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Though death and destruction have become commonplace in the Middle East, one short conflict from more than a year ago sticks in American minds, controversial author Norman Finkelstein told a University of Wisconsin crowd Tuesday.
Labeled the Gaza War by the mainstream media, the three-week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-09 would more rightly be called a massacre, Finkelstein, the author of “This Time We Went Too Far: Truth & Consequences of the Gaza Invasion” said.
Finkelstein’s work has been criticized as academically questionable and overly polemical. He was denied tenure at DePaul University in 2007 for the controversial nature of his writings, despite the support of his department.
Although the nature of his writing may be distasteful to some academics, his followers find the facts he references to be the truly provocative elements of his message.
“For every one Israeli killed in those 22 days, 400 Palestinians died. For every one Israeli civilian killed, 400 Palestinian civilians were killed,” Finkelstein said.
Promulgated by “ideological weapons” that deter criticism of Israel, Finkelstein said Americans rarely recognize the true catastrophes Palestinians in the Gaza strip are subjected to at the hand of American-backed Israel.
Often criticized as a Jewish anti-Semite, Finkelstein was recently accused of being a Holocaust denier whose speech motivated the April 2009 shooting by a notorious white supremacist at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. The shooting left one security guard dead.
In response to an advertisement taken out by a renowned Holocaust denier on The Badger Herald’s website, a student speaking at the Holocaust Remembrance Rally on the UW campus this spring recently made this accusation.
It was this event that primarily motivated the Middle East Interest Group’s decision to bring Finkelstein to campus, according to Jesse Ayala, president of the group.
After hearing these remarks at the rally, Ayala said a number of members of the Middle East Interest Group were offended and contacted Finkelstein to come and speak.
Director of the UW Hillel Foundation Greg Steinberger said in terms of helping people figure out very complex, painful and emotional issues, Finkelstein was not a helpful voice.
“This is a first rate research institution,” Steinberger said. “There are plenty of qualified people on campus to talk about this kind of thing. Is he the best person to do that? I don’t think so.”
It was this dissimilarity to other scholars on campus that in part motivated the decision to bring Finkelstein here, Ayala said.
“One thing I have had a difficult time dealing with is a lot of scholars know so much about what they are studying and they are considered the highest authorities, yet they do very little to provoke action,” Ayala said.
Accompanying Finkelstein was British musician Lowkey and journalist Jody McIntyre who maintains the blog “Life on Wheels.”
McIntyre shared his own experience of time spent in the Middle East, retelling firsthand stories of Palestinian persecution.
Note: A video of the question and answer session will be posted this morning and should be viewable by early this afternoon. A highlights video may be posted over the weekend.
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want an example of where finklestein is coming from?
go to his website, where he has reposted an ap news report about former refusenik, now head of the jewish agency, natan sharansky, “count dracula”
finklestein is not simply a middle east scholar, he is indeed a rabid jew hater.
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I think the best thing to do is to go see the state of the territories. You have “the passport”- go and see it and then you won’t have to read a book or look at pictures. Also…why is Anti-semitism a tag? There was nothing anti-semitic about the lecture.
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If Norman Finkelstein is well-versed in ‘ideological weapons’, perhaps he could turn his attention to the ones used by Islamists and their apologists to deflect criticism of Islam.
Any criticism of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad are deemed ‘offensive’, but the Qur’an and its exhortations to kill Jews and infidels are deemed ‘not offensive’.
Islam is portrayed as a ‘religion of peace’ but is used to justify killings on a daily basis.
Hamas wants to destroy Israel from the ‘mountains to the sea’ (i.e. entirely) but Israel seeking to defend itself is ‘a step too far’.
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To all Israelis, the eyes and conscience of the world are upon you. What happened in Gaza in December 2008 was a signal to the world that Israel is a state of hypocrisy and lies.
No friends in the middle east, they must pray the American tax payers don’t wake up.. .. But unfortunately WE ARE WAKING UP.
Israel’s days are numbered. The world is watching.
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quick correction to my post…i left out the word “labeled”
as in he labeled the article, “count dracula”
to sa….i have been to the territories, both before and after the first and second intifada’s
prior to the first intifada, there were no checkpoints, no separate roads for israelis and palestinians….there was calm
subsequent to the violence is when policies changed.
as for finklestein, i really dont care what he has to say anymore…he repeats the same mantras over and over….and everytime changes the facts on the ground to fit his world view.
hamas did break the cease fire. first, by not extending it. second, by digging tunnels into israel proper, for the purpose of kidnapping israeli soldiers and committing other acts of terror. it was at one of those tunnels where israel killed the 6 terrorists.
finklestein does not see the tunnel digging as an act of war…in fact, he sees nothing that hamas does as an act of war…only of defense.
he has labeled israel a terrorist state, on par with the nazis, a lunatic state, a murderous state.
at the same time, he has excused every act of terror committed by palestinians.
for another example of his dishonesty, he has repeatedly called roads that are only to be used by israelis….”jewish” roads. this would come to a surprise to those christian and arab israelis who are allowed to use the roads. that there are now seperate roads for israelis and palestinians, is again out of security needs. they werent there before the first intifada.
i have no problem with those that wish to criticize israel. many israelis criticize their own country.
i have a problem with those that choose not to be balanced in their criticism. and tinge their arguments with straight out racism and jew hate.
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Here is what happened in Gaza in December 2008.
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/special/12th/hrc091016am1-eng.rm?start=01:21:35&end=01:24:18
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While I think this article was overall fair, I wanted to respond to these ridiculous criticisms of Finklestein as “anti-Semitic” or a “holocaust denier.” Anyone who’s done an iota of research on the man, as opposed to the ignorant Uncle Joe McCarthy above, he himself is Jewish, and moreover, nearly his entire family was brutally murdered by Nazi’s in the Holocaust…so where are these claims coming from? Last time I checked, being a openminded and critical of Israel, using facts to back up your argument, didn’t qualify as hating Jews…….oh! You must have meant the last tool of AIPAC’s three pronged form attack on critics of Israel, that he’s a “self-hating Jew.”
Yeah, I’ve got no response to an argument as ridiculous as that.
He gave a great lecture last night in which he presented facts that show just how horrible Israel’s actions in their murder of the Gazan’s was.
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While I think this article was overall fair, I wanted to respond to these ridiculous criticisms of Finklestein as “anti-Semitic” or a “holocaust denier.” Anyone who’s done an iota of research on the man, as opposed to Uncle Joe McCarthy above, he himself is Jewish, and moreover, nearly his entire family was brutally murdered by Nazi’s in the Holocaust…so where are these claims coming from? Last time I checked, being a openminded and critical of Israel, using facts to back up your argument, didn’t qualify as hating Jews…….oh! You must have meant the last tool of AIPAC’s three pronged form attack on critics of Israel, that he’s a “self-hating Jew.”
Yeah, I’ve got no response to an argument as ridiculous as that.
He gave a great lecture last night in which he presented facts that show just how horrible Israel’s actions in their murder of the Gazan’s was.
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“Finkelstein�s work has been criticized as academically questionable and overly polemical. He was denied tenure at DePaul University in 2007 for the controversial nature of his writings, despite the support of his department.”
Finkelstein’s work was questioned by whom ? The same old pro-Israeli shills who use the term “anti-semite” towards anyone and everyone who questions Israels conduct. According to this crowd, let by Alan Dershowitz; President Carter, Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu are all anti-semites. Wonder Why ?
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It was not only the support of his department, but also the tenure board. Very few legitimate scholars not involved in the Israel Lobby question his work. It’s only “controversial” in this insane country and in Israel, in which, when you criticize Israel, the Lobby works to destroy your career. One only has to read his work and listen to him to talk to know that he is a renowned scholar on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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Sami Ghani
i take umbrage at being called ignorant.
that finklestein is jewish and is the son of holocaust survivors means absolutely nothing.
when one labels indivduals such as natan sharansky, and eli wiesel, clowns and count dracula….there is something wrong with that person’s views.
as for who has criticized finklestein…forget dershowitz, how about the ny times and author and historians that finklestein has chosen to quote from, like peter novick, benny morris and tom segev.
finklestein is not a scholar. he has never published an article in a peer reviewed journal. he is incapable of holding a job at any university.
and he is a jew hater and an apologist for terrorists.
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Finkelstein is hated by the pro-Israeli shills because he has exposed the fraud of such people such as Joan Peters, Alan Dershowitz and Ellie Wiesel. Just imagine, Alan Dershowitz a legal scholar at Harvard even writes to the governor of California to ask them to stop publishing a book by Norman Finkelstein.
The extent to which the pro-Israel shills smear Finkelstein is directly proportional to the extent he has expose the fraud of Israeli apologists and their attempts to gloss over their treatment of the Palestinian people
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“he is a jew hater…”
Let’s get the factual record straight. In a one-on-one conversation with him, he said American Jews are the most important crowd to reach out to in terms of garnering support for a just peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He is far, far from a “Jew Hater” because he harshly criticizes the actions of the Israeli government and the complicity of the American government with it.
“apologist for terrorists”
Can one only be considered a terrorist if they’re Muslim/Arab? I think mostly what he does is calls out terrorism on the other side…which is often just called “self-defense” as an out. Perhaps you invest your time reading this blog post by Glenn Greenwald, a fellow Jew, titled “Terrorism: The Most Meaningless and Manipulated Word”
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/19/terrorism
And I’d like to know, what has Ellie Wiesel done other than manipulate the terribleness of the Holocaust and the suffering done to the Jews during it, to justify the crimes Israel commits against the Palestinians. He also, for some odd reason, had a say in whether or not the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, and is now lobbying for an Iran invasion. What the man has done is morally repugnant.
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Okay, first off, it was childish of me to call you names, and I’d like to apologize for that. Name calling has no place in discussions like this.
Second, where is your evidence that he is a “jew hater”? Is it your contention that he is a “self-hating jew”? Where is the proof of this, other than claims that anyone critical of Israel and its policies must hate Jews.
So, show me some evidence and we’ll move on from there.
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the only evidence that i have are finklesteins own words
but let me say this…statements, like what anon said, that anytime anyone criticizes aipac or israel, they are immediatly labeled anti semitic, is absurd
there are critics of the state within israel…no one labels them anti semitic
it is when that criticism is not tendered with any balance that the person can easily be labled anti semitic
now, back to finkelstein and the facts of his being a jew hater
quotes: “The Zionists indeed learnt well from the Nazis. So well that it seems that their morally repugnant treatment of the Palestinians, and their attempts to destroy Palestinian society within Israel and the occupied territories, reveals them as basically Nazis with beards and black hats.”
if a non jew had said the above, he would be immediatly labeled an anti semite
his use of the term “jewish roads” is blatant jew hate
there are no jewish roads anywhere in israel
there are roads for israelis and roads for palestinians
there were no separate roads before the first intifada…the roads were built because of security measures
if you are an israeli, no matter jew, christian or muslim…you can and do use those roads
his screed on the holocaust has been labeled by the ny times as being akin with the protocols of the elders of zion
do i really need to go on?
why dont you watch the doc on him where one of his friends says “i dont know if he is a self hating jew, but he is definitely a jew hating jew”
i do not attack finklestein because he criticizes israel…israel has many critics who i respect
i attack finklestein because his criticism, for the most part, is tinged with hate and animus and is skewed against all realities, both historic and geopolitical.
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There are no Jewish roads ?
Every road in the settlements are essentially Jewish roads. And of course the mud tracks on the other side are Palestinian “roads” where they can ride their mules. Lets not pretend that the Jewish roads in the settlements are used by Israelis other than Jews. Those settlements are almost 100 percent Jews.
Yes and there is plenty of water for Jewish settlements to have swimming pools while Palestinians cannot obtain permission to even dig a well for drinking. Now is that also because of security ?
Norman Finkelstein exposes the Israel dispossession of Palestinians in its most rawest form. That’s why the Hasbara crowd calls him names like “self hating Jew” or that his mother was a nazi collaborator.
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I went to this presentation and only once did the speaker come in with his own opinion. The facts found by numerous international human rights bodies spoke for themselves. The direct quotations of Israeli soldiers spoke for themselves. The number of dead spoke more powerful than words. Israel will not be allowed to carry out atrocities unquestioned any longer. Boycott, Divest, Sanctions.
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Professor Finkelstein is wasting his time with pro-Israel fanatics— they will NEVER change. His message is for the rest of the people in the world.
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In response to Bob Smith, last time I checked anytime anyone criticizes Israel or AIPAC they are anti-semitic or offensive. It’s a two way street. But there’s no denying that Israel is an apartheid state and the world is beginning to notice.
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Although I am a strong supporter of Israel, it is interesting to see the other point of view. his opinions seem credible because he uses a lot of facts to back them up and he is, in fact, Jewish. The fact that he is Jewish does not excuse him of being a “Jew-hater”, however, I do believe it is possible to have compassion for people (in his case, Palestinian victims of the Gaza War) that may not be Jewish. Because I myself am Jewish, it is difficult for me to support criticism of Israel. In addition, I don’t think bringing someone like this with such a negative attitude toward the American-Israeli relationship was necessary after the incident that happened with the Badger Herald. The rally proved how deeply people on the UW campus were offended by the incident with the Badger Herald and I think that bringing another negative voice to campus is kind of like kicking people while they’re down. Despite that, I think it is important for students to hear and be aware of all points of view, regardless of how much one may disagree.
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“Because I myself am Jewish, it is difficult for me to support criticism of Israel.” I am palestinian and I am forced by the media and by academics to accept the things my people do, but that has never delegitimize my support for my people. I think that for you to have a better conenction with Israel and to support it justly- you have to accept what it does and argue for reasons you know it deserves to be there. Finkelstein believes in a two state solution- meaning a state for both people, but he does state the crimes that Israel is guilty of. Although I do get caught up when people throw it my face that Palestinians were happy on 9/11 or that we kill Israeli children…, I remember that this doesnt represent me or my family that are there and the fact that we live behind a wall and have no right to go back to Jerusalem where we use to live…or even the fact that IDF have came into my home and held up and hit my grandmother and my uncles. Who are you not to own what your people do, but I am forced to?
“In addition, I don�t think bringing someone like this with such a negative attitude toward the American-Israeli relationship was necessary after the incident that happened with the Badger Herald.”
I VERY MUCH DISAGREE with what the badger herald did with that HORRIBLE advertisment. But, how does that relate to what Israel is being accused of? This is between Israel and Palestine and it should not include what the Europeans did to the Jews, because the Palestinians DID NOT do it. Please separate these feelings and events.
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“This is between Israel and Palestine and it should not include what the Europeans did to the Jews, because the Palestinians DID NOT do it”
did not do what? participate in the holocaust?
from historical records, only because they didnt get the chance.
in north africa, in areas controlled by the nazis, the vichy french and the italians many arabs did indeed participate in the holocaust, as documented by multiple historians, most recently by dr robert satloff in his book among the riteous.
in fact, israel has been called upon to finally honor an arab schindler, Khaled Abdul-Wahab, who sheltered and saved tunisian jews.
and it is well known that the leader of the palestinian people, the grand mufti of jerusalem was an ally of hitler, planned to build a death camp in nablus, and travelled to serbia to create a muslim ss.
and the famous picture of the mufti and hitler was found in many palestinian homes at the time.
now, does the fact that the arabs and the palestinian arabs being culpable for what happened to the jews during ww2 give more credence to the right of israel to exist? no
because the existance of israel has nothing at all to do with the holocaust, no matter what myths you try to spread
neither the balfour declaration, nor the declaration of the league of nations had anything to do with the holocaust.
however, it is time for the myth that the arabs hands are clean when it comes to the holocaust
for they are as dirty as the europeans.
of course, you wont hear that from holocaust revisionist finklestein.
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When will a transcript be available? or the video captioned?
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Muslims…the people who really know a thing or two about apartheid.
http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/03/what-about-the-arab-apartheid.php
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i would like to point out one other thing. jody mcentyre, the self styled journalist, is not a journalist at all, but a propagandist for the ism
what is hilarious, is that he isnt even good at being a propagandist as he says one thing in his speeches, but writes totally differently about the very same incidents in his blog.
lets take his opening story about the eviction
http://jodymcintyre.wordpress.com/page/3/
By the time I�d got to my feet, soldiers were rushing into the house and pushing me out the front door. As I fell down the stairs outside, I pointed at my wheelchair: �That�s my wheelchair,� I said, �I need it because I can�t walk.� �No! No!� the armed Israeli forces replied, continuing to shove me away. Just outside the house, the police gathered everyone at the wall. Within a matter of seconds they had confiscated everyone�s camera and mobile phone, meaning that no footage could be taken and no media could be called. Not that media would�ve been able to come anyway � the police had closed off the entire area. The police promptly proceeded to arrest all the international activists they could find, who had been staying with the families to show their support� it was over in minutes. But when they got to me: �Where are you from?� �Mish fairhem (Arabic for �I don�t understand�). �Just leave him,� instructed the chief police officer. He must�ve thought I was a member of the family he was throwing onto the streets. As they forced us across the road, I was the only international left with the family. A police barrier was hastily set up, imprisoning us in the road directly opposite the house.”
please note that nowhere in his blog does jody note the officer stating “dont worry about him, hes just a palestinian”
so why embellish? of course, to make it appear as if israelis see the palestinians as less than human.
if these statements had such an impact on jody…why did he not note them immediately in his blog? because they never occurred.
what else does jody leave out of his speeches? how about his entire sojourn in egypt, where he was beaten and imprisoned.
now why would he do that? of course….god forbid the audiences think that arabs could be even more abusive than israelis.
guess jody totally forgot what he had written…or maybe most of what he wrote is just as made up as his speech.
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i would like to point out one other thing. jody mcentyre, the self styled journalist, is not a journalist at all, but a propagandist for the ism
what is hilarious, is that he isnt even good at being a propagandist as he says one thing in his speeches, but writes totally differently about the very same incidents in his blog.
lets take his opening story about the eviction
http://jodymcintyre.wordpress.com/page/3/
By the time I�d got to my feet, soldiers were rushing into the house and pushing me out the front door. As I fell down the stairs outside, I pointed at my wheelchair: �That�s my wheelchair,� I said, �I need it because I can�t walk.� �No! No!� the armed Israeli forces replied, continuing to shove me away. Just outside the house, the police gathered everyone at the wall. Within a matter of seconds they had confiscated everyone�s camera and mobile phone, meaning that no footage could be taken and no media could be called. Not that media would�ve been able to come anyway � the police had closed off the entire area. The police promptly proceeded to arrest all the international activists they could find, who had been staying with the families to show their support� it was over in minutes. But when they got to me: �Where are you from?� �Mish fairhem (Arabic for �I don�t understand�). �Just leave him,� instructed the chief police officer. He must�ve thought I was a member of the family he was throwing onto the streets. As they forced us across the road, I was the only international left with the family. A police barrier was hastily set up, imprisoning us in the road directly opposite the house.”
please note that nowhere in his blog does jody note the officer stating “dont worry about him, hes just a palestinian”
so why embellish? of course, to make it appear as if israelis see the palestinians as less than human.
if these statements had such an impact on jody…why did he not note them immediately in his blog? because they never occurred.
what else does jody leave out of his speeches? how about his entire sojourn in egypt, where he was beaten and imprisoned.
now why would he do that? of course….god forbid the audiences think that arabs could be even more abusive than israelis.
guess jody totally forgot what he had written…or maybe most of what he wrote is just as made up as his speech.
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one thing that everyone’s forgetting: Greg Steinberger
�This is a first rate research institution,� Steinberger said. �There are plenty of qualified people on campus to talk about this kind of thing. Is he the best person to do that? I don�t think so.�
Greg, you make a joke of Hillel- a place that should be a safe space to discuss Jewish culture and religion, but instead you have turned it into a farrrr right-wing propaganda machine for groups like AIPAC… It’s manipulative and disgusting, and thank god UW brought Finkelstein to campus to call out abusers of the Holocaust memory and Jewish culture like Greg Steinberger.
Agreed! Wisconsin is a first rate research institution, but who exactly can speak to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on this campus who can even compare to the level of depth that Finkelstein represents? Please! Would love to hear any suggestions… be a little more specific when you throw around accusations claiming that different ideas from your narrow agenda are “unhelpful” in sorting out this emotional topic… they’re only unhelpful to your farrr right wing agenda—- if you were really “pro-Israel”, you’d be pro-peace and realize that your maniacal agenda only adds to the insecurity of both Palestinians AND ISRAELIS!!
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Thanks for posting a video of the talk. Big ups to Finkelstein.
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I was at this lecture. The speech was almost entirely restrained to discussing the devastating attack on Palestine in 2008. The papers cited were largely from respected human rights organizations who were appalled by the carnage. Many of the comments made here about the subject seem designed to cast aspersions rather than engage in a logical argument. Political power is not the same as reasoning or being right.
You have to wonder, when Palestine has so little political power in America, why groups go beyond disagreement to attempting to prevent free speech. There was no holocaust denial or advocacy for violence at this event. If anything it was a plea for help or at least acknowledgment of a human rights crisis. We are a prestigious university. The least we can do is to allow honest non-violent discussion. That is one of a great university’s primary functions.