On Monday, August 27, 2007, this article appeared on Jews sans frontiers, mysteriously called the, Chicago School?. It is about the continuation of the Finkelstein controversy, which began with his denial of tenure at DePaul University, and extended to a colleague who supported him, Dr. M. Larudee.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2007/08/chicago-school.html
No one can deny that politics was implicated, in particular, the influence or fear of AIPAC, the Israel Lobby, in getting these professors booted from DePaul, in spite of their impeccable credentials. Alternatively, the Catholic Church, well known for its history of anti-Semitism, is possibly just reinforcing its new leaf and was unable to tolerate an anti-Israel voice on one of its campuses, in spite of truth speaking. Finkelstein’s criticisms of Israel made it evident that DePaul University could not be home to this self-hating Jew, whose only claim to fame is the fact that his parents were Holocaust survivors. Well, who isn’t a Holocaust survivor? Dime a dozen, no?
Apparently students of DePaul Uni have launched a website to support Doctors Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee against the rejection of their tenure bids. The home page of the Academic Freedom Committee right now is touting a remarkable line up of opinion from left to right.
On October 12, 2007, the DePaul University Academic Freedom Committee, International Studies Program and Department of Philosophy, Diskord Journal (University of Chicago) and Verso Books will host a panel lecture featuring:
- Dr. Akeel Bilgrami, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy and Director of The Heyman Center, Columbia University
- Dr. Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Dr. Tony Judt, University Professor and Director of the Remarque Institute, New York University
- Dr. John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
- Dr. Neve Gordon, Professor, Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University
Hosted by:
* Tariq Ali, Editor of the New Left Review and Verso BooksI see Neve Gordon among the names there. He has been harshly, in my opinion unjustly, critical of Finkelstein in the past, which I think shows the depth of anger around what looks like an unfair decision by DePaul. Of course, for his own criticisms of Israel, Neve Gordon could expect to find himself on a list of usual suspects or self-haters who would support a fellow self-hater like Finkelstein, but Dr John Mearsheimer has establishment credentials.
But let’s not lose sight of what’s happened here. It looks suspiciously like the Israel lobby has kicked in to deny Finkelstein a tenured position at an American university. This meeting isn’t simply an expression of outrage about one bad decision. It is a sure sign that the climate of opinion has changed in America with regard to Israel. As a “non-zionist” recently said, the anti-zionist movement has reached that critical mass where zionism, like apartheid, is associated with the politically and morally unacceptable. Unlike apartheid that paid real financial dividends to its supporters on account of cheap black labour, zionism involves an ideological fanaticism that detaches its supporters from their material interests. Of course the ragbag of hacks for zionism in the mainstream media are handsomely rewarded as surely as their detractors are punished by exclusion. But the hacks are now having to argue against arguing against Israel and zionism rather than arguing for Israel or zionism. Their false allegations of antisemitism have backfired to the extent that even they don’t immediately realise when the real thing rears its head. Zionism has many foot soldiers in real life (that is outside of the media) and I am sure that there are many racists who admire and support Israel to give vent to their own anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism. So the struggle will go on for some time. But we are seeing a real turning of the tide of opinion against the State of Israel and its zionist cheer leaders in the west.
I don’t know if this will get Finkelstein and Larudee their tenure though. Maybe a better place will snap them up.
The panel lecture will be held at the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago (5850 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637) on October 12, 2007 for anyone interested.
Here is also another interesting chapter in this saga reported in a Chicago newspaper:
DePaul pulls plug on controversial professor: Course canceled a week before class
Chicago Tribune
August 27, 2007
By Ron Grossman, Tribune staff reporterThe required reading was at the bookstore, the students had the course syllabus, and space in Political Science 235, “Equality in Social Justice,” was standing-room only when DePaul University pulled the plug Friday on what was to have been Norman Finkelstein’s final year at the school.
A controversial scholar–accused by critics of fomenting anti-Semitism and lauded by supporters as a forthright critic of Israel–Finkelstein attracted wide attention across the academic world when he was denied tenure in the spring.
By Monday, the books for his course had been pulled from the DePaul bookstore’s shelves, while his case was restarting a firestorm of protest. The American Association of University Professors was preparing a letter to the university, protesting Finkelstein’s treatment as a serious violation of academic ethics.
Finkelstein vowed not to take the rebuff lying down–or, perhaps more correctly, to do something just like that. In addition to canceling his course, the university informed him that his office was no longer his.
“I intend to go to my office on the first day of classes and, if my way is barred, to engage in civil disobedience,” Finkelstein, 53, said in a telephone interview. “If arrested, I’ll go on a hunger strike. If released, I’ll do it all over again. I’ll fast in jail for as long as it takes.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-depaul28aug28,1,1437195.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout&
;ctrack=1&cset=true
Perhaps a better tact for Finkelstein to take would be to rent a space adjacent to DePaul University and continue to teach his classes gratis nearby. No doubt that he would fill his auditorium with University students to standing room only proportions. Just an idea, but see Soros for financing, Dr. Finkelstein. It is doable.
Thanks to Mark Elf for permission.
