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edouard_g
Joined: 29 Dec 2006
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Martin
Joined: 10 May 2007
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 Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:33 am Post subject: |
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just came to this thread to post that democracy now! discussion. very, very interesting to see finkelstein (from the historic materialist corner) and tom segev (from sort of an "idealist" standpoint) going at it over the israeli motives in 1967.
that's the beauty of democracy now! -- they don't let some pro-israel hack and a leftist debate, but instead two serious scholars. the Palestinian woman they had on was no match for the two, unfortunately. |
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:54 am Post subject: |
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| luke wrote: | | finklestein lives in america mandy |
I know. I was just highlighting the link with the Israeli lobby's threats in the UK. |
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nekokate
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Israel critic denied post at university
The Independent
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 12 June 2007
A top American university has denied tenure to a prominent academic amid allegations of anti-Semitism and his defence of the Palestinian cause.
Norman Finkelstein, a frequent critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, said he had been "blacklisted" by the university and would now have to leave teaching. He had been offered lifelong tenure by the political science department of the Catholic DePaul University in Chicago, but faced with a bitter campaign against him, the university denied him the post.
Mr Finkelstein, whose family survived the Holocaust, has been public enemy number one of the Israel lobby in the US for a number of years. He has frequently accused American Jews of exploiting the Holocaust for financial gain and is a regular critic of Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. He described DePaul's move as an "egregious violation" of academic freedom.
One of his main critics, Alan Dershowitz, an attorney and Harvard law professor, said: "It was plainly the right decision." |
I know this isn't technically new news, but it gives me the chance to rant about Alan Dershowitz. I saw him on Channel 4 news yesterday, talking about the current suggested debate on a university boycot. He was, as usual, being a complete prick. In the space of about a 2 minute reply he managed to change the subject, call the other guest an anti-Semite, gloss over Israel's scholarship issues by saying it was worse in Cuba and China, and wrap it all up by neatly avoiding the question being asked. Oh, and he also said of the members of the Jewish community who were all for the debate "They're irrelevant, they're a very small minority, they're self hating." |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| nekokate wrote: | | I know this isn't technically new news, but it gives me the chance to rant about Alan Dershowitz. |
neko, neko, neko - you never need an excuse to rant about dershowitz, you are among friends  he's a nasty piece of work, i saw him as well on channel 4 news - it was funny, before he came on i was telling my house mate about the whole finkelstein / dershowitz affair, and then whos nasty evil face pops up - dershowitz! 
he's clever though, the way he changes the argument to anything but what it is - because he knows he can't win the argument, so has to change it.
interesting piece here by chomsky with amy goodman talking about it
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:41 am Post subject: |
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go on the students 
i won't post anymore but you can check http://www.normanfinkelstein.com for all sorts of updates, and the letter denying him tenure |
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Sandino
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Beyond chutzpah is a great book,meticulousy researched and impeccable like all his books. |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, Luke. I'll check that out.
I'm heartened to hear that the students are protesting Finkelstein's denial of tenure. It flies in the face of academic freedom (not to mention departmental autonomy). |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | 
Finkelstein deal ends DePaul tiff
The long-running battle between outspoken professor Norman Finkelstein and DePaul University administrators ended Wednesday as the two sides agreed on a private settlement, cutting short a planned day of protests.
But the underlying struggle between supporters of Israel and champions of the Palestinians continues, not just at the North Side campus but across the academic world.
Finkelstein's case attracted far greater public attention than tenure struggles usually do, with supporters across the nation demanding the Catholic university grant him tenure and detractors just as vehemently insisting he be fired. Wednesday's settlement did little to calm those waters.
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, a strong supporter of Israel, has been engaged in a long and bitter public debate with Finkelstein. Dershowitz expressed outrage at the apparent compromise Wednesday, especially a written statement from the university that declared, "Professor Finkelstein is a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher."
"The university has traded truth for peace," said Dershowitz. "The statement that [Finkelstein] is a scholar is simply false. He's a propagandist."
Finkelstein's cause, meanwhile, has found support among academic powerhouses such as the late Raul Hilberg, the dean of Holocaust historians, and Noam Chomsky, linguist and social critic. Finkelstein is something of a protege of Chomsky, with whom he shares a critical stance toward Israel and American foreign policy.
Chomsky said he had not seen the terms of the settlement, but added in an e-mail: "Of course, the whole affair was an utter outrage, a cowardly attack on academic freedom."
Earlier this year, DePaul Dean Chuck Suchar had rejected tenure for Finkelstein, saying the political scientist, known for his red-hot rhetoric, hadn't been true to the school's "Vincentian values," including respect for the views of others.
But supporters felt Finkelstein was being intellectually martyred for his strong criticisms of Israel.
Opponents, meanwhile, saw Finkelstein, himself Jewish, as peddling a brand of anti-Semitism for which there should be no place on campus.
Finkelstein has rejected charges of anti-Jewish bias in his books, telling an Israeli newspaper: "I am just the messenger who reports on the actions of the Jewish establishment, actions that are encouraging anti-Semitism," he said.
After losing his tenure battle in June, Finkelstein was unexpectedly put on administrative leave shortly before classes started at DePaul on Wednesday.
He vowed in return to commit an act of civil disobedience and stage a hunger strike, which guaranteed a parade of protesters and television trucks on the first day of the new quarter.
Wednesday's demonstration witnessed the way in which the professor's personal and academic struggle has been subsumed into a constellation of larger issues. Though the majority in the pro-Finkelstein ranks were college age, some in the crowd of 120 looked like veterans of many an earlier protest. One carried a placard and a portable oxygen supply.
Members of the International Socialist Organization hawked their newspaper, as did representatives of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Others wore orange headbands, signifying solidarity with prisoners at Abu Ghraib, where U.S. military guards abused Iraqi detainees.
One person Wednesday wore a T-shirt with the words of Albert Spies, an anarchist executed after the 1886 Haymarket Incident in Chicago, who told the court: "Here you tread upon a spark, but there, and there, and behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames will blaze up."
But instead of a dramatic standoff, Finkelstein stood beside a statue of St. Vincent DePaul, for whom the university is named, and announced that he and the school had come to an amicable agreement: He resigned, and the university acknowledged his scholarship and teaching.
Lina Thorne, 28, wearing a T-shirt that said "Impeach the War Criminals," listened with dismay.
"I'm saddened," she said after Finkelstein announced he was leaving without a fight. She said she had attended the gathering because she saw his tenure denial as an important issue of free speech -- the necessary ingredient for the American public to come to grips with serious shortcomings, as she perceives them, of American military and foreign policy.
As Finkelstein spoke, a cry rang out from the audience: "Viva Palestine!"
Recently, both supporters of the Palestinians and those of the Israelis have exchanged cries of "foul" during bitter campus debates. Jewish college students have complained of being harassed, in and out of the classroom. After an incident at the University of Chicago, that school brought in counselors, hoping to restore civility to the dorms.
Scholars of Middle Eastern studies have complained that Jewish organizations were out to censor them. University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and his Harvard University partner Stephen Walt, co-authors of a new book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," had a speaking engagement withdrawn by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
But Finkelstein himself was soft-spoken in what had been billed as his final class session. His remarks were more reminiscent of the famed school-days novel "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" than of soap-box rabble-rousing. He had praise for DePaul University and quoted lyrics of Pete Seeger and Paul Robeson, balladeers of the liberal left.
His voice cracked with emotion when he thanked his students for their support through some dark periods.
"My spirits have been lifted when I walked into a classroom," he said. "You have put a high burden on my shoulders." |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:57 am Post subject: |
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| I'm sure he'll do ok from now on - who needs acceptance from 'normal' society anyway? fuck em. |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| with his reputation on the left enhanced, he could move into a media career ... |
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