People are finally realizing that we've been psychologically blackmailed, for many years, by the likes of Dershowitz, against making any critical statements against Israel for the fear of being labeled Anti-Semitic. This book explains the process of how this came about. So much so that Dershowitz himself pushed for this book to be banned! Harvard University should kick this clown out of their faculty. Does anyone doubt where his allegiance really is? The backlash against Israel in the US has begun.

Norman Finkelstein can be accussed of many things: being a pedant, using strident sarcasm in his writing, having a large ego. One thing, however, that no serious scholar would accuse him of is sloppy scholarship. Finkelstein does not go half way; he goes all the way. The products of his obsessive, "forensic" scholarhsip are highly informative, moarlistic, hard to read books.

Beyond Chutzpah is more of the same. The only difference in this book is that the reader can feel more Chomsky in the acrid, dry humour of Finkelstein. At least the guy is blunt and pulls no punches. The book focuses on two things: part 1 debunks the idea that their is a new antisemitism in the air. According to Finkelstein, this idea serves as a distracting technique to keep serious citizens from questioning Israeli policy. On this score, he is right on. Their is no doubt that this is the case. Part 2 uses the meretricious book, The Case For Israel, by Alan D. as a prop to set straight Israel's human rights record. Along the way Dershowitz is ground into the dust like grain under a milstone. More importantly, after reading this section the reader will hardly be able to believe that Israel's human rights record should serve as a beacon to other nations. If anything, it is a blight on the massive page of the follies, crimes, and misfortunes of mankind.

Beyond Chutzpah ends with technical appendices challenging the veracity of Dershowitz's scholarship. I won't get into this here (see my review of The Case For Israel if you are interested) since it would spoil the most entertaining chapters of Finkelstein's book.

Overall, this book is a meticulously documented, scrupulously honest account of Israel's record and the cynical nature of Israel's "friends." As a reader deeply involved in the issue of Israel/Palestine, I deeply respect the scholarhsip of Finkelstein. Yes, one can regret his pugilistic tone, but, more important than such quirks are his virtues. After this book, you will never take anything Alan Dershowitz says seriously, and this is a good thing.

Another Jewish American tries to catch our attention by making a scandal. I thought puberty ends at the age of 17-18. It is also worth noticing that it is beyond chutzpah that we don't find the authors name if there is no addition - the son/child of the Holocaust survivor. SO, who makes industry of it after all?

The book is a classic and I will not discuss it further. I will add that Finkelstein is a martyr for the truth. His courageous exposure of Zionist and Israeli attempts to manipulate the truth and deny it has cost him dear. He got fired from his academic position courtesy of pressure on his univeristy by the Zionist Lobby and was recently disinvited to appear before the Oxford Union again due to pressure from the Zionist Lobby that fears a truth-teller like Finkelstein and wants to silence him.

As one can see from the enthusiastic celebrations around this book, it is indeed a long waited for delicacy for all those who are uneasy with the idea that the Jewish People are also entitled to their national sovereignty in their ancient-new homeland. These celebrating people do not like to consider themselves anti-Semites (today it is not considered bon-ton), and are deeply offended when somebody dares to suggest that they are, but nevertheless they are convinced that the rebuilding of the Jewish State in our times is an intolerable outrage. They are passionately trying to prove that the Jewish State is illegitimate, or at least its struggle to defend itself from its sworn deadly enemies is.
And now here comes this Jewish Guru who in his new book "scholarly and methodically" analyses and proves how right they are and gives them his stamp of approval, his certificate of Kosherness. They couldn't have asked for more, "the right thing at the right time" and hence this enthusiastic welcome.

Nevertheless, I would like to remind everybody a well known idiosyncrasy of the Jewish people, which may help to bring this whole issue in the right perspective. The Jews have a singular tendency to soul-searching which characterizes them since ancient times (remember the Prophets?). We have a strong tendency to demanding from ourselves uncompromising high standards of conduct which we are not always succeeding to live up to, and this leads to very harsh and very frequently unfair self-criticism. You can find it in articles written by Jewish reporters in Israeli newspapers as well as abroad. You can find it also in books like the subject one. Sometimes this self-criticism becomes unreasonably harsh and unfair, bordering with insanity, and sometimes it is outright insane. Even though the motives are diametrically opposite, this insanity is very similar to another soul pathology called anti-Semitism.

In a way, this insane level of the characteristic Jewish soul-searching and the anti-Semitic pathology are related, and feeding each other. On one side the anti-Semite is more than happy to concur with the Jewish self criticism, especially when it is sufficiently insane. On the other side, the insane Jewish leftist is convinced that as soon as we become angels, the anti-Semites will suddenly realize how nice people we are, and will instantly fall in love with the Jews.

This is in a nutshell my explanation to this biased, tendentious, one-sided and unfair anti-Semitic hate-pamphlet written by a deranged self-hating Jewish intellectual, and the enthusiastic way it is welcome by anti-Semites worldwide, Jewish and non-Jewish.

As one can see from the enthusiastic celebrations around this book, it is indeed a long waited for delicacy for all those who are uneasy with the idea that the Jewish People are also entitled to their national sovereignty in their ancient-new homeland. These celebrating people do not like to consider themselves anti-Semites (today it is not considered bon-ton), and are deeply offended when somebody dares to suggest that they are, but nevertheless they are convinced that the rebuilding of the Jewish State in our times is an intolerable outrage. They are passionately trying to prove that the Jewish State is illegitimate, or at least its struggle to defend itself from its sworn deadly enemies is.
And now here comes this Jewish Guru who in his new book "scholarly and methodically" analyses and proves how right they are and gives them his stamp of approval, his certificate of Kosherness. They couldn't have asked for more, "the right thing at the right time" and hence this enthusiastic welcome.

Nevertheless, I would like to remind everybody a well known idiosyncrasy of the Jewish people, which may help to bring this whole issue in the right perspective. The Jews have a singular tendency to soul-searching which characterizes them since ancient times (remember the Prophets?). We have a strong tendency to demanding from ourselves uncompromising high standards of conduct which we are not always succeeding to live up to, and this leads to very harsh and very frequently unfair self-criticism. You can find it in articles written by Jewish reporters in Israeli newspapers as well as abroad. You can find it also in books like the subject one. Sometimes this self-criticism becomes unreasonably harsh and unfair, bordering with insanity, and sometimes it is outright insane. Even though the motives are diametrically opposite, this insanity is very similar to another soul pathology called anti-Semitism.

In a way, this insane level of the characteristic Jewish soul-searching and the anti-Semitic pathology are related, and feeding each other. On one side the anti-Semite is more than happy to concur with the Jewish self criticism, especially when it is sufficiently insane. On the other side, the insane Jewish leftist is convinced that as soon as we become angels, the anti-Semites will suddenly realize how nice people we are, and will instantly fall in love with the Jews.

This is the way I read Dr, Finkelstein's book in a nutshell.

this is an attempt at honest analysis of this issue.
however,the various author are so angry at each other that often are more
attent at respond to each other and the objectivity suffers.
this does not mean to imply that this particular book is misleading. it tries very hard to be impartial and it almost often succeeds

This is a must read, specially for those who support Israel and Zionism. Norman Finkelstein raises questions that we should all contemplate. Regardless of your political views, you can only gain from this book. Sadly, Prof. Finkelstein has already paid the price for his views.

This reads like a thesis. Almost every paragraph starts with why Chomsky, another professor at a prestigious university, is wrong.

I couldn't stand it.

Falsities, distortions, omissions, insults and biasness are things you'll find in this book. Objectivity, balance and honesty are things you won't find in Beyond Chutzpah, a book on the Israel-Palestine conflict.



For example, in regards to the Palestinian refugee problem, the author states that "The scholarly consensus is that Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948." Yet there is no truth to this statement since various historians have reached various conclusions. The author also attempts to prove that there was no such thing as Arab radio broadcasts urging Palestinians to leave their homes prior to or during the 1948 war, summarizing it as a Zionist lie. However, there is other evidence, which shows that Arab authorities - through means other than radio broadcasts - urged Palestinians to leave their homes, which the author neglects to mention.



Another example of dishonesty is when the author refers to the Palestinian people as "indigenous", when in fact they originated from the Arabian Peninsula and other parts outside of Israel/Palestine. That's like claiming that Spaniards are the indigenous people of Mexico! Equally absurd is the author's fanciful and historically inaccurate comparison of Palestinians to American Indians, whose territories were conquered and colonized by Europeans, and the European conquerors, he compares to Zionists. This comparison is completely nonsensical, considering the fact that Jews have lived in Israel/Palestine for some 2,000 years before Arabs even settled there! In fact, the name "Palestine" was given by the Romans who ruled the region during the second century (five centuries before Arabs begin settling there) in order to wipe off the region's Jewish identity. Thus, the author has it all wrong: The Jews are the indigenous people of Israel/Palestine, not the Arabs. Sure enough, the author mentions the Arab population in Palestine before 1948, but entirely dismisses the Jewish population, as though Jews simply did not exist there, or as he puts it; "two millennia of non-Jewish settlement in Palestine." Now how could one publish such explicit lies and get away with it? These are not facts, but mere fabrications.



History shows us that the Jews have lived in Palestine longer than any other people, for some 3,500 consecutive years. Granted, the Jewish population greatly diminished to the point where Arabs outnumbered them, but at no time during the Zionist movement was Palestine ever an Arab nation. When the Zionist movement began in late 19th century, the Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled the region. After WW1, it was the British. Moreover, during those periods, Jerusalem's population was predominantly Jewish. But the author does not provide the reader with such information. His approach, instead, is to blame everything - literally everything - on Zionists and the State of Israel, even for "Sadam (Hussein) to embark on a nuclear weapons program"!



But these are not the only important facts the author omits. There are many others. Like the fact that in 1922, the British government gave some three quarters of Palestine to the Hashemite Kingdom to create an exclusively Arab state, or the fact that the 1948 war was initiated by six Arab nations. Nope. Instead, the author writes about how in 1948, under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the Arabs were offered "only" half of Palestine, as though they should have been entitled to all of it and makes it sounds like Israel is the one who started the war.



Other examples of biasness, include the author's mentions of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, such as the Deir Yassin massacre in 1948, yet completely ignoring Palestinians atrocities against Jews, like the 1929 massacre in Hebron, or the 1938 massacre in Tiberias, or the killings between 1936-1939, or the 1970 school bus massacre in Avivim, or the 1974 massacre in Maalot, etc, etc. In addition to all of this, you will find insults and ridicule, like when the author ponders rhetorically, "Shouldn't Chesler (author of The New Anti-Semitism...) first have consulted the idiot's guide to the Middle-East?" Very funny. And of course, none of this would be complete without a few anti-Semitic clichés like; "Zionist fabrication," "Zionist propaganda," and "Zionist fairy tale."



Speaking of anti-Semitism, the author persistently asserts that Jews are and have been misusing anti-Semitism as a political tool to gain advantages, and therefore, somehow instigating anti-Semitism themselves. Yet at the same time, the author manages to downplay the reality of the new anti-Semitism. Granted, it is true that Jews have used anti-Semitism as a political tool, there's no question about that. But if you understand the history anti-Semitism and put things in proper context, it only makes sense for Jews to use anti-Semitism as a political tool. Being a tiny minority in every country outside Israel and having suffered so much throughout history, it is, to a certain extant, a tool for self defense; to ensure that they are treated properly without prejudice or hostility so that history does not repeat itself. Just as it is proper for African Americans to use the "race card", as whites call it, as a political tool to ensure equality and fair treatment in society, it's proper for Jews to do the same, as long as they don't go overboard. And sure, some individual Jews and Jewish Organizations have gone overboard, but the author takes this whole idea entirely out of context and blows it completely out of proportion making one feel like they are reading excerpts from The Protocols of The Elders of Zion.



Another issue I have with this book is that the author's attempt to compel the reader into believing that anyone who criticizes Israel is automatically labeled an anti-Semite. That is not true. In fact, if that were the case, then the majority of Israelis would be anti-Semites, according to the author's own logic (or lack of). However, there is a visible difference between criticism and attacks, which the author fails to see. When someone slanders and insults Jewish people, why can't it be called by its real name; anti-Semitism? The author is simply trying to play a game of reverse psychology in hopes to silence Jews from defending themselves.



Other subjects in this book include Israel's human rights abuses, which he greatly emphasizes. But when it comes down to Palestinian human rights abuses, he ignores it. He also ignores Lebanon's, Syria's and Jordan's human rights abuses towards Palestinians, which shows you how biased this book is. The author believes that the first Intifada was "largely non-violent" (sure, perhaps when compared to the second Intifada, where suicide bombing was a weapon of choice) but Israel's response he calls a "brutal repression." Yet the author refuses to mention Palestinians' own brutal repression towards their own people, like when hundreds of Palestinian civilians suspected of "collaborating" with Israel were tortured and executed by Palestinian militants during the first Intifada.



But providing such detail would ruin the author's squeaky-clean image of Palestinians, which brings us to another fine virtue the author exemplifies; Hypocrisy. He accuses Joan Peters' book Time Immortal of being a "colossal hoax" where "sources were mangled, key numbers in demographic study falsified, and large swaths plagiarized from Zionist propaganda." Sounds to me like he learned a lot from Peters' alleged tactics, since Finkelstein himself mangles sources. For example, he quotes from Benny Morris (also a controversial author who calls himself a "new scholar" and who has been accused of twisting facts and even fabricating them) who Finkelstein calls a racist psychopath! Yet Finkelstein has no problems quoting "facts" from a racist psychopath. Ironically enough, this racist psychopath later complained that Finkelstein misused his sources through selective quoting!



The second half of the book deals specifically with Alan Dershowitz (not exactly an acclaimed scholar either) and his book "The Case for Israel." Here, the author's role here is to expose Dershowitz as a complete fraud. I admit that when one looks at the content of his analysis at face value, it looks very impressive. Yet when you read very closely, you will notice that the author uses a very simple method of boldly dismissing everything and anything Dershowitz wrote and replacing it all with his own personally revised "corrections" - through selective sources and quoting, of course. The author's superbly confident, often arrogant, and bully-like tone is sure to convince anyone of anything he writes. His attempt to prove that Dershowitz plagiarized is not all that fantastic either; whenever Dershowitz quotes from Peters, he uses quotation marks or citations, or at least makes some sort of attributions in one way or another.



So there you have it: A spectacular one-sided book on the Israel-Palestine conflict. If you are looking for an all-out attack on the State of Israel to serve for your hungry appetite, Mr. Finkelstein will provide you with the most satisfying meal.

The brave and embattled Prof. Norman Finkelstein shines in his latest book exposing how The Holocaust Industry (his previous book) has been used to rewrite history in a manner favorable to the Israelis.
He also exposes how the banner of "antisemitism" is used to quash meaningful debate on Israeli policy. Critics of Israeli foreign policy are called antisemitic in the same virulent fashion that critics of American policy are labeled "anti-American".

Finkelstein pummels Harvard Professor Alan Dershowvitz's book The Case for Israel by pointing out the numerous factual innacuracies. Finkelstein shows how Dershowvitz has falsified court records from the Israeli Supreme Court in order to deny Israeli abuse of Palestinian prisoners.

In Beyond Chutzpah, Finkelstein dances scholarly circles around Alan Dershowvitz's work, embarassing the Harvard Professor greatly. So it is no surprise that Dershowvitz, realizing that he cannot dispute Finkelstein factually, has resorted to the tactics of a twelve-year old: he has called Finkelstein a dirty name, an "anti-semite".

This is a brilliant book. In a gross miscarriage of justice, DePaul University has denied its author tenure.
As the Chronicle of Higher Education says:
Mr. Finkelstein's case has excited widespread interest, in part because of the involvement of Alan M. Dershowitz, a professor of law at Harvard University. The two scholars have sparred repeatedly in public. Last fall, Mr. Dershowitz sent members of DePaul's law and political-science faculties what he described as "a dossier of Norman Finkelstein's most egregious academic sins, and especially his outright lies, misquotations, and distortions." Earlier Deroswitz had threatened to sue the U.C. press, the academic press that published the book.
UC press is one of the most prestigious university presses. Finkelstein's book was peer reviewed. His Department and Dean recommended he be awarded tenure. So much for free speech and academic freedom.

The only criticisms of this work I have seen are personal attacks against Mr. Finkelstein himself and not the scholarship itself. Is Mr. Finkelstein "anti-Semitic", a "self hating Jew", "crazy" or an "Arab apologist? Well, I don't the know man. He very well could be all these things and more, but is that really a cogent dissection of the themes, scholarship and the over all efficacy of the work? To that question I would answer no.

Finkelstein set out to enumerate the techniques used by Israeli apologists, and to that end I found Beyond Chutzpa to be beyond reproach. He sets out to use Dershowitz and other propagandist's own works to show how they go about disseminating falsehoods, exaggerations and lies to obfuscate the reality on the ground to the detriment of both sides. As for Dershowitz's works, Finkelstein devotes much of the book to systematically tearing down each of his arguments and shining a bright light on the shoddy scholarship used by Dershowitz. By using Dershowitz as an example case, he lays waste to the arguments that Israel is a humane and just nation that deals with all peoples, including the Palestinians, on an equal basis.

Mr. Finkelstein uses two world renowned human rights organizations, (and also Palestinian and Israeli organizations) Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to document the numerous humanitarian violations committed by the Israeli government. He uses copious amounts of documentation from these organizations to rebut claims made by Dershowitz. He also points out Dershowitz's lack of reference to these organizations. This is a glaring omission since many times these organizations are the only groups to have neutral observers on the ground to witness and document what is happening in places like Gaza and the West Bank. How could anyone writing a book about this area not use these organizations as source material?

This conflict is a very divisive issue for anyone who delves even skin deep into this topic. We all come to the table with built in biases and well formed opinions, but we must sift through these "opinions" and figure out what is fact before there will ever be a peaceful conclusion. What we have now is not only killing Palestinians and Israelis, but in a wider context, destabilizing the entire world. Believe it or not many of the terrorists that have attacked the U.S. did not commit these acts because "they hate our freedoms" but rather is directly attributable to their belief that the U.S. is no longer an honest broker in the area, and when a UN vote in regards to Israeli policies comes up and the vote ends up being the entire world voting yea and the U.S., Israel and the Marshal Islands voting nay I believe they may have an argument.

People like Dershowitz do not help anyone when they obscure the reality of the situation. When someone from such a prestigious university says that Israel is wonderful place that has a wonderful record on human rights people here believe him. Then that means that the crazy hate filled Arabs are just racists who have a great life but just want to kill Jews anyway. We here in the U.S. must become the honest brokers that the citizenry believes we are, but to do that we have to have the blinders removed. So once again, if this book is a lie then attack the scholarship and expose it, but do not simply spout that he's a racist and expect me to dismiss this book.

Finklestein takes dead aim at Derchowitz (sp) and demosishes his arguments in support of Israel. Finklestein has got under his skin. His recent articles attack Finklestein with polemics but do not refute the facts he asserts and documents.

Any day now, we will be reading of the "Holocaust defense", some of us with the same incredulity that we felt when confronted with "the Twinkie defense".

Its probably only a matter of time. While this defense has thus far not been offered with respect to the acts of individuals, it has been always IMPLICTLY offered as a defense of any and every Israeli war-crime.

This book demolishes the arch-Israeli-Zionist apologist and propagandist Alan Dershowitz, and more importantly Israeli-Zionist myths, lies, and propaganda purveyed by American-Jewish elites with respect to Israel and its abysmal human rights record with respect to Palestinians and Arabs, most notably in the Occupied Territories. Dershowitz attempted to prevent the publication of the book through numerous and threatening letters from himself and his lawyers: to the UC Press, to UC Press board members, to UC faculty. Dershowitz even resorted to writing the Governator, Mr. Schwarzenegger, who wisely refused to intervene. Despite initial public claims (see the Jerusalem Post for example) that he had released all his letters, Dershowitz was forced to confess later that he had only released SOME of the letters, presumably only those that suited his purposes. The book having been published despite his nefarious, anti-intellectual, anti-free-speech efforts (this from a lawyer who has argued for expansive First Amendment rights for pornographers even), Dershowitz has now turned to a campaign to deny Finkelstein tenure.

Any day now, we will be reading of the "Holocaust defense", some of us with the same incredulity that we felt when confronted with "the Twinkie defense".

Its probably only a matter of time. That we have not seen it thus far is only a reflection of the lack of imagination of our lawyers. While this defense has thus far not been offered with respect to the acts of individuals, it has been always IMPLICTLY offered as a defense of any and every Israeli war-crime.

This book demolishes the arch-Israeli-Zionist apologist and propagandist Alan Dershowitz, and more importantly Israeli-Zionist myths, lies, and propaganda purveyed by American-Jewish elites with respect to Israel and its abysmal human rights record with respect to Palestinians and Arabs, most notably in the Occupied Territories. Dershowitz attempted to prevent the publication of the book through numerous and threatening letters from himself and his lawyers: to the UC Press, to UC Press board members, to UC faculty. Dershowitz even resorted to writing the Governator, Mr. Schwarzenegger, who wisely refused to intervene. Despite initial public claims (see the Jerusalem Post for example) that he had released all his letters, Dershowitz was forced to confess later that he had only released SOME of the letters, presumably only those that suited his purposes. The book having been published despite his nefarious, anti-intellectual, anti-free-speech efforts (this from a lawyer who has argued for expansive First Amendment rights for pornographers even), Dershowitz has now turned to a campaign to deny Finkelstein tenure.

Great scholarly work that sheds light on what is happening in that part of the world.

A Harvard Law professor caught cheating with whole pages of text. Norman's call for an even-handed approach has earned him the title of "self-hating jew". It just goes to show you the hardcore right-winger Israelis and their U.S. stooges just attack the messenger and not the message. A must-read.

Dr. Finkelstein, the son of holocaust survivors and meticulous scholar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict writes yet another systematic refutation of the myths about the conflict. Focusing on Dershowitz's book Case for Israel, he meticulously disects and deconstructs Dershowitz's argument one by one using mainstream human rights organizations, official records , and other primary scholarly sources. His debate with Dershowitz on Democracy Now show that his argument and documentation of the evidence thoroughly refutes Dershowitz (who have the time kept interupting Finkelstein, while Finkelstein was by and large respectful toward Dershowitz's time).

Don't kid yourselves. Finkelstein is an out and out old-fashioned Jew hater. Anyone who claims that there is no anti-Semitism anymore is a liar or a fool. Just check out the Arab press or Arab media--it is rife with anti-Semitism. A large percentage of Arabs polled claim that the Holocaust never occurred, and believe such ancient anti-Semitic nuggets as the blood libel. So, why would Finkelstein try to make this ridiculous claim? The answer is clear to anyone who wants to find it. Secondly, it is one thing to criticize Israel--criticizing a nation's actions makes sense. But why all this attention on Finkelstein? Because his so-called "Jewishness" gives anti-Semites cover, because Finkelstein does more than criticize Israel--he demonizes it all out of balance, especially given the numerous murders, massacres, human-rights abuses, and general sins of all the non-democratic Arab states that surround Israel, states with limited or non-existent religious, gender, and human rights freedoms, and states that the world spends a millionth of the time criticizing. I would buy the criticizisms of Israel as well-meaning and honest if there were commensurate criticisms of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and the myriod of other Arab or Islamic states that have oppressed not only ethnic minorities for years, but, unlike Israel, denied basic rights to their main populations. What Finkelstein does, and why so many of these idiots love him, is give cover for outrageous and racist calls for the end of Israel--calls that are inherently anti-Semitic and more unfortunately still keep the radicals among the fundamentalist Palestinians thinking they can somehow defeat Israel. This crazy anti-Zionist garbage keeps Palestinians deaths going, because it keeps the crazies deluded, encouraged, and mobilized. These anti-Israel books also discourage, weaken, and marginalize those Palestinians who, unlike idiots like Finkelstein, don't buy into Hamas and Hezbollah lies (Finkelstein alligned himself directly with these Jew-killing fanatics--and Hezbollah is not just a pack of Israeli-killing wackos--see what they did to Argentinian Jews and Americans abroad). As long as the world buys into these lies, and falsely reads Israel as a Colonialist power, instead of reading the conflict in the region as one between two peoples, Jews and Palestinians, with legitimate rights to the land who must compromise and give up some of their rights to gain peace (which Israel has committed to doing, and has done, but which Hamas is NOT committed or dedicated to doing, being more concerned with killing Jews than with establishing a Palestinian state and helping Palestinians live a decent life), then sadly, the tragic deaths will continue. Certainly, dishonest diatribes like this one from faux-academics who have been fired from various universities will do no good and will help not one Palestinian to live a better life. When the mass of Palestinians throw Hamas out of power, accepting Israel's right to exist, coming to the bargaining table in good faith, and giving up their use of terrorism against civilian targets, then there will be a Palestinian state.

Finkelstein sets up a strawman, and then argues against his own strawman. He contends that critics of Israel are automatically labeled anti-semitic. But there is endless criticism of the policies of Israel, just as there is for any democracy, and much of it is not even remotely anti-semitic.

Criticisms of Israel are anti-semitic when they are dishonest, or exploit sterotypes, or invoke gross exaggerations, or when they apply standards to Israel that are not applied to other nations in the Middle East. For example, human rights of Arabs in Israel are vastly better than in any Arab country, yet you would never know that from much of the leftist language. And what they call a "wall" is 96% a fence; calling it a wall is an outright lie designed to generate hatred of Jews. Etc.

Yes, leftist criticisms of Israel are replete with such artifacts of anti-semitism. But this is NOT because ANY criticism of Israel is anti-semitic. It's because many leftist criticisms of Israel simply ARE anti-semitic.

If anyone wants to know why we are mired in the middle east THIS IS THE ANSWER. Really skewers the Zionist propoganda, as no one else dares to, by one of their own.

Professor Norman Finkelstein is a Class A academic researcher. This book essentially exposes many parts of the Jewish/Israel lobby. Jews need to wake up to the fact that Israel is an illegal country... a land grab in 1948 (at the expense of Arabs living there for centuries). Israel continues it's illegal occupation of the West Bank, and sad to say, at the long term expense of worldwide Jewry; Zionist actions since '48 have done immeasurable damage to the repuation of Jews worldwide. Congratulations to Dr. Norman Finkelstein for his outstanding book.

A very solid, important and highly informative book. Norman Finkelstein provides extensive details and analysis, with considerable historical depth and expert research, of a very wide range of issues concerning Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S.



Author of
The Truth aboutt
Cafffeine

In this book, Finkelstein extends his seminal work on the Holocaust Industry to encompass (what he considers to be) the uncritical support for Israel regardless of (what he contends to be) her repeated criminal acts against the Palestinians. For example, he discusses the decades-old massacre of Arab civilians by Israelis at Deir Yassin as well as larger, lesser-known Israeli massacres of Arab civilians in the early days of the State of Israel (Lydda, 250 victims; Ad Dawayima, "hundreds"; p. 263). Unlike most other reviews, however, this one focuses on Finkelstein's latest views on the Holocaust Industry.

Is anti-Semitism in the eye of the beholder? Finkelstein recurrently states that charges of anti-Semitism have been frequently leveled in order to silence valid criticisms of Jews in general and Israeli policies in particular. These charges revolve around the unspoken premise that Jews can do no wrong (e. g., "Holocaust Industry dogma a priori rejects this hypothesis: animus towards Jews can never spring from wrongs committed by Jews." (p. 78)). Furthermore: "It is even doubtful that agreeing with the statement `Jews have too much influence in the world' proves, as the report claims, anti-Semitism...--anymore than agreeing with the statement `White people have too much influence in the world' or `Males have too much influence in the world' proves, respectively, a racist or sexist cast of mind." (p. 75). Finkelstein rejects Abraham Foxman's contention (that the supposedly Jewish-controlled movie industry, inexplicably, seldom acts on behalf of Jews) with the following retort: "Is that why Hollywood has produced a mere 175 films on the Nazi holocaust since 1989?" (p. 83).

Finkelstein re-affirms his repudiation of the notion that the Holocaust was "singular, universal, and unique", comparing it with "the uniqueness and universality of Marxism-Leninism" (p. 49), and dismissing it as follows: "Beyond its repellent chauvinism, this intellectually hollow doctrine of uniqueness serves the useful ideological function of allowing Israel to claim unique moral dispensation: if Jewish suffering was unique, then Israel shouldn't be bound by normal moral standards." (p. 62). Furthermore, he writes: "[There is]...an ADL [Anti-Defamation League] poll of the European Union showing that nearly half of the respondents agreed with the statement `The Jews still talk too much about the Holocaust.' Indeed, the wonder is that the percentage of Europeans resenting chauvinistic incantation and political instrumentalization of The Holocaust isn't much greater." (p. 74).

Finkelstein asserts that his claims of a Holocaust Industry have never been refuted, at least in writing (p. 67), and he cites Raul Hilberg's supportive statements towards the same. Finkelstein then repeats his scathing denunciations of the Holocaust Industry itself: "Under the guise of seeking `Holocaust reparations,' American Jewish organizations and individuals at all levels of government and in all sectors of American society entered into a conspiracy--this is the correct word--to blackmail Europe. It was on account of `Jewish money' that the Clinton administration went along with this shakedown operation, providing--even to the detriment of U. S. national interests--crucial support for it at every juncture." (pp. 82-83). "And just as the Clinton administration promoted the Holocaust reparations scam to get Jewish money and Jewish votes, so the Bush administration undoubtedly supported the new anti-Semitism scam with the same calculations in mind." (p. 61).

Throughout his book, Finkelstein has strong words against certain individuals. He repeatedly accuses Alan Dershowitz of making false statements on behalf of Israel, and refers to Elie Wiesel as part of the "anti-Semitism circus at the UN (p. 62)". He accuses the ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) of slandering him by calling him "a known Holocaust denier". (p. 73). He charges Abraham Foxman of the ADL of attempting to censor his book for criticizing Daniel Goldhagen (p. 55), whom Finkelstein elsewhere called a "Holocaust Industry guru" (p. 79). Finally, Finkelstein believes that certain prominent Jews have actually behaved in accordance with the worst anti-Semitic caricatures of Jews: "Yet if Jews act out a Jewish stereotype, it plainly doesn't follow that they can't be committing the stereotypical act. Can't they commit a vile act even if it conforms to a Jewish stereotype?...Should people like Abraham Foxman, Edgar Bronfman, and Rabbi Israel Singer get a free ride because they resemble stereotypes straight out of Der Sturmer?" (p. 83).

Recently, Jan Thomas Gross has gotten a great deal of media adulation for his FEAR, in which he alleges that postwar Poles were anxious to rid themselves of all remaining Jews out of guilt over the acquisitions of post-Jewish properties. Finkelstein demonstrates how very shoddy books (which Finkelstein compares to the latest publications of the Flat Earth Society) can even become national best sellers as a result of favorable media coverage (p. 17). Although he does not mention Gross, Finkelstein does expose the absurdity of the bizarre arguments that Jan Thomas Gross has recently resurrected and placed into a Polonophobic context: "Not only Germans but all Europeans, according to Rosenbaum, were Hitler's Willing Executioners...Imposing on Jews a state apart, Europeans conspired to `get the surviving Jews--reminders of European shame--off the continent, and leave the European peoples in possession of the property stolen from the Jews during the war.'...Before Rosenbaum came along, who would have guessed that the main impetus behind Israel's creation wasn't Jews longing for a homeland but Europeans longing to expel them--and to keep their stolen property, no less?" (p. 43).

This book is a must read for every person interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It breaks through the artificial complexity and explains the core problems (occupation, expansion and human rights abuses) in a simple and direct manner. The book is a powerful blow to the "pro-Israel" forces that approve of Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. It demonstrates pretty well the consensus among human rights organizations about Israel's widespread abuse, torture and war crimes. It also exposes the fabricated smoke screen stirred in the US to divert attention away from Israel's atrocities.

In a more professional academic environment than the current one, this book should end Alan Dershowitz's career, as it systematically exposes Dershowitz for the deceptive, hypocritical, incompetent fraud he is.

Besides being informative and saturated with evidence, Beyond Chutzpah is also light and enjoyable to read. It turns out Norman Finkelstein has a sense of humor. Read it!

Finkelstein's book is nothing more than a character attack on Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel." And it is only that. Furthermore it is poorly written, to say the least it is barely legible, sentences are endless, quotes are everywhere, syntax is pretentious, it seems that the author wants to prove how cultivated and smart he is. But the try is vain, boring and not conclusive. As for the goal of dicrediting Dershowitz's book it is globally attained but the whole reading is so painful that in the end a small lingering doubt subsists. I do not recommand this book.

This book, I'm afraid, isn't worth the paper it's printed on - what a waste of good natural resources! Finkelstein (and his mentor, Chomsky) are third-rate intellectuals, at best. As evidence, one needs only note that Finkelstein (& Chomsky's non-linguistic) historical analysis is routinely ignored by the leading history journals that would otherwise be interested in the topics he & Finkelstein discusses, but instead they are rightly viewed as simply rabid anti-American pseduo-intellectuals trying to pass agitprop off as serious work: Finkelstein's book is nothing more than a character attack on Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel."

It is any wonder that serious scholars ignore both Chomsky and Finkelstein's work? Their invisibility in the academic world has nothing to do with their politics or their views. It has everything to do with the fact that their books are obviously propaganda, at times laughable, and not worth the time or attention of a serious reviewer.

If it weren't for the ridiculous outrageous claims by both Chomsky & Finkelstein, everyone would simply ignore them, making them as irrelevant in the real world as they are in the academic world.

There are plenty of good critiques of Israel - this book isn't one of them.

Finkelstein has a lot of agnst, a huge agenda, and a book full of insipid ideas and lies.

Don't waste your time on this.

This book is brilliantly written and should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand what is going in this country and the world, how it developed, and what to do about it. In my opinion, Norman Finkelstein is the most important analyst and author writing today. His writing is always deeply insightful, ironically humorous, and most enjoyable to read.

while i enjoyed the book and agree with alot of what was said, i am sad that the way someone would respond to this book is with an attack on the author. so he doesn't teach at harvard. he teaches at depaul university which is not a community college, it is the largest catholic university in the us( no i am not catholic nor did i go there),and well respected. if you cant rebut what he wrote then dont say anything.

There's a possible reason, "Marky Mark", for why these two teach at their respective colleges. It's all about the bias of the American elite towards everything zionist. And the power of the AIPAC lobby. Check it out. But maybe Mr. Finkelstein likes teaching at a small community college. I probably would. Anyway, he's a great scholar, speaker and writer. And a man for all people.

This is, without a doubt, the greatest book I have ever read in my life. If you are into the Arab/Israeli struggle or the problems in the US, as far as criticizing Israel, you will definitely enjoy it.

People will like this book if they want shallow reasons to think that israel's bad and arab refugees are good.

But theres a reason that Finkel teaches at a 3rd tier school and Dersh is at Harvard.

Harvard > Depaul

People who like this book are the same people who think America is the greatest threat to world peace and that Iran should have nukes. Lets destroy these nasty liberals and hunt down some evil doers.

People will like this book if they want shallow reasons to think that israels bad and arab refugees are good.

But theres a reason that Finkel teaches at some community college in Chicago and Dersh is at Harvard.

Harvard > Depaul

Go to Israel to protest and get owned by a bulldozer noobs

Finally, here is a brave, honest and true to the letter book for serious readers who want to really solve the problem in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. I also advise readers to read or listen to the debate between Dr. Finkelstein and Shlomo Bin Ami who was an Israeli minster of defence during the Camp David negotiations between Barak and Arafat in 2000. Dr. Finkelstein's accurate analysis and writings about the Holocaust Industry are unmatchable in this world.

After reading this book you will have a solid footing regarding the so called "complex" and "controversial" topic known as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Which is that the conflict is simple and not controversial at all and has a simple solution.

1) The state of Israel has defined borders and they were made in 1948. The 1948 borders did not include Gaza, the West Bank nor Jerusalem. The occupied territories including Jerusalem were captured by Israel during the 1967 war and are occupied illegally in violation of international law. Israel has no rights to those territories!

2) Due to the 1948 war some 750,000 innocent Palestinan civilians were made refugees and Israel has not allowed them to return to their homes in clear violation of international law.

3) All settlements that Israel has built on occupied territories are illegal according to international law and must be vacated and returned. Acquisition of land by war is inadmissable and illegal according to international law.

4) All Israel has to do is to simply return the occupied territories it captured in 1967, allow the right of return of refugees in principal in exchange for a final peace accord with the Palestinians.

5) The occupied territories are not in "dispute" and since negotiations with the Palestinians were initiated Israel has never offered to return to pre 1967 borders in exchange for peace.

6) The holocaust that claimed the lives of nearly 5.5 million European Jews during WWII was perpetrated by Germany and it's allies. However using the holocaust to justify depriving other people of their homeland and denying them their rights as humans to exist in peace is a disgrace to the memory of those millions of innocent Jews who were murdered.

Unfortunately even the discussion of reality on the ground is prevented by all sorts of dishonest means such as tarring people who attempt to bring up these facts as "anti-semites", "holocaust deniers", "enemies of Israel", and "supporters of terrorists". Dershowitz and the like resort to just plain lying about historical facts- such as the non- existance of Palestinans prior to 1948 (ala Joan Peters), or claiming that Israel is the powerless innocent victim who's very existence is at risk, and that Israel has a admirable human rights record. When one is called on to defend the undefendable and unable to prevent discourse then obfuscate, distort, just lie and when that doesn't work tar and feather the other side.

By keeping on point and not being allowed to be side tracked by nonsense arguments it is clear that the facts win out and the other side must resort to desperate means in order to stop the debate. What most people don't realize is that the Pro- Israel think tanks, Holocaust industry, and American Jewish lobby groups have created a multi-billion dollar empire from which they profit from. So they have a vested interest in keeping this "conflict" going indefinitely for their own benefit and do not have Israel's best interest in mind. Prior to 1967 such organizations and industries did not exist and you can bet that once this "issue" stops paying dividends so will these groups and their interest in Israel.

After reading this book you will have a solid footing regarding the so called "complex" and "controversial" topic known as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Which is that the conflict is simple and not controversial at all and has a simple solution.

1) The state of Israel has defined borders and they were made in 1948. The 1948 borders did not include Gaza, the West Bank nor Jerusalem. The occupied territories including Jerusalem were captured by Israel during the 1967 war and are occupied illegally in violation of international law. Israel has no rights to those territories!

2) Due to the 1948 war some 750,000 innocent Palestinan civilians were made refugees and Israel has not allowed them to return to their homes in clear violation of international law.

3) All settlements that Israel has built on occupied territories are illegal according to international law and must be vacated and returned.

4) All Israel has to do is to simply return the occupied territories it captured in 1967, allow the right of return of refugees in principal in exchange for a final peace accord with the Palestinians.

5) The occupied territories are not in "dispute" and since negotiations with the Palestinians were initiated Israel has never offered to return to pre 1967 borders in exchange for peace.

6) The holocaust that claimed the lives of nearly 5.5 million European Jews during WWII was perpetrated by Germany and it's allies. However using the holocaust to justify depriving other people of their homeland and denying them their rights as humans to exist in peace is a disgrace to the memory of those millions of innocent Jews who were murdered.

Unfortunately even the discussion of reality on the ground is prevented by all sorts of dishonest means such as tarring people who attempt to bring up these facts as "anti-semites", "holocaust deniers", "enemies of Israel", and "supporters of terrorists". Dershowitz and the like resort to just plain lying about historical facts- such as the non- existance of Palestinans prior to 1948 (ala Joan Peters), or claiming that Israel is the powerless innocent victim who's very existence is at risk, and that Israel has a admirable human rights record. When one is called on to defend the undefendable and unable to prevent discourse then obfuscate, distort, just lie and when that doesn't work tar and feather the other side.

By keeping on point and not being allowed to be side tracked by nonsense arguments it is clear that the facts win out and the other side must resort to desperate means in order to stop the debate. What most people don't realize is that the Pro- Israel think tanks, Holocaust industry, and American Jewish lobby groups have created a multi-billion dollar empire from which they profit from. So they have a vested interest in keeping this "conflict" going indefinitely for their own benefit and do not have Israel's best interest in mind. Prior to 1967 such organizations and industries did not exist and you can bet that once this "issue" stops paying dividends so will these groups and their interest in Israel.

After reading this book you will have a solid footing regarding the so called "complex" and "controvertial" topic known as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Which is that the conflict is simple and not controversial at all and has a simple solution.

1) The state of Israel has defined borders and they were made in 1948. The 1948 borders did not include Gaza, the West Bank nor Jerusalem. The occupied territories including Jerusalem were captured by Israel during the 1967 war and are occupied illegally in violation of international law. Israel has no rights to those territories!

2) Due to the 1948 war some 750,000 innocent Palestinans were made refugees and Israel has not allowed them to return to their homes in clear violation of international law.

3) All settlements that Israel has built on occupied territories are illegal according to international law and must be vacated and returned.

4) All Israel has to do is to simply return the occupied territories it captured in 1967, allow the right of return of refugees in principal in exchange for a final peace accord with the Palestinians.

5) The occupied territories are not in "dispute" and since negotiations with the Palestinians were initiated Israel has never offered to return to pre 1967 borders in exchange for peace.

6) The holocaust that claimed the lives of nealry 5.5 million European Jews during WWII was perpetrated by [...] Germany and it's allies. However using the holocaust to justify depriving other people of their homeland and denying them their rights as humans to exist in peace is a disgrace to the memory of those millions of innocent Jews who were murdered.

Unfortunately even the discussion of reality on the ground is prevented by all sorts of dishonest means such as tarring people who attempt to bring up these facts as "anti-semites", "holocaust deniers", "enemies of Israel", and "supporters of terrorists". Dershowitz and the like resort to just plain lying about historical facts- such as the non- existance of Palestinans prior to 1948 (ala Joan Peters), or claiming that Israel is the powerless innocent victim who's very existence is at risk, and that Israel has a admirable human rights record. When one is called on to defend the undefendable and unable to prevent discourse then obfuscate, distort, just lie and when that doesn't work tar and feather the other side.

By keeping on point and not being allowed to be side tracked by nonsense arguments it is clear that the facts win out and the other side must resort to desperate means in order to stop the debate. What most people don't realize is that the Pro- Israel, Holocaust industry, and American Jewish lobby groups have created a multi-billion dollar empire from which they profit from. So they have a vested interest in keeping this "conflict" going indefinitely for their own benefit and do not have Israel's best interest in mind. Prior to 1967 such organizations and industries did not exist and you can bet that once this "issue" stops paying dividends so will these groups and their interest in Israel.

Let's assume the following groups: 1. Those who hate Jews: commonly known as anti-Semites. People in this group can safely be assumed to also hate Israel and Zionism. 2. People who are impartial to (or are friends with or are themselves) Jews, but are critical of policies and actions of Israel, especially as regards the treatment of Palestinian Arabs over the years. Let's also assume that some in this group make it their life's work to research and expose such actions to the relative exclusion of all other issues. 3. A presumed majority of Jews, who admit a certain bias towards Israel, but think of themselves as reasonably fair minded and open to argument (I consider myself in this group). 4. Hypothetical members of a Jewish "lobby", who in the interests of defending Israel at all costs (and possibly self-enrichment) will resort to a number of tactics, including expropriating the memory of the Holocaust for their own selfish ends, and especially playing an anti-Semitism card to deflect otherwise legitimate criticism of Israel that may emanate from those in group 2. All these groups have many members, but it's impossible to say how many or even the relative ratios.

Finkesltein would have us believe that he is in the second group. But since people in group 1 would like to present themselves as belonging to group 2 wherever possible, this is hard to take at face value. Finkelstein presents himself as a "scholar" and denigrates anyone with any sympathy towards Israel (or anyone searching for some balance) as obviously belonging to group 4. This lopsided and transparent approach makes one wonder exactly what makes this guy tick. His animosity towards Jews is obvious (even more so in person - you can download his lectures at emusic.com as well as other places). His sneering put-downs of Jewish figures across the board, from Elie Wiesel to Cynthia Ozick to Daniel Pearl (yes, Daniel Pearl), are frankly quite hard to stomach. But this is a man who knows the audience he has so painstakingly built. Amazingly, the smug tone of this book exceeds that of his previous efforts (but not the sanctimony of his website). Surely, nobody can take seriously his assertion that charges of anti-Semitism are orchestrated whenever Israel is under media fire? It could be just as easily argued that group 1 waits for just such an occasion to launch an anti-Semitic salvo, as so shamefully ocurred in Durban in 2001 (I presume "Death to the Jews" placards are what Finkelstein considers "spillover").

In short, it is clear which group Finkesltein belongs to. Which is fine. But the misrepresentation of his position as being impartial and scholarly in the midst of such vitriol is objectionable, dangerous and, well, just plain nuts. Apart from being a curious creature with extremely shaky academic credentials and a (clearly unhealthy) obsession with Alan Dershowitz, it's hard to see the value. Yes, an informed and balanced work of scholarship which examines modern anti-Semitism and its misuses is required, but this sure as heck isn't it.

It is always useful to balance arguments on any subject by hearing the 'other side' and considering all aspects. John Pilger, Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein (here with his 'Beyond Chutzpah') represent the other side of the pro-Israel coin and always make for interesting reading.

While I value Professor Finkelstein's work on where it sits on the sometimes far political spectrum, many of his arguments and/or evidence for his assumptions/points of view are often based on fallacies of composition.
Quoting others selectively or indeed representing facts that are only part of the story and applying it to the whole is only ever considered partial truth and therefore not exactly great scholarly work. Norm Finkelstein trades in partials and applies it the whole quite often not just in this book but his previous works also. One example amongst many in 'Beyond Chutzpah' is his discussion of extra-judicial killings and assassination. Finkelstein goes to great lengths (starting at about page 132)in his attempts to debunk Alan Dershowitz's 'The Case for Israel' by telling how Israel seems to be the only one assassinating in the current conflict backed up by various human rights groups reports. He minimizes and often leaves out the reports by the same human rights groups discussing at length the innocent Israeli civilian targeted en mass by Palestinian gunmen/suicide bombers. He conveniently forgets about Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi being targeted and assassinated by Palestinian assassins. He conveniently forgets the numerous stories of masked Palestinian gunmen shooting dead their own people in the streets of Palestinian cities for alleged collaboration with Israelis without any sort of judicial sanction. He conveniently leaves out reports of human rights groups which paint a far worse picture of neighbouring countries in the region and world. He forgets to mention that 'B'Tselem strongly opposes the attempts to justify attacks against Israeli civilians by Palestinians using distorted interpretations of international law.'

Israel is certainly no paragon of virtue but by singling out Israel, isolating it in a non-existent vacuum, Finkelstein re-perpetuates and amplifies the greatest fallacy in composition of all - that is Israel alone contravenes or contravenes far worse than most others. Whether explicitly or implicitly so stated by the author, the not so widely read reader on the subject will easily assume such. No, one should not take Professor Finkesteins views or evidences in his works as ultimate truths, but yes, as partial and therefore complimentary cogs in a greater investigatory wheel.

Norm: Your book is outstanding.

Straight-forward, unimpassioned, meticulously documented, this book is the best antidote yet to the warped view of modern Palestinian history that has been advanced by the Zionist movement.
What is important to stress is that to expose the lies of Zionism is not anti-Israel. Quite the contrary. Even if one judges that the formation of the modern state of Israel was wrong (or at least flawed in execution), he/she can still accept that it has been there long enough now to be "legitimate". But indeed it is the very ongoing injustices committed by the Israeli government that is, in the long term, the greatest threat to Israel's future - and its soul. It is the Dershowitzs of the world who will destroy Israel, and the Finkelsteins who will save it. Successive governments of Israel have exploited the horrors of the Holocaust by capitalizing on it to further their own political goals at the expense of a new victim, the Palestinians.
Finkelstein's previous book, "The Holocaust Industry", is also an important work.

Norman G. Finkelstein is a truly great author a man of courage and ethical integrity. All his books are a must read for anyone interested in issues of Israel and Palestine.

A truly great tragedy is the Israeli Palestinian conflict and disentangling the confusing in a manner that makes sense. What happens when the "Other" becomes dehumanized and a threat to one self image simply because they exist? The result is human rights abuses that are clearly documented by many human rights groups, and yet still denied by those individuals who want so desperately to defend Israel as the only way to come to terms with centuries of the brutality of Anti-Semitism.

The unholy marriage between Zionists and the Christian Right brings together the Jewish Settler and the Anti-Semite. What bring together the persecutor of Jews and those Jews who support a Jewish Homeland are their hatred of the Arabs, the vilification of Islam, and the de-humanization of Palestinians. These pro-Israel Christians are not friends of the Jewish Homeland, it is hoped this is the final sign before the Jews in mass accept Jesus and stop being Jews and become Christians.
Bonds between those Jews supporting the Pro-Israel Lobby and the Political Left have been severed. Natural Allies have become Strangers. The Tradition of Jewish Humanism is being neglected in the Popular Press. Israel's despotic and draconian human rights record is swept under the rug. Anyone critical of Israel runs the risk of being labeled Anti-Semite. The cruelty of the Settler towards the Indigenous Community, though a historical constant from the first Jewish settlements to the present is denied by the defenders of Israel. In this Justification Biblical Myths takes the place of serious historical research. The totalitarian worldview stigmatizes compassion for the victims of Pioneer Communities.
The exclusion of the Palestinians from the Human Race was the ideology that removed from open discussion that in fact Israel was morally on the same level as the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, or New Zeeland. Where settlers prosper the original peoples suffer. The grievous wrongs done to the Palestinians are never given the exposure it demands in the news, in our schools and in our churches.
Religion plays a prominent role in most Settler States, even among the Secular People. Both Israel and South Africa were called Zion by the settlers, giving the settlers not original inhabitants the right to the land, as decreed by God. In the US Manifest Destiny made the conquest of the land an order from God. Religion plays a central role in the exclusion of people from their homes. When the land is the chosen land for God's chosen people, those not chosen by God do not belong there. When the Pioneer is chosen and the indigenous people are not. The collective punishment and automatic destruction of Palestinian villages and American Indian communities to create room for Pioneer Settlements is a shared cultural heritage.
Those on the Left who believe in a mutual reconciliation between the settlers and the indigenous people are truly the best friend of both the Jew and the Palestinian. By separating Judaism from Israel one can offer the single most important weapon against both kinds of Anti-Semitism being anti Jewish and anti Arab. The apologists for Israel are no friend to either Jews or Arabs. To Justify ethnic cleansing in order to create a Jewish Homeland is no different than any other ethnic cleansing.
What is central to the issue of Zionism is it was born out centuries of institutionalized violence, mass murder and oppression and domination directed against the Jews throughout history carried out by the highest and the lowest levels of government in every European nation, and sanctioned by the Church. Zionism is nothing less than survival, or so it seemed. The next issue to deal with is that abused children become abusive parents unless make the concerted effort to break the cycle of abuse. What happens when refugees who survived the Holocaust found a nation? There are people already there.
Israel's abusive treatment of the Palestinian is a matter of public record. All human rights organization place Israel among some of the worst violators of human rights and international law. Israel openly justifies its crimes, by the claim of fighting terrorism. As it stands now in just the last five years for every Israeli killed five Palestinian has been killed. B"Tselem an Israeli human right watch dog claims while civilians on both sides have been killed. That fact remains the majority of victims of Palestinian terror is the Israeli Defense Force, and vast majority of Palestinians killed are civilians who pose no security threat to Israel. The casualties are mostly children, women and the elderly. To retaliate against Palestinian attacks on Israeli Security Forces villages are targeted without any hard evidence of culpability. Demolishing of homes, openly shooting children for no other reason than they are easy targets, and torture of detainees without any confirmation of guilt are common practice. What is unique is there is no attempt at denial but is openly justified. Routine murders, assignations and torture are seen a necessary for national defense. There is no trail and no evidence is presented before carrying out political assignations. Vast expropriations of lands for Jewish settlements in the West bank and even greater expropriation of water from Gaza guarantee the perpetual poverty of any Palestinian State. The detailed and rigorous research carried out by Norman G. Finkelstein removes forever, personal opinion in the debate on the subject. Just like South Africa when an oppressed people become oppressors their crime also must be called into question.