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" By the end of 1984 , From Time Immemorial had ... received some two hundred [ favorable ] 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 newsweek... |
Noam Chomsky later reminisced :
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" I warned him , if you follow this , you 're going to get in trouble β because you 're going to expose the American intellectual community as a gang of frauds , and they are not going to like it , and they 're going to destroy you . "
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In 1986 , the New York Review of Books published Yehoshua Porath 's review and an exchange with critics of the review in which he criticized the assumptions and evidence on which Peters 's thesis relied , thus lending independent support from an expert in Palestinian demographics to Finkelstein 's doctoral critique . ... |
In the house journal of the American Council on Foreign Relations , Foreign Affairs , William B. Quandt , the Edward Stettinius professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and authority on Middle Eastern politics , later described Finkelstein 's critique of From Time Immemorial as a " landmark essay " and a " ... |
According to Noam Chomsky , the controversy that surrounded Finkelstein 's research caused a delay in his earning his Ph.D. at Princeton University . Chomsky wrote in Understanding Power that Finkelstein " literally could not get the faculty to read [ his dissertation ] " and that Princeton eventually granted Finkelst... |
Finkelstein published portions of his thesis in the following publications :
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" Disinformation and the Palestine Question : The Not @-@ So @-@ Strange Case of Joan Peters 's From Time Immemorial " , Chapter 2 of Blaming the Victims : Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question ( 1988 ) ; and
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" A Land Without a People ( Joan Peters ' " Wilderness " Image ) " , Chapter 2 of Image and Reality of the Israel @-@ Palestine Conflict ( 1995 ) .
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= = = The Holocaust Industry = = =
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The Holocaust Industry : Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering was published in 2000 . Here , Finkelstein argues that Elie Wiesel and others exploit the memory of the Holocaust as an " ideological weapon . " The purpose , writes Finkelstein , is to enable the State of Israel , " one of the world 's most ... |
The book received a hostile reception in some quarters , with critics charging that it was poorly researched and / or allowed others to exploit it for antisemitic purposes . The German historian Hans Mommsen disparaged the first edition as " a most trivial book , which appeals to easily aroused anti @-@ Semitic prejud... |
However , preeminent Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg said the book expressed views Hilberg himself subscribed to in substance , in that he too found the exploitation of the Holocaust , as Finkelstein describes , " detestable " . Asked on another occasion if Finkelstein 's analysis might play into the hands of neo @-@ N... |
Other critics claim Finkelstein 's evidence is highly selective and / or dubious and that his arguments would be based on a misinterpretation of history and a questionable use of sources . The historian David Cesarani wrote that while Finkelstein absolves Swiss banks of serious misconduct towards Holocaust survivors a... |
= = = Criticism of Alan Dershowitz 's The Case for Israel = = =
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Shortly after the publication of the book The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz , Finkelstein derided it as " a collection of fraud , falsification , plagiarism , and nonsense " . During a debate on Democracy Now ! , Finkelstein asserted that Dershowitz lacked knowledge about specific contents of his own book . He al... |
Finkelstein noted 20 instances , in as many pages , where Dershowitz 's book cites the same sources and passages used by Joan Peters in her book , in largely the same sequence , with ellipses in the same places . In two instances , Dershowitz reproduces Peters 's errors ( see below ) . From this Finkelstein concluded ... |
Dershowitz threatened libel action over the charges in Finkelstein 's book , as a consequence of which , the publisher deleted the word " plagiarism " from the text before publication . Finkelstein agreed to remove the suggestion that Dershowitz was not the true author of The Case for Israel because , as the publisher... |
Asserting that he did consult the original sources , Dershowitz said Finkelstein is simply accusing him of good scholarly practice : citing references he learned of initially from Peters 's book . Dershowitz denies that he used any of Peters 's ideas without citation . " Plagiarism is taking someone else 's words and ... |
In their joint interview on Democracy Now , however , Finkelstein cited specific passages in Dershowitz 's book in which a phrase that he says Peters coined was incorrectly attributed to George Orwell :
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" [ Peters ] coins the phrase , ' turnspeak ' , she says she 's using it as a play off of George Orwell which as all listeners know used the phrase ' Newspeak . ' She coined her own phrase , ' turnspeak ' . You go to Mr. Dershowitz 's book , he got so confused in his massive borrowings from Joan Peters that on two occ... |
James O. Freedman , the former president of Dartmouth College , the University of Iowa , and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , has defended Dershowitz :
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I do not understand [ Finkelstein 's ] charge of plagiarism against Alan Dershowitz . There is no claim that Dershowitz used the words of others without attribution . When he uses the words of others , he quotes them properly and generally cites them to the original sources ( Mark Twain , Palestine Royal Commission , ... |
Responding to an article in The Nation by Alexander Cockburn , Dershowitz also cited The Chicago Manual of Style :
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Cockburn 's claim is that some of the quotes should not have been cited to their original sources but rather to a secondary source , where he believes I stumbled upon them . Even if he were correct that I found all these quotations in Peters 's book , the preferred method of citation is to the original source , as The... |
... to which Cockburn responded :
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Quoting The Chicago Manual of Style , Dershowitz artfully implies that he followed the rules by citing " the original " as opposed to the secondary source , Peters . He misrepresents Chicago here , where " the original " means merely the origin of the borrowed material , which is , in this instance , Peters .
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Now look at the second bit of the quote from Chicago , chastely separated from the preceding sentence by a demure three @-@ point ellipsis . As my associate Kate Levin has discovered , this passage ( " To cite a source from a secondary source ... " ) occurs on page 727 , which is no less than 590 pages later than the ... |
So Chicago is clearly insisting that unless Dershowitz went to the originals , he was obliged to cite Peters . Finkelstein has conclusively demonstrated that he didn 't go to the originals . Plagiarism , QED , plus added time for willful distortion of the language of Chicago 's guidelines , cobbling together two separ... |
On behalf of Dershowitz , Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan asked former Harvard president Derek Bok to investigate the assertion of plagiarism ; Bok exonerated Dershowitz of the charge .
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In an April 3 , 2007 interview with the Harvard Crimson , " Dershowitz confirmed that he had sent a letter last September to DePaul faculty members lobbying against Finkelstein 's tenure . "
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In April 2007 , Dr. Frank Menetrez , a former Editor @-@ in @-@ Chief of the UCLA Law Review , published an analysis of the charges made against Finkelstein by Dershowitz , finding no merit in any single charge and concluding that Dershowitz had misrepresented matters . In a follow @-@ up analysis he concluded that he... |
= = Controversies = =
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= = = Tenure denial and resignation = = =
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In September 2006 , Dershowitz sent members of DePaul 's law and political science faculties what he described as " a dossier of Norman Finkelstein 's most egregious academic sins , and especially his outright lies , misquotations , and distortions " and lobbied professors , alumni and administrators to deny Finkelste... |
Also in 2006 , the Washington Post noted " the ADL repeatedly accused " Norman Finkelstein of being a " Holocaust denier " and that " These charges have proved baseless . " Finkelstein 's mother survived the Majdanek concentration camp , his father survived the Auschwitz concentration camp , and most of his family die... |
In early 2007 , the DePaul Political Science Department voted nine to three , and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Personnel Committee five to zero , in favor of giving Finkelstein tenure . The three opposing faculty members subsequently filed a minority report opposing tenure , supported by the Dean of the Co... |
The university denied that Dershowitz , who had been criticized for his campaign against Finkelstein 's tenure , played any part in this decision . At the same time , the university denied tenure to international studies assistant professor Mehrene Larudee , a strong supporter of Finkelstein , despite unanimous suppor... |
The Faculty Council later affirmed the right of Professors Finkelstein and Larudee to appeal , which a university lawyer said was not possible . Council President Anne Bartlett said she was " ' terribly concerned ' correct procedure was not followed " . DePaul 's faculty association considered taking no @-@ confidence... |
In June 2007 , after two weeks of protests , some DePaul students staged a sit @-@ in and hunger strike in support of both professors denied tenure . The Illinois Conference of the American Association of University Professors also sent a letter to the university 's president stating : " It is entirely illegitimate fo... |
= = = Denied entry to Israel in 2008 = = =
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On May 23 , 2008 , Finkelstein was denied entry to Israel , according to unnamed Shin Bet security officials , because " of suspicions involving hostile elements in Lebanon " and that he " did not give a full accounting to interrogators with regard to these suspicions . " Finkelstein had previously visited south Leban... |
Finkelstein was questioned after his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and detained for 24 hours in a holding cell . After speaking to Israeli attorney Michael Sfard he was placed on a flight back to Amsterdam , his point of origin . In an interview with Haaretz , Finkelstein stated " I did my best to provid... |
= = Reception = =
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Finkelstein 's books are an attempt to examine the works of mainstream scholarship . The authors whose work he has thus targeted , including Daniel Jonah Goldhagen and Dershowitz , along with others such as Benny Morris whose work Finkelstein has also cited in his scholarship , have in turn accused Finkelstein of gros... |
According to Raul Hilberg , Finkelstein displays " academic courage to speak the truth when no one else is out there to support him ... I would say that his place in the whole history of writing history is assured , and that those who in the end are proven right triumph , and he will be among those who will have trium... |
Sara Roy stated that her shared experience with Finkelstein as a child of Holocaust survivors engaged in research on the Palestinian @-@ Israeli conflict gave her a unique position to comment . According to Roy , Finkelstein 's scholarship is , " exceptional both for its brilliance and rigor . In the fields of Middle ... |
The Israeli newspaper , Haaretz , stated that " [ i ] t is difficult to sympathize with Finkelstein 's opinions and preferences , especially since he decided to support Hezbollah , meet with its fighters and visit the graves of some of its slain operatives . " Still , it continued to say that he should not be banned f... |
= = = 2009 film about Finkelstein = = =
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American Radical : The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is an award @-@ winning documentary film about the life and career of Norman Finkelstein , released in 2009 and directed by David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier . It has been screened in Amsterdam IDFA , in Toronto Hot Docs and in more than 40 other national and internat... |
= = = Criticism = = =
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Criticism has been leveled against Finkelstein from several angles . The first sources are responses from those whose work Finkelstein has discussed . Daniel Goldhagen , whose book Hitler 's Willing Executioners Finkelstein criticized , claimed his scholarship has " everything to do with his burning political agenda "... |
Israeli historian Omer Bartov , writing for The New York Times Book Review , judged The Holocaust Industry to be marred by the same errors he denounces in those who exploit the Holocaust for profit or politics :
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It is filled with precisely the kind of shrill hyperbole that Finkelstein rightly deplores in much of the current media hype over the Holocaust ; it is brimming with the same indifference to historical facts , inner contradictions , strident politics and dubious contextualizations ; and it oozes with the same smug sen... |
Finkelstein has accused journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of " torturing " or " being an accessory to torture of " Palestinian prisoners during his IDF service in the First Intifada , based on statements made in Goldberg 's book Prisoners . Finkelstein says that Goldberg admits to personally sending prisoners to the zinzana... |
= = Statements on Israel = =
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Finkelstein is a sharp critic of the state of Israel . Discussing Finkelstein 's book Beyond Chutzpah , Israeli historian Avi Shlaim stated that Finkelstein 's critique of Israel " is based on an amazing amount of research . He seems to have read everything . He has gone through the reports of Israeli groups , of huma... |
In a telephone interview with Today 's Zaman , in 2009 , Finkelstein stated :
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I think Israel , as a number of commentators pointed out , is becoming an insane state . And we have to be honest about that . While the rest of the world wants peace , Europe wants peace , the US wants peace , but this state wants war , war and war . In the first week of the massacres , there were reports in the Isra... |
When asked how he , as the son of Holocaust survivors , felt about Israel β s operation in Gaza , Finkelstein replied :
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It has been a long time since I felt any emotional connection with the state of Israel , which relentlessly and brutally and inhumanly keeps these vicious , murderous wars . It is a vandal state . There is a Russian writer who once described vandal states as Genghis Khan with a telegraph . Israel is Genghis Khan with ... |
The Anti @-@ Defamation League has described Finkelstein as an " obsessive anti @-@ Zionist " filled with " vitriolic hatred of Zionism and Israel . " On being called an anti @-@ Zionist Finkelstein has said : " It 's a superficial term . I am opposed to any state with an ethnic character , not only to Israel . "
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Finkelstein is an advocate of a two @-@ state solution to the Israeli @-@ Palestinian conflict .
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= = = Hezbollah and Hamas = = =
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Finkelstein has expressed solidarity with Hezbollah and Hamas with respect to defensive actions , alleging that Israel had invaded Lebanon as a signal of rejection when Hamas was seeking a diplomatic settlement with Israel . He also condemned what he said was Israel 's refusal " to abide by international law [ and ] t... |
" I was of course happy to meet the Hizbullah people , because it is a point of view that is rarely heard in the United States . I have no problem saying that I do want to express solidarity with them , and I am not going to be a coward of ( sic ) a hypocrite about it . I don 't care about Hizbullah as a political org... |
While condemning the targeting of civilians to achieve a political goal , Finkelstein has stated he believes Hezbollah has the right to target Israeli civilians as long as " Israel persists in targeting [ Lebanese ] civilians until Israel ceases its terrorist acts . "
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Finkelstein claims that an equivalence exists between Hamas and the state of Israel in regards to the military policy of targeted killings during the Second Intifada . According to Finkelstein " the record shows that Israel has routinely targeted civilians for killing " and " Israel indiscriminately kills civilians " ... |
Finkelstein argued one of Israel 's primary motivations for launching the 2008 offensive in Gaza was that Hamas was " signaling that it wanted a diplomatic settlement of the conflict along the June 1967 border . " Finkelstein believes Hamas had joined the international community in " seeking a diplomatic settlement " ... |
= = Statements on the BDS movement = =
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Finkelstein had made many criticisms of the Boycott , Divestment and Sanctions Movement . Finkelstein stated that " I think the solidarity movement has the right tactics . I support the BDS . But I said it will never reach a broad public until and unless they are explicit on their goal . And their goal has to include ... |
In February 2012 , The Jewish Chronicle in England stated that Finkelstein " launched a blistering attack " on the BDS movement , saying it was a " hypocritical , dishonest cult " , " [ l ] ike the Munchkin cult in Oz , " that tries to cleverly pose as human rights activists while in reality their goal is to destroy I... |
In June 2012 , in an appearance on Democracy Now ! , Finkelstein elaborated on his criticisms of the BDS movement :
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The problem as I see it with the BDS movement is not the tactic . Who could not support Boycott , Divestment and Sanctions ? Of course you should . And most of the human rights organizations , church organizations have moved in that direction . The problem is the goal . . . The official BDS movement , they claim to be... |
And if you want to go past that law or ignore the Israel part , you β ll never reach a broad public . And then it 's a cult . Then it β s pointless , in my opinion . We 're wasting time . And it 's only a wasting of time . It becomes β and I know it 's a strong word , and I hope I won 't be faulted for it , but it bec... |
= = = Books = = =
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