-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 14, 2007 7:57:12 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Fwd: The Most Damning of All Sins: Moral Blackmail
Professor Avi Shlaim of Oxford University, a world renowned scholar
and
author of many books had this passionate appeal in a recent interview:
"Israel has no immunity to criticism, moral immunity to criticism,
because of the Holocaust. Israel is a sovereign nation-state, and it
should be judged by the same standards as any other state. And Norman
Finkelstein is a very serious critic and a very well-informed
critic and
hard-hitting critic of Israeli practices in the occupation and
dispossession of the Palestinians."
He said Finkelstein has made "…an important contribution to the
study of
Zionism, to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, in
particular, to the study of American attitudes towards Israel and
towards the Middle East."
To Shlaim it is important to separate "questions of anti-Semitism from
critique of Israel." And presenting himself as an example, he said "I
am critical of Israel as a scholar, and anti-Semitism just doesn't
come
into it. My view is that the blind supporters of Israel -- and there
are many of them in America, in particular -- use the charge of
anti-Semitism to try and silence legitimate criticism of Israeli
practices. I regard this as moral blackmail."
See what's free at AOL.com.
From: "Jim S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: June 14, 2007 5:09:37 PM PDT
Subject: The Finkelstein Principle
http://www.ichblog.eu/text/content/view/1673/1/ *The Finkelstein
Principle*
By Abukar Arman
06/14/07
Just like all other actions, speaking the truth has its reaction
and indeed price.
A few months ago, I was honored to join two Middle East experts --
Professor John Mueller and Professor John Quigley -- in a panel
discussion on Jimmy Carter’s "controversial" book ("Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid").
"ICH" -- As I, a small-time writer, was franticly searching for
material to make me sound halfway intelligent, I came across
numerous articles, essays, and reviews that offered little or no
refutation of the content of the book and instead focused on the
author’s alleged "anti-Semitic" motive.
Leading that ad hominem campaign was none other than Professor Alan
Dershowitz of Harvard. No surprise there, as the long time civil-
libertarian has lately turned into a blatant advocate of legalizing
torture, executing collective punishment, and sustaining the brutal
subjugation of the Palestinian people.
As I continued my search, I was distracted by a profoundly more
caustic campaign of character assassination by Dershowitz and
company aimed at Assistant Professor Norman Finkelstein of DePaul.
I must confess I became more intrigued when I discovered that the
latter, albeit being attacked for "anti-Semitic" and "bigoted"
views, happens to be the son of two holocaust survivors.
Dershowitz has been on this case for several years. And according
to the New York Times, in recent years he lobbied professors,
alumni and the administration of DePaul, a Roman Catholic
university in Chicago, to deny Finkelstein tenure -- a campaign
that many faculty members at DePaul and elsewhere complained as
being "heavy-handed tactics." This to them could not be dismissed
as an isolated episode of the incivility of modern politics.
So what is the impetus of this ferocious animosity?
Apparently Finkelstein simply did the unthinkable -- he dared to
set the truth in motion. And, in a time of universal deceit, as
George Orwell said, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Like Carter, Finkelstein surrendered to his conscience and decided
to swim against the political tides. He criticized the state of
Israel for its brutal treatment of the stateless Palestinians. He
also, in his scholarly researches, exposed how the Zionists
exploited "anti-Semitism" (a real racist phenomenon) to camouflage
the atrocities committed by the state of Israel, and how the
holocaust tragedy was exploited and was made a "lucrative industry."
Any one who read his books or perhaps watched Finkelstein recently
on the Doha Debates -- one of the premiere debate forums moderated
by Tim Sebastian, former host of the BBC HardTalk -- as he lucidly
argued in favor of the motion, "This house believes the pro-Israel
lobby has successfully stifled Western debate about Israel's
actions" would see why Dershowitz and company would go down as low
as defaming Finkelstein's mother.
In that debate, Finkelstein came across as someone who has
reconciled with the fact that he would have to sacrifice a great
deal as he fights this lonely and a fateful battle. He was hardly
uncomfortable referring to himself as the oldest untenured
Assistant Professor.
And though those who campaigned to block his tenure accuse him of
academic deficiency, a great number of his peers express otherwise.
They scream foul and argue that Finkelstein is being politically
persecuted for his intellectual views.
Professor Avi Shlaim of Oxford University, a world renowned scholar
and author of many books had this passionate appeal in a recent
interview: "Israel has no immunity to criticism, moral immunity to
criticism, because of the Holocaust. Israel is a sovereign nation-
state, and it should be judged by the same standards as any other
state. And Norman Finkelstein is a very serious critic and a very
well-informed critic and hard-hitting critic of Israeli practices
in the occupation and dispossession of the Palestinians."
He said Finkelstein has made "…an important contribution to the
study of Zionism, to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and, in particular, to the study of American attitudes towards
Israel and towards the Middle East."
To Shlaim it is important to separate "questions of anti-Semitism
from critique of Israel." And presenting himself as an example, he
said "I am critical of Israel as a scholar, and anti-Semitism just
doesn't come into it. My view is that the blind supporters of
Israel -- and there are many of them in America, in particular --
use the charge of anti-Semitism to try and silence legitimate
criticism of Israeli practices. I regard this as moral blackmail."
Echoing a similar sentiment, a letter of support signed by hundreds
of Finkelstein's peers had this to say: "To challenge the status
quo of Zionist historiography in the U.S., as Finkelstein has done
in his scholarship, most certainly ignites controversy; but his
ability to address the subject with thorough, documented evidence
that encourages readers to see the subject of Palestine and Israel
anew is precisely why scholars around the world value his work”
read a letter of support."
In response to the news of his denial of tenure, he
unapologetically reiterated his principled, indeed inspirational
stand by saying: "They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to
teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe."
In an era when intellectual freedom is routinely suppressed; and,
at a time when people of good character and moral integrity have
become the unprotected endangered specie, here comes Finkelstein
walking self-assuredly like a mammoth of moral rectitude.
~~~
[Abukar Arman is a freelance writer who lives in Ohio. He is a
human rights, anti-war activist, and council member of the Central
Ohio Interfaith Association.]
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