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Norman Finkelstein

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File:Norman finkelstein democracynow.jpg
Norman Finkelstein on Democracy Now!

Norman G. Finkelstein (born December 8, 1953) is an American assistant professor of political science at DePaul University known for his controversial writings pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and for his criticisms of the way he sees the Holocaust being handled by certain parties and organizations. He is the author of five books, of which the most prominent are Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering and Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.

Norman G. Finkelstein should not be confused with Norman H. Finkelstein who is an author of several nonfiction books for young adults, some of which are about the State of Israel.

Doctoral thesis and exposure of From Time Immemorial

Finkelstein wrote his Princeton doctoral thesis on Zionism, and it was through this work that he first attracted controversy. In 1984, while Finkelstein was still at Princeton, he began to write a critical review of Joan Peters' book From Time Immemorial in which he examined every footnote and concluded that the book was a "monumental hoax." A "history and defense" of the state of Israel, Peters' book had been effusively praised in mainstream United States media sources. Finkelstein's charges initially roused little attention in the U.S. According to Finkelstein, "By the end of 1984, From Time Immemorial had...received some two hundred notices...in the United States. The only 'false' notes in this crescendoing chorus of praise were the Journal of Palestine Studies, which ran a highly critical review by Bill Farrell; the small Chicago-based newsweekly In These Times, which published a condensed version of this writer's findings; and Alexander Cockburn, who devoted a series of columns in The Nation exposing the hoax....The periodicals in which "From Time Immemorial" had already been favorably reviewed refused to run any critical correspondence (e.g. The New Republic, The Atlantic, Commentary). Periodicals that had yet to review the book rejected a manuscript on the subject as of little or no consequence (e.g. The Village Voice, Dissent, The New York Review of Books). Not a single national newspaper or columnist contacted found newsworthy that a best-selling, effusively praised 'study' of the Middle East conflict was a threadbare hoax" (Finkelstein, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, pp. 45-6).

However, after a number of reviewers in the British and Israeli media supported Finkelstein's criticisms, a few U.S. journals began publishing more critical reviews of the book. Today, partly as a result of Finkelstein's analysis and criticism, Peters' book is widely discredited among scholars.

The controversy that surrounded Finkelstein's research caused a delay in his earning his Ph.D. at Princteon. Noam Chomsky, a friend of Finkelstein, wrote in Understanding Power that Finkelstein "literally could not get the faculty to read ." According to Chomsky, Princeton eventually granted Finkelstein his doctorate only "out of embarrassment," though they didn't "even write a letter for him saying that he was a student at Princeton University." (Understanding Power, New York, 2002, p. 245 )

Controversial opinions

Finkelstein's work is often viewed as being controversial. One of his books "The Holocaust industry" was on the top seller lists in many countries where according to an article in Die Welt in which he was interviewed , he points out that Amazon.com data shows the book was number one in South-America, number four in Central-America, number one in Austria, number three in Switzerland and number five in Jordan on the best-selling lists, and it is presently translated into eleven languages. He has gained a popular following in Germany where, according to Haaretz, he is considered a "darling of the extreme right." When he was asked in the same Haaretz article "How does it feel for him to be a favorite of the radical right in Germany?", he replied: "At first I was very puzzled by it," says Finkelstein, "and then I realized I wasn't responsible for it. It was the actions of the Jewish establishment. You can't accuse me of encouraging anti-Semitism. I am only the messenger who reports on the actions of the Jewish establishment, actions that are encouraging anti-Semitism."

However, The Economist wrote: "Mr Finkelstein... is not exerting much influence in the United States. His essays have attracted attention, largely hostile, in Britain, ... but have so far dropped like a stone in America. ...Yet his basic argument that memories of the Holocaust are being debased is serious and should be given its due." Critics in the mainstream Jewish community tend to find the core ideas of The Holocaust Industry less objectionable than the style and tone of "overriding hatred" that they see in Finkelstein's writing.

Finkelstein has taken other controversial positions. In The Holocaust Industry, he described Holocaust reparations as a corrupt "racket," in which little of the money actually goes to victims and too much goes to lawyers involved. He has also challenged the characterization of the Holocaust as a uniquely evil historical event, and likened Israeli security to the Gestapo. Questioned explicitly about his views on terrorism, Finkelstein has said that rather than violence, Palestinians should pursue independence through "non-violent civil revolt."

Finkelstein on David Irving and on numbers of Holocaust victims

Finkelstein's critics sometimes like to associate him with Holocaust denier, David Irving. Finkelstein's views on Irving are expressed in The Holocaust Industry, where he states that Irving “notorious as an admirer of Hitler and sympathizer with German national socialism has, nevertheless, as Gordon Craig points out, made an 'indispensable' contribution to our knowledge of World War II." Finkelstein goes on to endorse Craig's dismissal of Irving's holocaust claims as "obtuse and quickly discredited". The "indispensable" comment (made by Craig and quoted by Finkelstein) is specifically about Irving's contribution to the study of the "German side of the Second World War" (Source: The Holocaust Industry, Second Edition, New York: Verso, 2003; page 71-72).

Finkelstein's critics (such as the ADL, see below) also routinely accuse him of holocaust revisionism and in some cases of holocaust denial. Finkelstein himself says that he relies on the work of Raul Hilberg for historical facts about the holocaust and that, on the basis of that research, Finkelstein quotes the numbers of holocaust Jewish victims as being 5.1 million . In the Holocaust Industry Finkelstein did, however, take issue with the numbers of holocaust survivors as quoted by interest-groups seeking holocaust reparations.

Criticism by the Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is typical of Finkelstein's critics who have called him a holocaust denier, and have also accused him of pursuing an anti-Semitic agenda . Finkelstein has called the ADL's accusations against him empty and undeserved. "I am Jewish and my parents are Holocaust survivors. With others you could say, 'you're an anti-Semite' or 'you're a Holocaust denier,' you can't do that with me," he once responded, "you have to argue the facts."

Finkelstein has frequently criticized the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as an organization dedicated not to defense against anti-semitism, but to defamation of critics of Israel. Ultimately, he argues, the ADL trivializes real anti-semitism by "crying wolf" over fraudulent allegations of "the new anti-semitism."

Finkelstein and Alan Dershowitz

In addition to discrediting Joan Peters' work, Finkelstein used the Harvard style manual (Writing With Sources ) to accuse Alan M. Dershowitz of using Peters' work without acknowledgement in his 2003 book, The Case for Israel, pointing to passages where Dershowitz quoted exactly the same excerpts that Peters footnoted in her book, but where Dershowitz referenced only their original sources and not Peters. Finkelstein regards this as plagiarism, a charge that Dershowitz denies. (See Dershowitz-Finkelstein affair.)

Finkelstein expanded his findings in a book entitled Beyond Chutzpah, which was published by the University of California Press (UCP) on June 1, 2005 despite of threats of legal action and an appeal to the Governor of California by Alan Dershowitz. . The threats required the Press and Finkelstein to agree on a number of editorial changes and caused a long delay in the publication date, leading Finkelstein to doubt whether the Press would go ahead. On July 9, 2005, editorial negotiations between Finkelstein's representatives and UCP came to a successful conclusion and Beyond Chutzpah was finally published on 28 August 2005.

While the book documents Finkelstein's plagiarism charge against Dershowitz in its appendices, the bulk of the book consists of an essay critiquing the "new anti-semitism" and longer chapters contrasting Dershowitz's arguments in The Case for Israel with the findings of mainstream human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch. As evidenced by the reviews in the list that follows this article, the book has received a polarised reception: praise from fellow-critics of Israel (including a number of Jewish writers) and intense hostility from supporters of Israel.

Quotations

  • Noam Chomsky: "I'm delighted to hear that I'll be followed shortly by Norman Finkelstein and would very strongly advise you to come listen to him. Not only an old personal friend but a person who can speak with more authority and insight on these topics than anyone I can think of. So that should be a memorable occasion and I urge that you not miss the opportunity."
  • Leon Wieseltier: "He's poison, a disgusting self-hating Jew, something you find under a rock."
  • Raul Hilberg: (From the rear cover of the second edition of The Holocaust Industry) "When I read Finkelstein's book, The Holocaust Industry, at the time of its appearance, I was in the middle of my own investigations of these matters, and I came to the conclusion that he was on the right track. I refer now to the part of the book that deals with the claims against the Swiss banks, and the other claims pertaining to forced labor. I would now say in retrospect that he was actually conservative, moderate and that his conclusions are trustworthy. He is a well-trained political scientist, has the ability to do the research, did it carefully, and has come up with the right results. I am by no means the only one who, in the coming months or years, will totally agree with Finkelstein's breakthrough."

Bibliography

External links

Profiles

Reviews

Appearances

Criticisms

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