Despite the controversy leading up to Norman Finkelstein’s
visit to campus because of his extremist views on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Holocaust, the environment
surrounding the event was subdued, provoking little visible
opposition from students and faculty.
Finkelstein, who is a professor of history at DePaul University
in Chicago and has published several books on Zionism, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Holocaust, said in his speech
Tuesday night that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a paradox
““ if one studies the history of the conflict, of the human
rights situations and the diplomatic records, there is little
controversy to be seen.
“But when you enter the public arena, there is a major
conflict,” Finkelstein said, adding that he believes personal
and religious sentiments have distorted the resolution that he said
has already been designated by the United Nations.
The lecture was held as part of a week of events called
“Israel and Palestine: Obstacles to Peace,” which is
sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim
Student Association, among others. Organizers call the week an
attempt to provide students with perspective on the situation
Palestinians are currently facing in Israel.
Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, said most of the
origins of the conflict are “fabricated, contrived and
fake,” used in order to divert attention from the written
record and to solve any confusion about it.
As with all events supporting either Palestinians or Israelis,
Finkelstein’s lecture was met with some opposition, with
students passing out fliers criticizing Finkelstein’s
extremist views and some audience members voicing concern over the
accuracy of his remarks.
Judea Pearl, a computer science professor, quietly booed and
showed his disapproval as the crowded auditorium began applauding
and showing its support for Finkelstein’s statement that U.N.
Resolution 242 had said all territories belonging to Israel should
be returned to the Palestinians.
Pearl said though the resolution stated territory should be
returned, it only included the territory Israel gained after 1967,
not all territories.
Finkelstein also addressed various hypocrisies on the part of
Israelis. Referring to the violence between Israel and Palestinians
over the disputed territories, Finkelstein said Israel calls
Palestinian attacks against Israelis terrorism, but does not abide
by the same derogatory label for Israeli attacks against
Palestinians.
Ghayth Adhami, a fourth-year biology student, said he enjoyed
hearing a professor who is critical of Israeli policy but is
Jewish, not Muslim or Arab.
Finkelstein’s comments on Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians was consistent with a message event organizers have
been presenting throughout the week.
“We’re trying to stand up for their human rights.
Palestinians are living under occupation and they have to deal with
the brutality of the Israeli army,” said Adhami, who was
wearing a green “Free Palestine” shirt and an armband
representing solidarity with Palestinians.
Negeen Rivani, a first-year undeclared student, said though she
expected Finkelstein to be biased in his argument, she believed his
views to be too extremist, even distorting and forgetting to
mention parts of history that have contributed to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“In his speech he doesn’t mention the failed
attempts of Israeli and Palestinian negotiations. He only mentioned
what the Israelis haven’t been doing and he isn’t
proposing a solution,” Rivani said.