Details coming at Norman Finkelstein.
DePaul University Professor Norman Finkelstein’s fight for academic freedom is far from over, though he was denied tenure this spring for his vociferous objections to Israeli and American militarism, among other published work.
A man dedicated to peace and precision in scholarship, who took on Israeli and American militarism met a Karl-Rovesque slime machine.
Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul this spring after Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz and supporters of Israeli militarism organized a campaign against Finkelstein's tenure appointment, supported in part by Madison’s The Progressive magazine’s editors, Matt Rothschild and Ruth Conniff, who ludicrously called Finkestein a Holocaust minimizer, though both of Finkelstein's parents are concentration camp survivors.
Dershowitz, a long-time supporter of Israeli militarism, maintains a special enmity with Finkelstein, not helped after Finkelstein exposed Dershowitz’ plagiarism.
Finkelstein’s supporters are legion, including Noam Chomsky and the late Raul Hilberg, respected as the dean of Holocaust historians and author of the classic The Destruction of the European Jews.
The Chicagotribune.com reports that Finkelstein and supporting students may “engage in civil disobedience at the start of the fall term Wednesday … “
"I am morally, mentally and emotionally depleted right now. But I will find the resources to fight this next battle. … It is rather regrettable that DePaul is carrying on the spirit of Chicago's Al Capone rather than St. Vincent de Paul," Finkelstein said in an interview with the Trib. "One of my heroes is Paul Robeson, who said, 'I will not retreat one-thousandth part of one inch. And I won't either."
As reported in Chicago Indymedia, DePaul took the unprecedented step of canceling Finkelstein's last year of classes and locking him out of his office. Professors who are denied tenure are traditionally given one more year to teach while they seek other employment.
Hilberg, before he passed away in early August, said in the Logos journal, “Well Finkelstein is now maligned all over the place. There were obviously lobbies who tried to dislodge him from his position.”
And Hilberg had expressed dismay about the ad hominem attacks against Finkelstein as a blow to academic freedom.
First-rate scholar, popular teacher, and prolific author, I doubt a man of Finkelstein’s contributions to humanity will have much problem finding a position befitting his stature, though his case illustrates perfectly how difficult it is for critics of Israeli militarism to survive in the American academy.
Such is the ideology in America, but were he working in Israel or England; Finkelstein would still be a controversial figure, but would also be widely perceived as heroic and righteous, provoking a needed debate of the ethics of American-Israeli militarism.
###
Hilberg, before he passed away in early August, said in the Logos journal, “Well Finkelstein is now maligned all over the place. There were obviously lobbies who tried to dislodge him from his position.”
And Hilberg had expressed dismay about the ad hominem attacks against Finkelstein as a blow to academic freedom.
First-rate scholar, popular teacher, and prolific author, I doubt a man of Finkelstein’s contributions to humanity will have much problem finding a position befitting his stature, though his case illustrates perfectly how difficult it is for critics of Israeli militarism to survive in the American academy.
Such is the ideology in America, but were he working in Israel or England; Finkelstein would still be a controversial figure, but would also be widely perceived as heroic and righteous, provoking a needed debate of the ethics of American-Israeli militarism.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment