‘Never Again’ to whom?
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Norman Finkelstein speaking at Suffolk University [Photo: Wikimedia Foundation]
Born of a mother who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, Majdanek concentration camp, and two slave labor camps, Norman Finkelstein could hardly be called a Holocaust denier. Yet there are some who do. Dr. Finkelstein1 has been joined by two Holocaust scholars, Raul Hilberg and Avi Schlaim in questioning the official story of the conduct of the State of Israel in its treatment of the Palestinians.
He spoke at MIT: 60 Years of Dispossession and Displacement
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the humanitarian crisis today and since 1948.2
His talk was reasoned, measured, well documented, and based in international law. At the end, he asked that the question period begin with people who disagree with him i.e. dissenters. I did not follow the first question. I think it was from David Solden and I think he regards Dr. Finkelstein is not pro-Palestinian enough.3 The second question was, “How can you view the 1973 Yom Kippur war as anything but aggression?”
Dr. Finkelstein based his answer on a principle of international law – it is illegal to acquire territory through war. The Sinai and the Golan heights were the spoils of the 1967 war still occupied by Israeli forces. “Sadat looked across to the Sinai and saw Eqyptian territory occupied by Israeli forces.”
The Calculus of Suffering
Dr. Finkelstein remarked that a major portion of Israel’s justification of its actions is the notion that The Holocaust is unique among occurrences of genocide – case in point; the use of capital T and capital H.
1Norman Finkelstein, until recently was Professor Finkelstein, but having been denied tenure at DePaul University, arguably in part due to Allan Dershowitz, he has been busted back to Dr.
2Sponsor(s): ASO, Muslim Students’ Association, MIT, Social Justice Cooperative, Latino/a Cultural Center, GSC Funding Board, Palestine@MIT For more information, contact: Palestine@MIT pal_xc@mit.edu
Dr. Finkelstein’s website: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com
3Perhaps Dr. Trumpbour will help us out here.
