Norman Finkelstein to speak at SLU

Norman Finkelstein will speak on Jan. 30 at Saint Louis University as part "Palestine Awareness Week," sponsored by the SLU chapter of Solidarity with Palestine. His speech is entitled "Israel and Palestine: roots of conflict, prospects for peace."

According to the organizers' description, Finkelstein's speech will point

...to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record. Why, then, does so much controversy swirl around the conflict? Finkelstein's answer, copiously documented, is that apologists for Israel contrive controversy. Whenever Israel comes under international pressure, another media campaign alleging a global outbreak of anti-Semitism is mounted.

Finkelstein, a professor at DePaul and a virulent critic of the Israeli state, has written several books about the topic, perhaps most notably "The Holocaust Industry" (which is prominently displayed by event organizers' on its Facebook invitation.) To give you some perspective as to his audience, Amazon.com, based off of its customers' buying habits, suggests the following as additional reading to his book, in no particular order:

• The Israeli Holocaust Against the Palestinians by Michael A Hoffman
• The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East by Robert Fisk
• 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With the Nazis by Lenni Brenner

He has defended Carter's widely criticized book on Israel, saying that "Carter's real sin is that he cut to the heart of the problem" (truth be darned!) Finkelstein was also reported to have been on the Adelaide Institute's list of scheduled speakers at the Tehran Holocaust denial conference, a charge which Finkelstein denies.

His Left credentials are impeccable, with uber-Lefty Noam Chomsky saying at a Palestine event in Canada,

Not only [is Finkelstein] an old personal friend but a person who can speak with more authority on insight on these topics than anyone I can think of. So that should be a memorable occasion and I urge that you not miss the opportunity.

More on the event as it develops. As a SLU graduate, I'm very disappointed with the University's willingness to have Finkelstein on campus.

Update @ 4:19pm: From a Lebanese interview, translated by MEMRI.