Support for Norman Finkelstein

An essential element in maintaining academic standards is the freedom to research, teach and engage in public discussion. One case where there seems to have been an erosion of such freedoms involves Norman Finkelstein, until recently an assistant professor at DePaul University in Chicago.

This post is a bit late now that Finkelstein and DePaul have reached an agreement that he will resign while the university has issued a statement praising his performance as a teacher and a scholar.

If anyone is not aware, Finkelstein has written extensively on the historiography of the Holocaust, among other matters, presenting a highly controversial view. He believes, to simplify things very drastically, that the Holocaust has been used as an excuse to justify oppressive Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank..

Finkelstein was recently denied tenure at De Paul apparently on the grounds that he showed insufficient respect for the opinions of others. This may be true but it should not be an issue and Finkelstein should not have been denied tenure for such a reason.

I had better make it clear that there are many things with which I disagree with him about. He is also strident, rather too prone to self -pity and very rude to middle-age ladies (he calls Deborah Lipstadt , a Professor at Emory University, the Elsie the Cow Chair in Judeo-yenta Studies).

That being said universities ought not to give or withhold promotion or appointment on such grounds. There seem to have been no complaints about his teaching and his research does not, as far as I know, show any signs of plagiarism or data fabrication. Maybe he draws the wrong conclusions from the data but that should not be at issue.

It appears that one factor in the denial of tenure was Finkelstein's argument with Alan Dershowitz a professor at Harvard. There is no time to go into details here but if DePaul was swayed by pressure from Dershowitz this would be highly inappropriate.

Returning to the question of double standards that was raised by the Southern Illinois plagiarism case, we note that Dershowitz has shown no respect for the opinions of Finkelstein either but I have heard of no suggestion that his career might be jeopardised. Neither has Deoborah Lipstadt been threatened with sanctions for calling Finkelstein "the dirt you step in on the street".