy. To defend the rights of one's enemies takes courage. That Aryeh had the wisdom and backbone to defend the Nazis in Skokie has been an inspiration for an entire generation of human rights defenders who, to be true to their cause, must prioritize principle over political preference. That commitment, Aryeh teaches, is the best way to ensure that the horrors of the Nazis are not repeated--for Jews or anyone else."--Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, visiting professor, Princeton University, and author of Righting Wrongs

"Aryeh Neier is an icon of justice and fearlessness, and no one--really, no one--has shaped the fields of human rights and civil liberties more profoundly. To reread this book is to be reminded of how immensely fortunate we've been to have had him as a leader for so many decades."
--Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University

"Aryeh Neier's remarkable Defending My Enemy, which tells the extraordinary story of the ACLU's courageous defense of the First Amendment right of members of the Nazi Party to march in Skokie, Illinois, almost half a century ago, is brilliantly insightful and compelling--and it is especially important today in light of the terrifying efforts of Donald Trump to silence the views of those with whom he disagrees

About the Author

Aryeh Neier has been the national executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, a co-founder of Human Rights Watch, and the president of the Open Societies Institute. In addition to writing half a dozen books on civil and human rights, he has authored over three hundred op-eds for venues including The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and Foreign Policy. The author of Defending My Enemy, he lives in New York City.