Disgrace at De Paul

Bad news. Professor Norman Finkelstein has been denied tenure by De Paul University.

A professor and scholar as widely published and famous as Finkelstein would ordinarily have achieved tenure without a ripple on the sea of academe. In this case, however, a routine tenure proceeding was transformed into a cause celebre by Zionists -- in particular the infamous Alan Dershowitz -- who hate Prof. Finkelstein because he, although a Jew, has been openly critical of Israel and of the misuse of the "holocaust industry". What makes the thing even more appelling is that neither Derschowitz nor his confederates, if any, were connected with De Paul University!

The tenure proceeding became, pure and simple, an ideological battleground between a fanatically pro-Israel propagandist and the voices of truth and reason. It is astonishing that although the advocates of truth and reason far outnumbered the intruding Zionists, and the Zionists blatantly mischaracterized Prof. Finkelstein's writings, the Derschowitz pressure, or extortion, or whatever it was, caused a top man or two at De Paul to cave in and deny Prof. Finkelstein a permanent position.

The result is a total defeat of academic freedom. Shame on those at De Paul University who brought this disgrace on their institution!

Below I re-post my explanation of the case:


'Alan Dershowitz, the fanatically pro-Israel Zionist activist operating out of Harvard, has been outrageously intervening to prevent Professor Norman Finkelstein from successfully obtaining tenure at De Paul University.

'Dershowitz has no connection with De Paul, just as he had no connection with Brandeis University when he undertook to sabotage former President Jimmy Carters’ scheduled speech there. Dershowitz’s motivation in both cases was the same: Prof. Finkelstein and Carter wrote books criticizing Israel.

'I can say from reading both Dershowitz and Finkelstein that Finkelstein is far more honest and scholarly than Dershowitz. Indeed the words "honest" and "scholarly" do not apply to Dershowitz at all. The libelous things which Dershowitz has been saying about Finkelstein in his campaign to prevent the professor's tenure make me smile because they are all applicable to Dershowitz himself!

'Unfortunately, although the whole acadamic world (except Zionists) seems to be expressing support for Finkelstein and disgust with Dershowitz, my impression is that the only person at De Paul University who is opposed to the tenure is one of the two individuals who can prevent it.'