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Encyclopedia > Norman Finkelstein
For other uses, see Norman Finkelstein (disambiguation).
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein giving a talk at Suffolk University
Born December 8, 1953 (1953-12-08) (age 54)
Nationality American
Education Bachelor's Degree from Binghamton University, Master's Degree in Political Science from Princeton University, Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University
Parents Mother: Maryla Husyt Finkelstein
Father: Zacharias Finkelstein
Website http://www.normanfinkelstein.com

Norman Gary Finkelstein (born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist and author, specialising in Jewish-related issues, especially the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A graduate of SUNY Binghamton, he received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University. He has held faculty positions at Brooklyn College, Rutgers University, Hunter College, New York University, and most recently, DePaul University, where he was an assistant professor from 2001 to 2007. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 509 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (644 × 758 pixel, file size: 124 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Suffolk University is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, situated on Beacon Hill. ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... A bachelors degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years. ... Overlooking center of campus. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political Science is the field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behaviour. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... Israel, with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Israel and Arab Palestinians. ... Overlooking center of campus. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York. ... “Rutgers” redirects here. ... See also: Hunter College High School Hunter College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as simply Hunter College) is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattans Upper East Side. ... New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in New York City. ... DePaul University[1] is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest who valued philanthropy, Saint Vincent de Paul. ... A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ...


Beginning with his doctoral thesis at Princeton, Finkelstein's career has been marked by controversy. A self-described 'forensic scholar,' he has written sharply critical academic reviews of several prominent writers and scholars whom he accuses of misrepresenting the documentary record in order to defend Israel’s policies and practices. His writings, noted for their support of the Palestinian cause[1] have dealt with politically-charged topics such as Zionism, the demographic history of Palestine and his allegations of the existence of a "Holocaust Industry" that exploits the memory of the Holocaust to further Israeli and financial interests. Citing linguist and politicial activist Noam Chomsky as an example, Finkelstein notes that it is "possible to unite exacting scholarly rigor with scathing moral outrage,"[2] and supporters and detractors alike have remarked on the polemical style of Finkelstein's work.[3][4] However, its content has been praised by eminent historians such as Raul Hilberg and Avi Shlaim,[4] as well as Chomsky. Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... A 2003 satellite image of the region. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein, who is jewish, which argues that an industry has exploited the memory of the Holocaust to further Jewish and Israeli interests, and has corrupted the Jewish culture and Jewish heritage of Judaism as... For the journal, see Linguistics (journal). ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ... Dr. Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 - August 4, 2007 in Williston, Vermont) was one of the best-known and most distinguished of Holocaust historians. ... Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad in 1945 and grew up in Israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966. ...


Amidst considerable public debate, Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul in June 2007, and placed on administrative leave for the 2007-2008 academic year. Among the controversial aspects of this decision were attempts by Alan Dershowitz, a notable opponent of Finkelstein's, to derail Finkelstein's tenure bid.[3] On September 5, 2007 Finkelstein announced his resignation after coming to a settlement with the university on generally undisclosed terms.[1][5] Despite having denied Finkelstein tenure, an official statement from DePaul strongly defended the decision to deny Finkelstein tenure, and asserted that outside influence played no role in their decision. The statement also praised Finkelstein "as a prolific scholar and outstanding teacher."[6] Look up tenure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... Shortly after the publication of the book The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz, Norman Finkelstein complained that it was a collection of fraud, falsification, plagiarism and nonsense.[1] Finkelstein charged that Dershowitz had engaged in plagiarism in his use of Joan Peters controversial book From Time Immemorial. ...

Contents

Personal background and education

Finkelstein has written of his parents' experiences during World War II. His mother, Maryla Husyt Finkelstein, daughter of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish father, grew up in Warsaw, Poland, and survived the Warsaw Ghetto and the Majdanek concentration camp, as well as two slave labor camps. Her first husband — a boyfriend whom her father insisted, on religious grounds, she marry before the two entered the ghetto bunker — died in the war. She considered the day of her liberation as the most horrible day of her life, since it first struck her then that she was alone, none of her parents and siblings having managed to survive. His father, Zacharias Finkelstein, was a survivor of both the Warsaw Ghetto and the Auschwitz concentration camp.[7] Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonised in the Talmudic texts (Oral Torah) and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim. ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in Warsaw, former capital of Poland in the General Government during the Holocaust in World War II. Between 1941 and 1943, starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps and... Majdanek Memorial, containing the ashes of cremated victims Majdanek fence in the winter (2005) Majdanek (originally Konzentrationslager Lublin) is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in penal labor. ... Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ...


Finkelstein grew up in New York City. In his forthcoming memoir, Finkelstein recalls his strong youthful identification with the outrage that his mother, witness to the genocidal atrocities of World War II, felt at the carnage wrought by the United States in Vietnam. He had 'internalized (her) indignation', a trait which he admits rendered him 'insufferable' when talking of the Vietnam War, and which imbued him with a 'holier-than-thou' attitude at the time which he now regrets. But Finkelstein regards his absorption of his mother's outlook — the refusal to put aside a sense of moral outrage in order to get on with one's life — as a positive virtue. Subsequently, his reading of Noam Chomsky played a seminal role in tailoring the passion bequeathed to him by his mother to the necessity of maintaining intellectual rigor in the pursuit of the truth.[8] New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ...


He completed his undergraduate studies at Binghamton University in New York in 1974, after which he studied at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He went on to earn his Master's degree in political science from Princeton University in 1980, and later his PhD in political studies, also from Princeton. Finkelstein wrote his doctoral thesis on Zionism, and it was through this work that he first attracted controversy, which hurt his prospects for a university career.[citation needed] Before gaining academic employment, Finkelstein was a part-time social worker with teenage dropouts in New York. He then taught successively at Rutgers University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College and, until recently, taught at DePaul University in Chicago. Overlooking center of campus. ... The École Pratique des Hautes Études is a university in Paris, France. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... “Rutgers” redirects here. ... New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in New York City. ... Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York. ... See also: Hunter College High School Hunter College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as simply Hunter College) is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattans Upper East Side. ... DePaul University[1] is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest who valued philanthropy, Saint Vincent de Paul. ...


Academic career and controversies

From Time Immemorial

Finkelstein made his reputation with his doctoral thesis, which examined the claims made in Joan Peters's best-selling From Time Immemorial. Joan Peters is a former Jewish CBS journalist and author best known for her discredited book From Time Immemorial, published in 1984. ... { Front cover of From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine From Time Immemorial is an 1984 book by Joan Peters arguing that Jews had lived in and around Palestine since the dawn of recorded history. ...


The book

Peters' book, a "history and defense" of Israel, deals with the demographic history of Palestine. Demographic studies had tended to assert that the indigenous Palestinian population, once a 90% majority at the turn of the century, had dwindled towards parity due to massive Zionist immigration. Edward W. Said, for example, claimed that between 1918 and 1947 the "ratio of alien settlers" increased from one to ten to one to two.[9] Peters radically challenged this picture by arguing that a substantial part of the Palestinian people had themselves crowded into the Holy Land as emigrants from Arab countries from the early 19th century onwards. It followed, for Peters and many of her readers, that the picture of a native Palestinian population overwhelmed by Jewish immigration was little more than propaganda, and that in actuality two roughly simultaneous waves of immigration met in what had been a relatively unpopulated land. The Palestinian territories, occupied — according to the United Nations terminology — since the 1967 Six-Day War, include the West Bank and the Gaza strip. ... Edward Wadie Said (إدوارد سعيد) (November 1, 1935 – September 24, 2003) was a well-known literary theorist, critic and outspoken Palestinian activist. ...


From Time Immemorial had been effusively praised in mainstream United States media sources by figures as varied as Barbara Tuchman, Theodore H. White, Elie Wiesel, and Lucy Dawidowicz. Saul Bellow, for one, wrote in a jacket endorsement that: Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (January 30, 1912 – February 6, 1989) was an American historian and author. ... Theodore H. White (May 6, 1915 - May 15, 1986) was an American political writer and journalist whose book about the 1960 U.S. Presidential election became a surprise best-seller and won the Pulitzer Prize. ... Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928)[1] is a Hungarian-French-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. ... Lucy S. Davidowicz (June 16, 1915 – December 5, 1990), was a American historian, and an author of books in modern Jewish history in particular the Holocaust. ... Saul Bellow, born Solomon Bellows, (Lachine, Quebec, Canada, June 10, 1915 – April 5, 2005 in Brookline, Massachusetts) was an acclaimed Canadian-born American writer. ...

"Millions of people the world over, smothered by false history and propaganda, will be grateful for this clear account of the origins of the Palestinians."[10]

Peters is a former journalist with no background in the historical profession. Even her defenders, such as Ronald Sanders and Daniel Pipes, criticize the style and quality of her writing. Pipes, while supporting her underlying thesis, has described her work as suffering from excessive partisanship[11] and a "somewhat hysterical undertone".[12] Daniel Pipes in Copenhagen Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian and analyst who specializes in the Middle East. ...


The thesis

Finkelstein's doctoral thesis examined all of the sources that Peters had harvested and the way she had used her evidence. In it he asserted that the book, elsewhere acclaimed as a breakthrough into a balanced perspective on Jewish-Palestinian demographics, was nothing more than a what he now calls a "monumental hoax".[13] However, according to Finkelstein, whereas Peters' book received widespread interest and approval in the United States, a scholarly demonstration of its fraudulence and unreliability aroused little attention:

"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 newsweekly In These Times, which published a condensed version of this writer's findings; and Alexander Cockburn, who devoted a series of columns in The Nation exposing the hoax....The periodicals in which From Time Immemorial had already been favorably reviewed refused to run any critical correspondence (e.g. The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, Commentary). Periodicals that had yet to review the book rejected a manuscript on the subject as of little or no consequence (e.g. The Village Voice, Dissent, The New York Review of Books). Not a single national newspaper or columnist contacted found newsworthy that a best-selling, effusively praised 'study' of the Middle East conflict was a threadbare hoax."[14] The Journal of Palestine Studies was established in 1971. ... In These Times is a biweekly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago. ... Alexander Claud Cockburn (pronounced , co-burn), born June 6, 1941, is a self-described radical Irish journalist who has lived and worked in the United States since 1973. ... The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is a weekly [1] U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as the flagship of the left. ... For other uses, see New Republic. ... The Atlantic redirects here; for the ocean, see Atlantic Ocean. ... Commentary is an American monthly magazine covering politics, international affairs, Judaism, and social, cultural, and literary issues. ... This article is about a New York newspaper. ... Dissent Magazine is a left-wing magazine that was started in 1954 by Irving Howe and Lewis Coser. ... This article is about the literary magazine. ...

The follow up

Of the 30-odd people Finkelstein sent a draft of his preliminary findings to in the U.S., only one, Noam Chomsky, responded, warning him of the probable consequences of his research:

"I warned him, if you follow this, you're going to get in trouble—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."[15]

It was only after a number of reviewers in the British and Israeli media supported Finkelstein's criticisms that a few U.S. newspapers and journals began to publish more sceptical reviews of Peters' bestseller. After holding it back for over a year, the New York Review of Books finally published Yehoshua Porath’s review[16] and an exchange with critics of the review[12] in which he criticized the assumptions and evidence on which Peters’ thesis relied, thus lending independent support from a demographics expert[citation needed] to Finkelstein's doctoral critique.[17] In the house journal of the American Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs, William B. Quandt, Edward Stettinius professor of Politics at Virginia University and authority on Middle Eastern politics,[18] later described[19] Finkelstein's critique of From Time Immemorial as a "landmark essay" and a "victory to his credit", in its "demonstration" of the "shoddy scholarship" of Peters' book.[20] The New York Review of Books (or NYRB) is a biweekly magazine on literature, culture, and current affairs published in New York which takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity. ... Yehoshua Porath is Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. ... The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an influential and independent, nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (corner Park Avenue) in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Through its membership, meetings, and studies, it has been... This article is about a journal. ... ... Virginia University could refer to one of several universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the southern United States: Virginia University of Lynchburg, a historically black university in Lynchburg. ...


The controversy that surrounded Finkelstein's research caused a delay in his earning his Ph.D. at Princeton University. Noam Chomsky, a friend of Finkelstein, wrote in Understanding Power that Finkelstein "literally could not get the faculty to read [his dissertation]." According to Chomsky, Princeton eventually granted Finkelstein his doctorate only "out of embarrassment [for Princeton]," but refused to give him any further professional backing.[21] In this regard, Finkelstein's tackling of highly sensitive issues suffered a similar fate to the earlier groundbreaking work of Holocaust authority Raul Hilberg, a scholar who would in later decades lend his support to Finkelstein when the latter's publications came under fire for their polemical character. Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ... Dr. Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 - August 4, 2007 in Williston, Vermont) was one of the best-known and most distinguished of Holocaust historians. ...


Finkelstein published portions of his thesis in the following publications:

Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question, is a collection of esseys, co-edited by Edward Said and Christopher Hitchens, and first published by Verso in 1988 ( ISBN 0-86091-887-4). ... Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict is a controversial book by Norman G. Finkelstein. ...

The Holocaust Industry

See main article: The Holocaust Industry

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." This is so the state of Israel, "one of the world's most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, [can] cast itself as a victim state" in order to garner "immunity to criticism."[22] He also alleges what he calls a "double shakedown" by "a repellent gang of plutocrats, hoodlums and hucksters" seeking enormous legal damages and financial settlements from Germany and Switzerland, moneys which – according to Finkelstein – then go to the lawyers and institutional actors involved in procuring them, rather than actual Holocaust survivors.[23] The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein, who is jewish, which argues that an industry has exploited the memory of the Holocaust to further Jewish and Israeli interests, and has corrupted the Jewish culture and Jewish heritage of Judaism as... Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928)[1] is a Hungarian-French-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. ...


The book met with a hostile reception in some quarters, with critics charging that it was poorly researched and/or allowed others to exploit it for antisemitic purposes. For example, according to Israeli journalist Yair Sheleg, German historian Hans Mommsen disparaged the first edition as 'a most trivial book, which appeals to easily aroused anti-Semitic prejudices.' [24] Hans Mommsen (November 5, 1930-) is a left-wing German historian and twin brother of Wolfgang Mommsen. ...


Finkelstein also had his supporters however. Raul Hilberg, widely regarded during his lifetime as a leading expert among Holocaust researchers,[25] said the book expressed views Hilberg himself subscribed to in substance, in that he too found the exploitation of the Holocaust, in the manner Finkelstein describes, 'detestable.' Asked on another occasion if Finkelstein's analysis might play into the hands of neo-Nazis for antisemitic purposes, Hilberg replied: 'Well, even if they do use it in that fashion, I'm afraid that when it comes to the truth, it has to be said openly, without regard to any consequences that would be undesirable, embarrassing.'[26] Dr. Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 - August 4, 2007 in Williston, Vermont) was one of the best-known and most distinguished of Holocaust historians. ...


Criticism of Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel

See main article: Dershowitz-Finkelstein Affair

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".[27] Asserting, during a joint interview by Amy Goodman, that Dershowitz lacked knowledge about specific contents of his own book, Finkelstein also claimed that Dershowitz did not write the book, and may not have even read it.[27] In an interview with a Dutch newspaper Finkelstein said: Shortly after the publication of the book The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz, Norman Finkelstein complained that it was a collection of fraud, falsification, plagiarism and nonsense.[1] Finkelstein charged that Dershowitz had engaged in plagiarism in his use of Joan Peters controversial book From Time Immemorial. ... The Case for Israel is a New York Times bestseller by Alan Dershowitz, [1] a law professor at Harvard University. ... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... For other uses, see Plagiarism (disambiguation). ... Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Amy Goodman b. ...

"In September 2003 I had a TV-debate with him. The notes in his book showed that he had worked on the manuscript until June 2003. However in September he had no idea of what was in the book. He didn't know names of people he cites. ... But it is true that I couldn't prove my thesis, I withdrew it."[28]

In his book, Finkelstein noted twenty 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' errors (see below). From this Finkelstein concluded that Dershowitz had not checked the original sources himself, as he claims.[29] Finkelstein suggests that this copying of quotations amounts to copying ideas.[30] Examining a copy of a proof of Dershowitz's book he managed to obtain, he found evidence that Dershowitz had his secretarial assistant, Holly Beth Billington, check in the Harvard library the sources he had read in Peters' book.[31] Dershowitz answered the charge in a letter to the University of California's Press Director Lynne Withey, arguing that Finkelstein had made up the smoking gun quotation, in that he had changed its wording (from 'cite' to 'copy') in his book.[32] In public debate he has stated that if "somebody borrowed the quote without going to check back on whether Mark Twain had said that, obviously that would be a serious charge"; however, he insisted emphatically that he himself did not do that, that he had indeed checked the original source by Twain.[27] Berkeley Davis Irvine Los Angeles Merced Riverside San Diego Santa Barbara Santa Cruz UC Office of the President in Oakland The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ...


Dershowitz threatened libel action over the charges in Finkelstein's book, and, consequently, Finkelstein deleted the word "plagiarism" from the text before publication.[33] Finkelstein also removed the charge that Dershowitz was not the true author of The Case for Israel because, as the publisher said, "he couldn’t document that."[34]


Asserting that he did consult the original sources, Dershowitz says that Finkelstein is simply accusing him of good scholarly practice: citing references he learned of initially from Peters' book. Dershowitz denies that he used any of Peters' ideas without citation. "Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words and claiming they’re your own. There are no borrowed words from anybody. There are no borrowed ideas from anybody because I fundamentally disagree with the conclusions of Peters’s book."[35] In a footnote in The Case for Israel which cites Peters' book, Dershowitz explicitly denies that he "relies" on Peters for "conclusions or data".[36]


In their joint interview on Democracy Now, however, Finkelstein cited specific passages in Dershowitz's book where a phrase that he says Peters coined was incorrectly attributed to George Orwell:

"[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 occasions, I'll cite them for those who have a copy of the book, on page 57 and on page 153 he uses the phrase, quote, George Orwell's 'turnspeak.' 'Turnspeak' is not Orwell, Mr. Dershowitz, you're the Felix Frankfurter chair at Harvard, you must know that Orwell would never use such a clunky phrase as 'turnspeak'."[37] Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ...

James O. Freedman, the former president of Dartmouth College, the University of Iowa, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has defended Dershowitz: Dartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Incorporated as Trustees of Dartmouth College,[6][7] it is a member of the Ivy League and one of the nine colonial colleges founded before the American Revolution. ... The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or locally UI, is a major coeducational research university located on a 1,900-acre (8 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River in East Central Iowa. ... The House of the Academy, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ...

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, etc.) [Finkelstein’s] complaint is that instead he should have cited them to the secondary source, in which Dershowitz may have come upon them. But as the Chicago Manual of Style emphasizes: 'Importance of attribution. With all reuse of others’ materials, it is important to identify the original as the source. This not only bolsters the claims of fair use, it also helps avoid any accusation of plagiarism.' This is precisely what Dershowitz did.[38] The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is a highly regarded style guide for American English, dealing with questions of style, manuscript preparation, and, to a lesser degree, usage. ... For fair use in trademark law, see Fair use (US trademark law). ...

Responding to an article in The Nation by Alexander Cockburn,[39][40] Dershowitz also cited the Chicago Manual of Style: The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is a weekly [1] U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as the flagship of the left. ...

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 Chicago Manual of Style emphasizes: "With all reuse of others' materials, it is important to identify the original as the source. This...helps avoid any accusation of plagiarism...To cite a source from a secondary source ('quoted in...') is generally to be discouraged...."

...to which Cockburn responded:

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. 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 material before the ellipsis, in a section titled "Citations Taken from Secondary Sources." Here's the full quote, with what Dershowitz left out set in bold: "'Quoted in.' To cite a source from a secondary source ("quoted in") is generally to be discouraged, since authors are expected to have examined the works they cite. If an original source is unavailable, however, both the original and the secondary source must be listed." 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 separate discussions. [41]

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.[33]. Doubts still exist however as to whether Harvard did in fact analyse the specific evidence Finkelstein adduced to suggest Dershowitz had copied quotations directly from Peters, rather than independently checking them in sources she had quoted. The relevant university office has since refused to confirm or deny Dershowitz's claim that he was cleared of the charge by Harvard.[42] Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator. ...


Although the plagiarism allegations by Finkelstein received the most attention and attracted a lot of controversy, Finkelstein has maintained that "the real issue is Israel's human rights record."[30] His book Beyond Chutzpah counters Dershowitz's claim that Israel's human rights record is "generally superb." Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein. ...


Dershowitz has described Finkelstein as a "failed academic", and has claimed that Finkelstein intentionally picked a fight so that he could claim that he was the victim of "outside interference" if DePaul University does not award him tenure.[43] 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."[44] The Harvard Crimson, of Harvard University, is the United States oldest continuously published daily college newspaper. ... DePaul University[1] is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest who valued philanthropy, Saint Vincent de Paul. ...


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 Alan Dershowitz, finding no merit in any single charge.[45] In a follow-up analysis he concluded that he can find 'no way of avoiding the inference that Dershowitz copied the quotation from Twain from Peters' From Time Immemorial, and not from the original source', as Dershowitz claimed[46][47]


Tenure denial and resignation

In June 2007, following a 4-3 vote by DePaul University's Board on Promotion and Tenure (a faculty board), a decision affirmed by the University's President, the University denied Finkelstein tenure. The political science department of the university had praised Finkelstein and recommended tenure by a 9-3 vote (a recommendation endorsed by a 5-0 vote by the College Personnel Committee),[48] but according to university president Dennis Holtschneider, Finkelstein's "unprofessional personal attacks divert the conversation away from consideration of ideas, and polarize and simplify conversations that deserve layered and subtle consideration."[49] The university denied that Alan Dershowitz, who had been criticized for actively campaigning against Finkelstein's tenure, played any part in this decision.[50] At the same time, the university denied tenure to international studies lecturer Mehrene Larudee, a strong supporter of Finkelstein, despite unanimous support from her department, the Personnel Committee and the Dean.[51][52] Finkelstein stated that he would engage in civil disobedience if attempts were made to bar him from teaching his students.[53][54]
Dennis H. Holtschneider is the president of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. ... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... For other uses, see Civil disobedience (disambiguation). ...


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".[55] DePaul’s faculty association considered taking no confidence votes in administrators, including the president, because of the tenure denials.[3] In a statement issued upon Finkelstein's resignation, DePaul called him "a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher."[6] Dershowitz expressed outrage at the compromise and this statement in particular, saying that the university had "traded truth for peace."[1][5]


Praise and criticism of Finkelstein's scholarship

A self-described "forensic scholar," Finkelstein's books each take as their foil one or more works of mainstream scholarship which he purports to expose as deeply flawed and even fraudulent. The authors whose work he has thus targeted, including Daniel Jonah Goldhagen and Alan Dershowitz, along with others such as Benny Morris whose work Finkelstein has also cited approvingly, have in turn accused Finkelstein of grossly misrepresenting their work, and selectively quoting from their books.[56] [57] Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born 1959) is an American political scientist most famous for his book, Hitlers Willing Executioners, which hypothesizes that all ordinary Germans were actively in favour of the holocaust because of the supposedly unique and virulent eliminationist anti-semitism that was a part of the common consciousness... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...


Finkelstein's work has attracted a number of supporters and detractors across the political spectrum. Notable supporters include Noam Chomsky, prominent intellectual and political critic; Raul Hilberg, Holocaust historian; Avi Shlaim, Israeli New Historian; and Mouin Rabbani, Palestinian jurist and analyst. According to 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 triumphed, albeit, it so seems, at great cost."[58] Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ... Dr. Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 - August 4, 2007 in Williston, Vermont) was one of the best-known and most distinguished of Holocaust historians. ... Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad in 1945 and grew up in Israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966. ... The New Historians are a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians who have declared as their goal the reexamination of the history of Israel and Zionism. ...


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."[59] Similarly, Alan Dershowitz, whose book The Case for Israel and Finkelstein's response Beyond Chutzpah sparked an ongoing feud between the two, has claimed Finkelstein's complicity in a conspiracy against pro-Israel scholars: "The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn’t actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud," arguing that Finkelstein has leveled charges against many academics, calling at least 10 "distinguished Jews 'hucksters', 'hoaxters' (sic), 'thieves,' 'extortionists', and worse."[38]


Historian[60] 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: The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. ...

'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 sense of moral and intellectual superiority... Like any conspiracy theory, it contains several grains of truth; and like any such theory, it is both irrational and insidious.' [61]

Since the Bartov review, Finkelstein has published a considerably expanded second edition of the book.


Publications

For other uses, see Norman Finkelstein (disambiguation). ... Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict is a controversial book by Norman G. Finkelstein. ... The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein, who is jewish, which argues that an industry has exploited the memory of the Holocaust to further Jewish and Israeli interests, and has corrupted the Jewish culture and Jewish heritage of Judaism as...

Articles and translations

Samir Amin (b. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949) is a British-American author, journalist and literary critic. ... The Politics of Anti-Semitism (ISBN 1902593774) is a book edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. ... Pluto Press is a progressive, independent publisher based in London. ...

Interviews with Finkelstein

The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein, who is jewish, which argues that an industry has exploited the memory of the Holocaust to further Jewish and Israeli interests, and has corrupted the Jewish culture and Jewish heritage of Judaism as...

Others on Finkelstein and his works

Academic reviews of books by Finkelstein

Reviews of books by Finkelstein

NRC Handelsblad is a Dutch evening newspaper. ... Ilan Pappé (born 1954) is an Israeli historian who teaches at Haifa University. ... Alfred-Maurice de Zayas (born 1947) is an American lawyer, writer, and historian. ... Publishing house in Frankfurt am Main The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) is an influential high-quality national German newspaper, founded in 1949. ... Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ... The American Conservative magazine. ... The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) is a major Swiss daily newspaper based in Zürich. ... Mike Marqusee (born 1953) is an American-born writer, journalist and political activist in London. ... Red Pepper is an independent ‘red, green and radical’ magazine based in the UK. Origins Red Pepper was founded by the Socialist Movement – an independent left-wing grouping that grew out of a series of large conferences held in Chesterfield after the defeat of Britain’s miners’ strike. ... Z Magazine is an independent monthly magazine focusing on political, cultural, social, and economic life in the United States and considered to be very left-wing. ... Neve Gordon is an author and professor of politics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who writes on issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. ... History News Network is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. ... El Mundo can refer to: El Mundo (Spain), Spanish newspaper El Mundo (Puerto Rico), Puerto Rican newspaper El Mundo (Argentine), Argentine newspaper El Mundo (game), four player tables game described in the Alfonso X manuscript This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... Paul Bogdanor is an investor and author who lives in London. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Profiles of Finkelstein

The Times Higher Education Supplement, known as The Times Higher for short, is a newspaper based in London, United Kingdom, that reports specifically on issues related to education. ... is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The May 16, 1948 Palestine Post headline announcing the creation of the state of Israel The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English language broadsheet newspaper, originally founded on December 1, 1932, by American journalist-turned-newspaper-editor Gershon Agron as the The Palestine Post. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Haaretz (הארץ, The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

Critics of Finkelstein and replies

Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ...

Notes

  1. ^ a b c DePaul, embattled professor settle dispute
  2. ^ Finkelstein, Norman. Haunted House.Accessed 7 December 2007
  3. ^ a b Howard, Jennifer. Harvard Law Professor Seeks to Block Tenure for Adversary at DePaul U. Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 53 Issue 32, p. A13, 13 April 2007.
  4. ^ a b Goodman, Amy. “It Takes an Enormous Amount of Courage to Speak the Truth When No One Else is Out There”—World-Renowned Holocaust, Israel Scholars Defend DePaul Professor Norman Finkelstein as He Fights for Tenure. Democracy Now! [Daily television/radio news program]. Interview with Raul Hilberg and Avi Schlaim, 9 May 2007. Accessed 7 December 2007.
  5. ^ a b Embattled US professor who accused Jews of using Holocaust to stifle criticism agrees to resign
  6. ^ a b "Joint statement of Norman Finkelstein and DePaul University on their tenure controversy and its resolution." September 5, 2007
  7. ^ http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=18&ar=1
  8. ^ Norman Finkelstein, http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=18&ar=1|"Haunted House" "It was only many years later after reading Noam Chomsky that I learned it was possible to unite exacting scholarly rigor with scathing moral outrage; that an intelligent argument didn't have to be an intellectualizing one."
  9. ^ Edward W. Said, Christopher Hitchens, eds., Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question, p.242= '‘Demographically, Jewish immigration, imposed without the consent and against the explicit opposition of the indigenous community by a foreign colonial power, increased the ratio of alien settlers from one to ten in 1918 to one in two in 1947’
  10. ^ Edward Said, in Edward W. Said, Christopher Hitchens (eds) Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question p.23 [1]
  11. ^ Daniel Pipes, "From Time Immemorial Th