[WCUSP] Stanford: Israel misuses Holocaust, Finklestein insists

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

 () _Stanford:  Israel misuses Holocaust, Finkelstein insists_ 
(http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/1/26/israelMisusesHolocaustFinkelsteinInsists)  


Sini  Matikainen | Stanford Daily | 1/26/07 

Controversial historian Norman  Finkelstein argued in front of a packed and 
boisterous Cubberly Auditorium crowd  last night the disputed assertion that 
Israel uses the Holocaust as a shield  against criticism. The event, 
co-sponsored by Students Confronting Apartheid in  Israel (SCAI), the Coalition for 
Justice in the Middle East (CJME) and the ASSU  Speakers Bureau, was the subject of 
criticism throughout the week and during the  talk itself for “polarizing” 
campus debate on the Israel-Palestine question.  

Norman Finkelstein, son of Holocaust survivors and author of the recent  book 
“Holocaust Industry,” addressed a packed crowd in Cubberley Auditorium last  
night. 

Finkelstein spoke before an audience consisting mostly of  community members, 
but with scattered students and even a camerawoman from the  San Jose 
community group Justice for Palestinians, who was filming the talk for  a later 
broadcast on Arab TV 15. 

The audience was largely sympathetic to  Finkelstein’s position, bursting 
into frequent applause and laughter and giving  a standing ovation at the 
conclusion of the speech. A small but vocal minority,  however, expressed dissent, 
and Finkelstein engaged in several shouting  exchanges with audience members. 

The embattled DePaul University  political science professor addressed the 
Israel-Palestinian conflict and  potential solutions as well as Israel’s human 
rights record. All of these  topics, he alleged, were “not controversial,” 
based on his research into World  Court decisions, human rights organizations and 
UN General Assembly votes.  

“In the highest judicial body in the world, there is no dissent, no  debate, 
no dispute,” he said, regarding what he termed the illegality of the  Israeli 
occupation of Gaza and the West  Bank. 



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