For the most accurate account of Middle East history, I suggest you read a book entitled "Bush and Babylon - The Recolonization of Iraq" by Tariq Ali. Amazing history lesson.

The Zionist thought police are everywhere!

Especially in the land of "freedom of speech!"

If Anti-Semitism is racism against Jews, what it the term for racism directed to black people or Asians or Orientals?

Seriously, what is the difference between racism and anti-semitism? is one or the other worse?

The above is an actual question as I am ignorant in this regard, if someone would be kind enough to venture an answer I would be grateful.

Thanks

Idavin, here is a link to a string of articles that will fill you in on the continuing saga of the Israel lobby versus Professor Finkelstein:

http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/06/finkelstein

Read his books. They are excellent -- and eminently readable.

JC: It's more a matter of the right to tell the verifiable truth than just the freedom to speak your mind that is with increasing success being banned on US academia.

And once the rot sets in, it infects the entire body.

A sad day, a bad day!

using Dershowitz's logic, he should also resign. see how he is a teacher at havard and has written a book expressing his opinion.

If you like to eat sausage, don't ever watch it being manufactured.

If you respect academia, don't look too closely at university tenure and promotion practices.

Sad day when there's more free-thinking allowed on blogs than at universities...

What's the purpose of a modern university where there are more taboo topics than here? Reminds me of what I once heard someone say about the university "The last of the great medieval institutions."

This a huge body-blow to Academic Freedom...the very Core of Academia. This is also a Clear example of the severely attenuated 1st Amendment right of Freedom of Speech. Abusing the Legal Process with threats of Civil Suit to prevent this Man from exercising his Constitutional Rights is despicable, and SHOULD result in the Disbarment of Dershowitz for the Illegal and Unethical Practice of the "Law". Time to wake up... the Bloodless Coup is nearly accomplished here. Thought Police, Indeed !

To me, the imposition of the state of Israel into the newly formed quasi-states of the late Ottoman Empire was and is a calamity.

It has been a calamity for both the indigenous population and the, mostly, immigrant Jewish population.

Before the creation of Israel, most secular and believing Jews did not have to spend organizational time, effort and energy to defend the increasingly negative actions of this theocratic state.

Instead, many became the independent and creative voices within whatever society they were members of. Of course, some became ideologues, or apologists for the whatever elite was in power. Yet, because there was the real historical experience of hideous persecution, a tradition (and high regard for)literacy, education, logical debate about religious matters and belief in the life of rightousness, some Jewish citizens became the moral voice of their society.

In fact, countries, such as Germany, are finally realizing German Jews were important contributors to German cultural, scientific and technological acheivement. Without their contributions, 19th and early 20th century Germany would have been much less. They were, in many ways, Germany.

Sadly, many of today's Jews have committted themselves to an aggressive, theocratic nation-state based on Jewish citizenship. It was born in terrorism, violent injustice and the consequent rewriting of history in order to cover its many crimes.

The crimes continue, grow and need more and more apologists and ideologues to defend them. In addition, many Jews now leave their own countries in order to live in Israel. This means that Israel needs to procure more water, farmland, etc. at the expense of its neighbors.

As a result, many countries -and the world as a whole- have lost the prophetic tradition based on decrying injustice, the beauty of David's harp and poetry, and access to the accumulated centuries of spiritual and practical wisdom.

Like the U.S., Israel has received little negative feedback for its unjust actions. No consequences. No lessons learned.

For example, when European settlers invaded and occupied what is today the U.S., the native peoples fought back. And the fighting techniques used were sometimes brutal. However, most of the actions of Native Americans actually affected few average Euro-Americans.

But the actions of Euro-Americans had an enormous affect on almost all Native Americans.

No negative feedback. No consequences...but, in the longterm, maybe?

What a f^%$ing joke. Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, writes a book essentially stating the obvious. Nobody in their right mind could deny "that Israel uses the outcry over perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism."

Let me get this straight: a Jewish poli-sci prof writes a book challenging another profs pro-Israeli treatise, which probably attempts to justify all the horrible shit Israel has been engaging in for the last four decades since they illegally invaded and occupied Palestine territory, and he not only is denied tenure but gets sacked and his publisher threatened w/ libel by said pro-Israel prof. Hmmm. I love it when reality proves your point for you and you don't have to do anything except state the absurdities known as reality.

Well it won't be long now before the US War Machine starts its bombing sorties over Iran and then Iran can start volleying rockets into Israel and then we'll have WWIII on our hands all this will become academic (pun intended).

For people's information ...
1) "Beyond Chutzpah" was published by UC Press one or two years ago in spite of heavy presssure. Newspapers reported that Dershowitz even tried to get Gov Arnold - who is ex officio member of the Regents - to use his influence to stop UC Press from publishing the book. To the great credit of UC Press and their administration they did NOT cave in. They had the manuscript reviewed line by line for potential mis-statements that could give any ammunition to Dersh. A few small edits were made and UC then proceeded to publish this fine book. One of the most useful things in it is the appendix which includes myth vs documented references on major events in Israeli history.
2) The issue is not ethnicity nor religion; it is injustice and colonialism. If we criticise Israel we are NOT "criticising Jews". Many of the most eloquent critics of Zionism happen to be Jewish. I recently returned from Palestine and Israel where I saw Israeli Jews on the front lines of non-violent resistance demonstrations against the Wall and Occupation in general.

Dershowitz does his ranting from Harvard, but that doesn't make him any less of a raving idiot. The guy distorts everything to do with Israel and zionism. For DePaul to cave into the zionist lobby is shameful. I hope students steer clear of that "bastion of censorship" and let it rot away. And P.S. to buffgunner--no Jews--especially not New York Jews--were in Israel "long before Arabs."

this is what happens when you criticize Israel or Jews. There are a whole slew of people that have been railroaded because of that. And that is why the lawmakers are cowardly when it comes to criticizing Israel's atrocities.

I see antisemitism is quite prevalent here - as is the rewriting of Middle East History. Jews were in Israel long before Arabs and have had a continuous presence there for thousands of years.

If you are a student of DePaul transfer out now! Your school does not believe in freedom of speech.

MESA annoucement on free speech and academic freedom:
http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/about/academic.htm

4 September 2007

The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., Ed.D.
President De Paul University
1 E. Jackson
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Fax: 312-362-7577

Dear President Holtschneider:

I write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern and dismay at what appear to be your university's multiple and egregious violations of generally accepted standards of academic procedure in handling the tenure case of Professor Norman G. Finkelstein.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in its field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2700 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

As you will remember, the Committee sent you a letter dated April 10, 2007, in which it expressed its grave concern about the politicization of Professor Finkelstein's tenure case as a result of the campaign launched against him by Professor Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard University Law School. In that letter we urged you to ensure that Professor Finkelstein be evaluated for tenure at DePaul solely on the basis of his scholarship, his teaching, and his service to his university and professional communities, and that all aspects of Professor Finkelstein's tenure process adhere to generally accepted procedures and standards. We regret that you did not choose to respond to that letter.

Unfortunately, developments at DePaul since that letter was sent indicate that proper procedures and standards were not being adhered to in Professor Finkelstein's case. As a consequence the Committee now feels compelled to write you again, because in the aftermath of DePaul's decision to deny tenure to Professor Finkelstein your administration appears to have violated accepted academic procedures and standards in at least two ways.

First, we deem unacceptable your administration's refusal to permit Professor Finkelstein to pursue a formal appeal of the decision to deny him tenure. As you no doubt know, such a right of appeal is accepted by most leading institutions of higher education in this country. Our concern about this arbitrary and unjust decision is shared by your own university's Faculty Council and by the American Association of University Professors, among others.

Second, we feel obliged to register our distress at reports that your administration has, just a few days before the beginning of the fall semester, suddenly decided to prevent Professor Finkelstein from teaching during his terminal year at DePaul, taken away his office, and put him on paid administrative leave. As you surely know, it is customary to permit faculty who have been denied tenure to teach for one final year. Your administration's abrupt decision to prevent Professor Finkelstein (who is by all accounts an outstanding teacher) from doing so, without his agreement and despite strong objections from members of your own faculty and student body, strikes us as high-handed, if not vindictive.

However one judges Professor Finkelstein's qualifications for tenure, it seems clear that DePaul has mishandled his case in a variety of ways and has repeatedly violated generally accepted standards of academic process and fair play. In so doing your administration has in effect given aid and comfort to those who seek to undermine the academy as a bastion of academic freedom and as a forum for the open and critical discussion of issues of vital public concern.

We live in a time when scholars, teachers and institutions of higher education across the United States are facing extraordinary pressures and vituperative assaults from individuals and organized groups based outside the academy and pursuing narrow partisan agendas, particularly with respect to United States policy in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is therefore highly distressing that you and your administration at DePaul have in this case signally failed to adhere to accepted standards of academic procedure or to protect the rights of every member of your faculty.
We therefore call on you to promptly reconsider and reverse both of these arbitrary and misguided decisions, in order to undo the damage already done to DePaul University's reputation as an institution of higher education and to help protect the norms of academic life and the principle of academic freedom that your university professes to cherish.

Sincerely,

Zachary Lockman
MESA President

I think Alan Dershowitz is his own worst enemy. I can't help it I don't like him and honestly I think he is a bigot. If this brings about a new level of fairness in the discussion of issues then both sides deserve recognition.

Why not just cut out the middleman, and have Israel directly appoint all USA Professors? That way the zionist can have complete control over all US and expense of bribing congressmen and presidents?

Plying the Holocaust CARD is the best weppon used to get thier way in American politics.In the mean time, they play HITLER in the Middle East.They just smile as they kill.Besides 12,000,000 died so all togeter they are all colaterial damage of world war two.In Bush's terms.

buffgunner (nice handle, by the way) you wrote: "I see antisemitism is quite prevalent here - as is the rewriting of Middle East History. Jews were in Israel long before Arabs and have had a continuous presence there for thousands of years."

Two counterpoints: 1) the first part of your statement does nothing except enforce Finkelstein's hypothesis; and 2) BFD if the Jews were in the area long before the Arabs that in no way justifies the 1967 illegal invasion of then Palestinian territory--which was/is condemned by the UN--or the atrocities that have been perpetrated by the US-Israeli combine, which by the way are no different than the atrocities committed by the Nazis when it gets right down to it.

Just bc I strongly disagree w/ ethnic cleansing and bigotry regardless of the perps and the victims doesn't make me an anti-Semite and what about Finkelstein? Were your parents survivors of the Holocaust? Don't you think he has a bit more insight and credibility than most of us when it comes to calling Israel out?

Dershowitz is a peculiar person. He has defended murderers like OJ Simpson and thinks animals should have rights similar to human beings and then he turns around and supports the torture of humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dershowitz

"In his Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights, he writes that, in order to avoid human beings treating each other the way we treat animals, we have made what he calls the "somewhat arbitrary decision" to single out our own species for different and better treatment. "Does this subject us to the charge of speciesism? Of course it does, and we cannot justify it, except by the fact that in the world in which we live, humans make the rules. That reality imposes on us a special responsibility to be fair and compassionate to those on whom we impose our rules. Hence the argument for animal rights.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dershowitz-Finkelstein_affair

See the above link if you want to read in more detail some of the arguments between Dershowitz and Finkelstein. Where a number in Dershowits's book was 2,000 to 3,000 and it should have been 200,000 to 300,000 Dershowitz claims it was a typographical error.

Those numbers refer to the number of Palestinian Arabs who fled Israel from April to June in 1948.

Those are human lives that are being discussed and a number of such importance should not be wrong because of a typographical error. There is no excuse for that.

This next is the counter argument to the limited use of torture which Dershowitz advocates:

"William F. Schulz, the executive director of the U.S. section of Amnesty International, finds Dershowitz's hypothetical ticking-bomb scenario unrealistic because, Schulz counters, it would require that

"the authorities know that a bomb has been planted somewhere; know it is about to go off; know that the suspect in their custody has the information they need to stop it; know that the suspect will yield that information accurately in a matter of minutes if subjected to torture; and know that there is no other way to obtain it."[26]

buffgunner: "Jews were in Israel long before Arabs and have had a continuous presence there for thousands of years."

Interesting, but irrelevant, unlesss you would also support the Native American tribes reclaiming their ancestral land.

Slightly off topic, but very related: NYT story on "Isreal Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy". Or watch the debate at:
http://www.scribemedia.org/2006/10/11/israel-lobby

Part of their debate is about America's inability to even talk about Isreal without reaching for anti-semitism.

Buffgunner: The Jewish religion predates Islam, but it does not mean Jews predate Arabs in the region. The Jews wandered a long time before they settled in Israel, and others lived there too. Significantly, most Jews in Israel are not descended primarily from the Israelites of yore, but rather from the Khazars, a much larger kingdom by the Caspian that converted to Judaism out of political expediency. Thus, they are less Semitic than the Palestinian Arabs.

this is just one more nail in the coffin of the United States of Israel, sorry, America.
Harvard should be proud that a law professor meddled in the affairs of another University. Do you think the Harvard snobs would not go crazy if a professor from another University tried what Dershowitz did?
Norman can be added to the another University professor ward Churchill who was dismissed by the University of Bisons as free speach, critical thinking and free thought are all going the way of the do do bird.
Question: DO WE HAVE A COUNTRY LEFT?

In protest, I will not hire Harvard grads until they fire Dershowitz.

gde,

thanks for the info. very interesting. any recommendations for books re: the cultural and religious history of the area?

felix -

The story of the Khazars is easily available if you look for it. I learned of it from a book called "Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization" by David Keys which outlines a hypothesis that a volcanic eruption so disrupted plant life in the world that mass migrations resulted.

Any good world atlas should illustrate another poorly known fact. Israel is the second Jewish state of the 20th century, not the first. The USSR gave them an autonomous state several hundred miles N of Vladivostok. I only learned this on NPR about 10 years ago. This was founded ~ 1930. Technically, not a country, but a long way from Moscow and with a great degree of autonomy. It faded away, as the appeal of land in Palestine was too strong.

Let me get this straight: a Jewish poli-sci prof writes a book challenging another profs pro-Israeli treatise, which probably attempts to justify all the horrible shit Israel has been engaging in for the last four decades since they illegally invaded and occupied Palestine territory, and he not only is denied tenure but gets sacked and his publisher threatened w/ libel by said pro-Israel prof.

Actually, it's even worse than that.

Dershowitz, in writing In Defense of Israel plagiarized a pro-Israeli book by Joan Peters that had been soundly condemned for its falsehoods, From Time Immemorial, which intended to prove that the Palestinians didn't even exist as a people, and therefore whatever the Israeli government did to them was justified. Finkelstein was acting as a good academic by pointing out the plagiarism, so who loses the prospect of tenure? Finkelstein. Who stays on even though plagiarism is allegedly one of the worst things you can do as a professor (that is, unless you're defending Israel)? Dershowitz. Cornel West was hustled out of Harvard with far less cause than an actual case against Dershowitz.

What is "anti-Semitism"? A crime against man and nature.

What is racism against black people and other minorities? Business as usual.

The fact is many of the Jewish faith are anti-Zionist. But the Zionists have a stranglehold on free speech and expression.

felix4321, There was no 1967 illegal invasion of Palestinian territory. That land was occupied as a result of an ARAB attack.

History has shown that the Arabs are far less likely to tolerate a different people than the Jews are. Look at what used to be major Jewish populations in all the Arab countries. Arabs in Israel have more rights than anywhere in an Arab country.

Its strange that an American should think anyone should own land based upon continuing occupancy going back thousands of years.
In that case you should give your land to native Americans. You have no right to the land in America based upon your own argument.

How the Palestinians were driven out of Israel is an issue that is at the heart imo of how to bring justice to that area of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_exodus

"Historians have given different reasons and assigned different responsibilities for the Palestinian exodus. The answers to these questions could have important consequences for the future of these refugees and their descendants, as well as to other Arabs and Jews in Israel.

The following theories have been proposed:

* That 'Arab leaders' endorsed, encouraged or planned the refugee flight was the official line taken by the governments of Israel, assigning the main responsibility for the exodus to calls made by local and foreign Arab leaders.
* The 'transfer principle' theory, proposed by the Israeli New Historians (mainly Benny Morris), contends that the displacement of the population was a consequence of a common line of thought in Zionist politics that emphasized the transfer of Palestinian Arabs as a precondition to the establishment of a Jewish state.
* The 'master plan' theory, proposed by Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, claims that the Palestinian exodus was planned and organised in advance by Jewish authorities.
* The 'two-stage explanation' is a theory brought forth by Yoav Gelber, which distinguishes between two phases of the exodus. Before the Arab invasion, it explains the exodus as a result of the crumbling Arab social structure, and after the invasion as a result of actions by the Israeli army during the campaign in the Galilee and Negev.

According to Bernard Lewis, it is possible that all of the explanations are partially true of the exodus in general and perhaps even singularly "true of different places."[24]

buffgunner

Israel is somewhat of an ethnically hierarchical society within its Jewish community. (This observation doesn't include the vast ethnic inequality between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis.)

Most of the top government, business and military positions tend to be filled by people of Ashkenazi (or European) Jewish ancestry.

Many of the lower rungs of Israeli society are occupied by Jews of color (i.e., Ethiopian,), those Jews indigenous to Israel and some Sephardic Jews).

So, the ethnic hierarchy within the Jewish community and that between Jews and Paletinian Israelis suggests that Israel shares common characteristics with other European settler states.

Even though there were indigenous Jews in pre-Israeli Palestine, they tend to be found at the bottom of the wealth and power pyramid. So, the indigenous Jew theory for Israel's existence doesn't pan out.

If the above theory was correct, indigenous Jews would be proportionally represented at all levels of Israeli Jewish society...not over represented on the bottom tiers.

However, if the indigenous Jew theory was correct, it would not excuse the consequent ethnic cleansing, mass murder, massive destruction and ethnocide of the Palestinians.

Well in actuality the federal government has never accounted for the billions of dollars they owe and manage for native americans. There was a suit not long ago that the interior department and Gail Norton specifically lost the records.
Not to mention territory that was never succeeded or compensated.

I think native americans rightfully own Chicago and and the University of Illinois or at least the land they are built on.

Treefrog

The Lakota tribe has a strong argument that it owns Mount Rushmore. They were granted that land with a treaty with the US government.

"The Treaty of Fort Laramie from 1868 had previously granted the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

Dershowitz, is a true propagondist and a charlaton.

It is a sad day for America to have allowed the Israeli Lobby to succeed in silencing one of the few voices of reason when it comes to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

It's a shame that Harvard won't fire Dershowitz, who has long sounded like an Israeli agent. Finkelstein was speaking the truth, which is supposedly an academic objective, while Dershowitz is lauded for arguing Israel's phony "case".

Long ago when I was faculty I discovered that a) universities are businesses and b) the business of universities was to make money. Students were incidental and only made capitation money for the university. Money was made by developing patents and beginning new businesses. Anything that smacked of diverting attention from those two goals was discouraged. Writing books creating divisiveness of a religious or philosophical kind was discouraged because it might divert money away from the university that was trying very hard to get whole estates from past graduates who might have objected to the pro-or con approach of the books.

If a faculty member wrote a book it became university property because it was written on university time and with university equipment. Same thing for ideas and patents. Oh, the prof got a pittance. But, no prof survived who went against the common perceived weal.

Now things may have changed...but considering we are now a nation committed to having big business support the people who govern us and big business makes the laws the people they govern support and vote for, I doubt it.

Soon we will have no more faculty voices, strong or weakly dissident, no ordinary people who will disagree with anyone who is stronger for fear of irrational retaliation...we have become a nation of Bush-bullies and that is no different from our government and its intent on ruling the world.

This is not only a shame, it's a wakeup call to the fact that free speech is almost dead in this country. Dershowitz is a fine one to talk about anything. As far as I am concerned, he lost all credibility when he published his defense of torture a few years back. I will preface the following by saying that not only am I a Jew, but I do wish Israel to continue to exist. Mr. Dershowitz's absurd defense of some of Israel's worst acts of violence against Palestinians is inexcusable. In my opinion, he is as much a religious hypocrite as a Pat Robertson, Falwell, et al.

Dershowitz supports torture -- !!!

Look, criticizing Americans isn't anti-American any more than criticizing Israel foreign policy isn't anti-semitic . . . . it's merely criticizing Israel's foreign policy!!!

I can only hope that we can somehow get this Professor returned to campus -- and STOP Israel and America's current fascist leaders.

Colleen

The provisions of the Fort Laramie Treaty are disputed but it is only one. (a rather large issue though) The Interior department handles all land leasing and royalties for Indian land and has mismanaged the affairs. When ordered by a federal judge to produce the records, they (Gale Norton) was in contempt of court. Her under secretary said the records were lost.

Thank you for the link it is very interesting.

Here is another from that site.

The Six Grandfathers, Paha Sapa, in the Year 502,002 C.E.
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/7/sixgrandfathers.php

Thanks again!

Interesting that Dershowitz never sued Finkelstein's publisher as he threatened. That would have been the best way to discredit him assuming he could have made a good case. The assumption is probably telling about why he didn't.

The assumption became very tenuous when Finkelstein and Dershowitz faced off in a "debate" on Democracy Now regarding the claims in Dershowitz's book. The lawyer lacked convincing arguments in his own defense.

So Dershowitz makes the case that Finkelstein shouldn't get tenure and the Pro-Israeli lobby, both lay and professional, support the effort. And a university belonging to a church which now bends over backwards to live down its appalling history of Antisemitism denies Finkelstein tenure and suspends his classes during his terminal year, not because of his scholarship, but because of his "style."

There really is no ambiguity about what happened here.

Vern,

You touch on many interesting points, and it would appear that Americans Jews are held up to far tighter standards than gentiles, when it comes to Israel. Though maybe it's just a purging at certain levels: no criticism of Israel allowed in government, academia, or higher-level civil service. I'm still unsure what it really is to be Jewish. Is it a religion? A race? A way of life?

It does involve "towing the party line" dynamics. Here in Minnesota we've had a number of Jewish Senators or candidates for that office (Paul Wellstone, Rudy Boschwitz, Norm Coleman, Al Franken). I distinctly remember Boschwitz slamming Wellstone for marrying a Christian, and not raising his kids as conservative Jews. Boschwitz evidently saw this as political ammunition, but it backfired and he lost his bid.

I've wondered if so many American Jews remain silent on their extreme right-wing in the way that moderate American churches remained largely silent on the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, the whole right-wing evangelical/theocratic movement, etc. It would take someone in one of those faiths an awful lot of courage to stand up and call the right-wing bluff: "Pat Robertson is no Christian", for instance.

If you step out, I suspect, you may find yourself with virtually no friends at all. Best just to keep quiet, and hope the pendulum doesn't swing too far one way (Israel nukes a neighbor or wealthy zionists plunge the Western world into bankruptcy) or the other (widespread rise of anti-semitism).

Though I'm unsure this approach is wise. It may well be the unchecked extreme right/powerful that cause an anti-semitic backlash in general, and all Jews will suffer -- progressive or no -- because of the way this dynamic has played itself out historically.

The author of "The Vanishing American Jew" seemingly wants all critics of Israel to disappear as well. Hmmm.

It amazes me how some people can accuse a jew (if the name Finkelstein 'aint jewish...) of being an anti-semite?

I keep seeing people write about the "Israeli lobby". While Zionists have some clout in regards to this, imo it's the elites who truly cause and benefit from all of this. And they seem to be a bunch of WASPS.

Israel is a pathway towards Westernizing the Middle East. If they can make the rest of the Middle East like Israel, they can do business there. It's imperialism.

Also, while I think that some jews hide behind The Holocaust and dredge up the undeniable hell they've been through as a people, I also think that same hell fuels Israel's injustice towards the Palestinians. Imo, it's paranoia, and I believe many jews just see themselves as a people trying to survive in a world that they feel is still hostile towards them. And that survival is something they won't compromise on. So whenever they are attacked, they retaliate twofold. Whenever someone publicly decries their policies, they try to stifle that voice.

Not that I excuse it. I've been called an anti-semite myself here on CD and elsewhere for my views on Israel. I don't even think that Israel has a right to exist. Their homeland should be somewhere in Europe. But I think that people also need to keep in mind what things may drive Zionism and I don't think that it's Empire alone.

If I remember rightly, Democracy Now also interviewed two very well known Jewish historians. They both agreed that Finklestein was accurate and correct in everything her said in his books, but that his style of writing could be deemed inflamatory. Unlike their own books which essentially agreed with him but are dry and academic.

That is the real reason Derhowitz is trying to ruin Finklestein, because people other than scholars actually read Finklestein's books. He does not want the public at large to learn the truth on these issues.
I hope some more fearless University will offer Finklestein a position. We should all write to Harvard and ask them to fire Dershowitz for plagerism and meddling in the affairs of another school.

OW:

"JC: It's more a matter of the right to tell the verifiable truth than just the freedom to speak your mind that is with increasing success being banned on US academia.

And once the rot sets in, it infects the entire body."

How true !

Headed out the door, I threw out a one-liner.

The rot has been growing fetid mold for several decades in both academia and media.

Example: At U.C. Berkeley, once an epicenter of dissent, they began purging progressive instructors and professors without tenure as early as 1968 if they were outside/beyond the acceptable limits of theory/truth. This has been a pervasive process throughout the nation, as a generalization. Hence, the 21st century student tends to be dumber than a box of neocon rocks despite their ability to perform efficiently in an acceptable academic monkey mode of conformity.

Finkelstein has been crucified by his own !

And speaking of truth versus mere speech, let's not forget Hunter Thompson, wrote from a mindset of absolute integrity and altruistic anarchistic passion presenting distilled "truth" while deviating from apparent facts and decorating a very dark world with syntactical works of luminous art and prophecy.

And how strange, in later years his innocent prankster face began to resemble the Dalai Lama with kindness and wisdom.

I wounder if thats the Mexicans intent in crossing the rio Grande as what some refer to as illegals.they are simply taking back the land that they believe belongs to them,that they were in the southwest first.I wounder if they would refer to Dershowitz as a gringo. Its amazing what people do in the name of religion!

Treefrog

Great link. Thank you, it was very informative. Its interesting how people want particular peices of land and claim them for their heritage. Its a shame how America does not live up to the treaties signed with the native American tribes. I have to think that Bush and Cheney in their thinking use this historical lack of respect to justify their own lack of regard for the law.

balakirev: thanks for two great posts; the first gave a view I hadn't looked on before.

obmaj: I don't have any clue as to the power structure of Harvard, but wouldn't it be great if that fine institution could find a position for Mr. Finkelstein? Hey, even a temporary visiting position or something. This act would help to restore some of their own credibility after sitting on the cowardly sidelines. And give him a room next to the ambulance, er- SUV chaser.

To get a good idea of the type of academic trench warfare that goes on (in general) read the first sections of Steven Pinker's "The Blank Slate." (nature vs. nurture)