Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The Brandeis Hoot has a article on the recent Finkelstein appearance there: Finkelstein discusses Israel's human rights record 
[At right, a typical DePaul Finkelstein supporter.]
“Dissent is tied to justice, justice tied to dignity,†said Harvard Professor Sarah Roy, who introduced Finkelstein. “Today, there is a war against dissent… our right to oppose has been stigmatized and devalued.†She also claimed that Finkelstein cut through “the artificial web of complexity†surrounding the Middle East Conflict...
Ah yes, it takes a Harvard Scholar to cut through all that "artificial complexity" of the Middle East for us. Presumably, if Israel would just stop being Israel...
Finkelstein as Jesus. Christ. Note the Chomskyisms...what I have to say is all 'uncontroversial' (so don't look to deeply into it). Avram Noam uses the same phrasing.
Sauce for the goose:
There you go, according to Finkelstein, international law supports suicide bombing.
Yes, our friend Seva was there, and his quote calls for explanation:
I can't speak for Seva, but knowing him, what he had in mind (I heard the audio, and the second question was posed as separate from the first and "rhetorical."), was Ruth Wisse's comeback to hostile questions...a sort of "When did you stop beating your wife?" thing: Why did you kill your grandmother? -- in this case meant as a response to Finkelstein's incessant attacks on Israel and Jews...the fact that it requires explanation and thought...well, I wouldn't have said it, myself, but there it is...
On the Finkelstein tenure front, Marathon Pundit is noting that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is supporting Finkelstein's bid (and holding its tongue on the Klocek matter).
[h/t's to Adam Holland for the picture and Eddie for the article]
Seva Brodsky reminds me of the people who spend hours on some crazy rightist or leftist blog or forum, have made all the shared assumptions, misinformation and inside jokes second nature, and then try to engage normal people in conversation. They think they're clever, they know their buddies think they're clever, and they don't understand how absurd they seem.
Or maybe Seva just likes exposing frauds and charlatans for what they are?
Just wondering........
That's a great photo.
Thanks for the hat tip Sol. I found the article mentioning the great indy journalist Seva Brodsky on my daily rounds.
Unfortuneately I also winced at his question. Everyone gets in situations where later they wish they could have said something in a better way - a more satirical, revealing way.
finkelstain is doing everything possible to present himself as a "martyr". I hope DePaul (Ray Manzarek of The Doors went there) denies finkelstain his tenure. What respectable school wants a wack job on their faculty?
finkelstain will declare himself a "victim" of zionist aggression and probably get invitations to join the faculty of some school in the Islamofascist Regime of iran or in Beir Zeit PaleSWINE or finkelstain can be the Press Secretary for Neteuri Karta.