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Norman Finklestein – American Radical

by Gilad Atzmon
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

The trials of Jewish-American political scientist Norman Finkelstein.

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Posted by on May 2, 2012. Filed under America,Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

20 Responses to Norman Finklestein – American Radical

  1. searching

    May 2, 2012 at 4:46 pm

    I admire this man very much.
    I attended one of his lectures, and spoke with briefly afterward. Very respectful, quiet, humble, gentle man. True gem and a real thinker.
    Very honest, very inteligent ,simple in a way he carries his life, yet very courageous and determined. A truly beauitiful person.
    I don’t agree with him on some topics ,but it is hard not to admire hime nonetheless.
    The movie “American Radical “definately a- must- see :)

  2. searching

    May 2, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    I was laughing from one sentence that Mr Finkelstein said in this movie: “as a devout atheist I thank God that in His Almighty Wisdom
    He created us mortal” .
    This sentence is deliciously illogical, ( and we all know that Mr Finkelstein IS a VERY logical man).
    An atheist is a person, who does not believe in God ,and the fact that He created us.
    In this lovely sentence Mr Finkelstein contradicts himself. He acknowledges not only the existence of God, His creation of us/people , but also he praises God’s Almighty Wisdom.
    Sheer beaauty. I love it. :)

  3. etominusipi

    May 3, 2012 at 9:30 am

    Do I contradict myself?
    Very well then I contradict myself,
    (I am large, I contain multitudes.)

    Walt Whitman
    1819-1892

    i have only seen a little of Norman Finklestein, but my impression was exactly what was just admirably summed up by Searching.

    great film. love the joke right at the beginning.

    • searching

      May 3, 2012 at 4:44 pm

      ““What a chimera then is man! What a novelty! What a monster, what a chaos, what a CONTRADICTION, what a prodigy! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, depository of truth, a sink of uncertainty and error, the glory and the shame of the universe”
      Blaise Pascal
      A poet can get away with a lot of …..contradictions.
      A political scientist with a lot… less :)
      We are ALL full of constadictions, however.
      I know I am. :(
      A song for all contradictionists.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrssTGF21l8

  4. searching

    May 3, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    great quote :)
    “I was at this time of living, like so many Atheists or Anti-theists, in a whirl of contradictions.
    I maintained that God did not exist.
    I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world. ”
    C.S. Lewis

  5. searching

    May 3, 2012 at 5:15 pm

    and another great quote:
    “There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.
    C.S. Lewis
    I have to start reading C. S. Lewis.
    So many good books to read, so little time.
    This reminded me of the next book to read .
    “The Wondering who” :)

  6. Ariadna Theokopoulos

    May 3, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    Seeing Norm Finkelstein in this short movie we are reminded of how much courage and steadfastness it takes to confront the Jewish shibboleths of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of the exploitation of the Holocaust.

    It is wonderful to hear him credit his parents for the moral values they instilled in him, describe his mother’s passion for upholding them, as it is sad and sardonically amusing to hear his childhood friend (the woman whose name I did not bother to remember) blaming his mother for his “errant ways” (not her words).

    When you see him in interviews and particularly in debates with the likes of the Dersh, he comes across as incredibly cool and collected, almost detached, in the way he marshals his arguments in ready-to-print paragraphs — an admirable contrast to the Dersh’s nervous snickers, anger and near hysteria.
    This movie, however, makes us understand how much passion and determination fuels his ability to stay calm.
    Norman Finkelstein is all of this and more:
    –an “authentic” and proud Jew, highly moral, still idealistic about Israel’s perfectibility* and a strong believer, after all this time, in a two-state solution;
    – an all-American hero in the folkloric tradition of the Lone Ranger, incorruptible like Eliot Ness, and –like so many Americans–a child of the 18th century (also see asterisk above), believing in the moral perfectibility of anyone and anything if only information and education were to be provided;
    – a humanist who cries for all the children killed, bar none, no excuses and “complexities” accepted.

  7. Deadbeat

    May 10, 2012 at 6:20 am

    Finkelstein is a Zionist that has put up a good front but in the ends supports Israel. Here’s some good information regarding Finkelstein. Don’t let this movie fool you …

    Norman Finkestein is a Zionist which is not known to most of his admirers

    • Ariadna Theokopoulos

      May 10, 2012 at 1:57 pm

      My gushing post above was provoked by the interview in which he conducted himself admirably and, although my admiration may have been a bit over the top I still value the contribution he has made in the English-speaking world, especially in the US (the most successfully misled public on this subject), on two issues.

      The first is to have exposed the Holocaust™ industry, a tabu subject until then, irrespective of the fact that his motivation may have been to preserve the ‘sanctity’ of the official narrative.
      It may be a small horse in the stall but I don’t look it in the mouth, knowing it doesn’t take me the whole way, but only to the next station.

      The second is that he has spoken passionately about the suffering of a people who either “don’t exist” as far as the American public has been brain-washed or are themselves the aggressors of the peace-loving Israelis, as well as about the right to defend themselves of Hezbollah’s, a name equated in American minds with terrorism.
      Irrespective of the fact that his motivation may well be his indignation that Israels’ actions soil his golden dream of zionism I still value that as another small horse.
      None of this prevents me from seeing him as a trenchant zionist and –another small point of disagreement with you–I do not think he “puts up a good front but in the end supports Israel.”
      I think he makes it rather obvious that he supports Israel. I asked him two questions in the Q&A session after a speech he gave at a university in the SW: (1) why he refers to the 1967 green line as a legal border when in reality it is nothing but an armistice line that incorporates into Israel lands stolen since 1948 and (2) why he discounts the one-state solution. You could see that the subject gave him conniptions and he did not answer saying in effect that that was not subject of his speech and we would be all night if we tackled other issues.
      The interview for which you posted the link above shows to what absurd lengths he would go to deny the existence, let alone the power, of the ZPC, claiming that it is the US, including the neo-cons, that try to influence Israel, not the other way around:

      “all of this talk about the famous document that was written up by these neo-cons to attack Iraq – that famous document – was handed to Netanyahu when he came to office to try convince him to put Iraq at the top of the agenda. It’s not as if Israel passed that document to the neo-cons, who then plotted to get the US government to attack Iraq. It was the opposite.
      ..
      It doesn’t mean that people like Wolfowitz, let alone people like Cheney, are trying to serve an Israeli agenda. There is no evidence for claims like that. Its pure speculation based on things like ethnicity.”

      The interview you referenced above is perhaps the best illustration I have seen so far. Thanks

      • searching

        May 10, 2012 at 2:12 pm

        He does downplay the power of the Jewish Lobby in the USA. I don’t know why.
        He already sticked his head into a den full of hungry lions (by publishing “the Holocasut Industry ” book), maybe he wants to keep his head on his neck for a while??

  8. searching

    May 10, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    “DF: How do you get along with your pro-Israel students?

    NGF: Very well because they know I am not anti-Israel in the great scheme of things. I only care about what is just. I never defined myself as an anti-Zionist, because for me Zionism is not the issue. The issue is justice. Before this I was involved in the war in Vietnam. If I am against a war in Vietnam, I am against what Israel is doing in Palestine. I just loathe occupiers. It makes not a whit of difference whether they are Jewish or American. If I have compunction – and I do- it is for the combatants, whose blood is shed. They are young, in the springtime of their lives. Most do not want to be where they are; they want to be home. If anyone has to be in the line of fire, how much would I prefer that it be the wretched politicians who sent them or the blow dried, gym- fit pundits. Academics and journalists who beat the drums of war from afar. Nonetheless, I won’t defend cocky marauders and conquering vandals, lawless ubermenschen riding roughshod over the lives of innocents. Nazi soldiers were also in the springtime of their lives… “

    • searching

      May 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm

      Mr Finkelstein is one of the kind.
      I admire him mostly for his courage and his incredible honesty (also for his intelligence).
      He does not go to anybody’s beat, trying to please certain groups or people.
      He is more of the thinker who also happen to be a political analist and activist.
      I think just for the book “The Holocaust Industry” he should be honored and admired a lot. He did much more than that.
      People like to sterotype, label , categorize etc. He doesn’t fall for it, he doesn’t fit it as well.
      He is true to himself, to what he really belives in. He did not do antyhing for the money,he is not corrupted,he does not serve any particular agendas or interests. People like him should be respected and protected since there is no many like him.

      • Ariadna Theokopoulos

        May 10, 2012 at 2:16 pm

        No, he is not in it for the money. I do believe that.
        And he is not hard on the eyes. Just kidding… :-)

        • searching

          May 10, 2012 at 2:23 pm

          Personality is what makes a man to be a good looking :) At least in my book.

  9. Jay Knott

    May 10, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    Finkelstein believes in a Jewish state. That’s his opinion. It would be a harmless fantasy were it not for Jewish power, which depends on blackmail, the Holocaust, etc.. He helps undermine it. As the son of two Jews who narrowly escaped a death camp, he’s made a heroic break with the people who exploit that tragedy.

    • Ariadna Theokopoulos

      May 10, 2012 at 4:09 pm

      Correct.
      There remains only the issue of which is greater, his

      –Undermining Jewish Power by exposing the Holocaust™ industry
      or
      –Reinforcing Jewish Power by
      —denying the existence of the ZPC and its takeover of US foreign policy
      — supporting the state of Israel qua “Israel” –the Jewish State

      • searching

        May 10, 2012 at 5:04 pm

        He doesn’t “deny the existence of the ZPC…”,he downplays its influance, but he does not deny it. He doesn’t support the state of Israel as it is , he just (naively) hopes that it can transform itself to truly democratic state.
        He had some very harsh words about israel.
        He called it a lunatic state, Nazi state, stright from hell etc.
        One more thing.
        He has a right to his own , private opinions, whatever they are. We all do.
        But he also acts on the things that he feels very strongly about. Most of us have our opinions, and don’t do too much about it.
        He expressed them publically ,(books, lectures, debates , interviews etc),and paid a price for it.
        He does not pay a lip service.
        He follows his strong convictions, and he should be judged mostly on WHAT HE DID.
        And he did a lot of good to expose the Jewish Power and Jewish oppressions towards Palestinians. He is not perefect, has his faults like everybody, but for a one man,
        he did accomplished a great deal.
        It’s always much easier to critice than to follow his footsteps.

        • Ariadna Theokopoulos

          May 10, 2012 at 6:09 pm

          So, I take it you don’t think he is a … Luciferian? :-)

      • Jay Knott

        May 11, 2012 at 2:59 pm

        The guy only speaks his mind. The influence his ideas have are not really up to him, but his audience. If more people agree with him that a Jewish state is a viable option than are turned off the Lobby by his brilliant exposure of the Holocaust industry, that’s not his fault.

        • Ariadna Theokopoulos

          May 11, 2012 at 4:41 pm

          Nobody accused of insincerity; he does “speak his mind.”
          It is not a question of “fault” but merely of assessment of his effect.

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