[haittiweerved]

I first heard about Finkelstein about a dozen years ago in an article by Noam Chomsky critiqueing his scholarly work that debunked From Time Immemorial. He debunked it in his PHD dissertation. I was enthusiastic about Chomsky back then, who gave him high marks for scholarship. But as Chomsky says in this video, He should be aware that he discredits a lot of intellectuals by debunking that book. Finkelstein has suffered the typical fate of a man who values truth and reason more highly than the interests of the money power. I admire his courage. I can also understand a certain spirit of rebelliousness as well. I'm sure he was sensitive to the fact that his family was not an ordinary one with parents who survived a concentration camp.

It's ironic that he has made a career for himself exposing the motives for the holocaust. And not being hateful to the Palestinians. He has a lot in common with Gilad Atzmon--the most visible is his relationship with Alan Dershowitz. It seems that Dershowitz's job is to round up and discredit self hating Jews. Particularly influential ones who write books and are not particularly sympathetic to Zionist behavior. Both Finkelstein and Atzmon have given Dershowitz some major headaches. Finkelstein, like Atzmon deal with jewish identity politics. I presume that seeking any truth in this arena necessarily involves shattering some carefully contrived propaganda campaigns--such as the holocaust, and the war against the Palestinians. If people start to question the truth in these areas, Israel loses legitimacy. These guys are dangerous to Zionism. And most likely vice versa.

Hatha