Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Norman Finkelstein and the Holocaust Denial/Minimization Industry attacks us all

This is for Norman Finkelstein and by extension everyone who applauds him when he comes to speak on college campuses.

I’m not here to debate his stance on Israel and Zionism – there is really only one thing that I want address within this post. My issue with Finkelstein and his supporters is nothing more than a simple number.

No, it's not six million, as in six million murdered Jews, killed during the Holocaust – a fact that Finkelstein casts doubt upon by referring to "six million" in quotation marks. Finkelstein has also gone on record that Holocaust denier David Irving – who believes there were no gas chambers and that Auschwitz was a "tourist attraction" – is an "indispensable" historian. No, this isn’t some unbelievable fiction from George Orwell’s 1984; this is actually what this man thinks.


Dr. F Stein in action


Nor is the number 2,000, as in the nearly 2,000 years since Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were forced to flee their ancient homeland. The desire to return home has been expressed during Jewish festivals, in Jewish prayers three times daily and in countless other customs, many centuries prior to the rise of modern Zionism.

Finkelstein would have everyone that attend his rallies believe that the state of Israel is a modern colonial invention fueled by Holocaust guilt, rather than the truth which is the exact reverse – that the Holocaust was a disaster fueled by the lack of an independent Jewish homeland/army.

But no, that isn’t it either. The number I want to discuss is “43334.”

“43334” is the tattoo my grandmother received courtesy of the real “Holocaust Industry” – that of the Nazi’s Final Solution for her, me and every other “undesirable,” whether we lived during the 1940’s or are descended from someone who did.

Was she lying about how she got that number? Did she fake the anxiety she felt every time a dog barked because it reminded her of German Shepherds the Nazis used? Was she in on some global conspiracy when she was emotionally unavailable for her children?

What about my grandfather? Did he invent stories about his first wife, infant daughter, mother, father, three of his four brothers and countless others he knew, that disappeared into the flames of Birkenau? Was he lying when he would talk about being nearly starved to death and beaten within an inch of his life? Was he plotting a Zionist conspiracy when he would often wake up in the middle of the night and jump out of bed in terror, forced back in time during yet another terrible Holocaust flashback?

Why should survivors have to tolerate these efforts to de-legitimize their memories by Finkelstein, Irving and the rest of the Holocaust Denial/Minimization Industry? Whether you want to admit it to yourselves or not, de-legitimizing the survivors is precisely what Mr. Finkelstein does.

This is what he is doing when he refers to Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel as a “clown” in the “Holocaust circus.” There is a reason why white supremacist sites like Stormfront and neo-Nazi darling David Duke cite Finkelstein regularly – his life’s work minimizes the suffering of survivors and actually makes it worse forcing them to live through the spectacle of seeing rooms full of college students cheering for his attacks on them.

This isn’t an issue of questioning his right to criticize Israel – although a rational person would have to question why in order to criticize governmental policy someone would have to attack not the government but rather the historical, documented past itself.

Or maybe it isn’t so irrational. Orwell did teach us after all that “he who controls the past, controls the future.” By “vaporizing” memories, by converting the victims of the Holocaust into “unpersons,” Finkelstein makes it easier for his fans to not deal with reality. This frees them to practice the kind of cognitive dissonance necessary for a "liberal" American university student to support the actions of totalitarian movements like Hamas, Hizballah and others who have sworn to erase a population of six million Jews.

The fact that students gleefully welcome this distortion of history as “scholarly” is a disgrace not only to the memories of Holocaust victims but also to legitimate historians everywhere. This isn’t about Zionism, it’s about preserving the memories of those who perished in the Holocaust – and respecting those who survived.

It’s also about the stark realization that had the Nazis succeeded, I would not be here to write this post. And in this very real way, Finkelstein attacks us all.

This post was adapted from a letter to the editor at the Daily Targum


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That's what I think...what's YOUR reaction?

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27 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
D@rLin|{ said...

As much as we despise what he and the likes of him have to say, he has a right to do that.And we have a right and a duty to voice loudly and clearly and as often as possible what we think about him and his theories.There will always be sheeple - brainwashed and willing to listen to nobodies with "deep" understanding of some conspiracy or other.Maybe we should go to his lectures and ask him uncomfortable questions? Alas, I would if I could but I doubt he will be invited to Israel any time soon.....

USpace said...

.
Great post indeed. Seemingly 'Self-haters' like Finkelstein are very hard to fathom.

I tweeted this:

RonMossad: Norman Finkelstein and the Holocaust Denial/Minimization Industry attacks us all: http://bit.ly/fWok3I #Israel

I hope you're well, hang in there.

:)

Anonymous said...

To start it off:
I find your statement quite awkward.
Not once did Finkelstein deny or minimalize the suffering of Jewish people in WW2 and the holocaust.
Not once.
All he says is that today the holocaust is used for anything but the rememberance of those victims.
If you feel attacked by those statements, I really wonder whats wrong with you.
Why dont you just quote one sentence (not taken out of context) where he "minimizes the suffering of survivors" and has "rooms full of college students cheering for his attacks". You wont find one.
In fact, I think the most respectful thing one could do is to critisize those that are abusing this tragedy - which in fact he does, in everey word.
You seem to ignore that throughout your whole article - how could someone who claims to have parents who survived the holocaust be a holocaust denier at the same time?
If you read his books, he *never* questiones the amount of dead people in the holocaust. He even brings up the offical number in speeches, and never in a disrespectful way.

Danny Malpas said...

The only people who de-legitimise the memory of the victims of world war 2 are the zionists and the devils that illegally occupy Palestine. Finklestein, just gives us perspective.

Ask yourself, what happens in 50 years time when the Palestinians decide to reclaim their homeland. The zionist get slaughtered all over again. Holocaust 2 perhaps? You have not learnt the lessons of the past.

Finklestein is correct when he says, "if you had an ounce of compassion in your heart you should cry for the Palestinians", because only the survivors of the war know the suffering of genocide.

Arrogance is the worst of all crimes.

Flopot said...

Holocaust deniers should be mocked whenever they show up. If there is a law that can be used against them, then so much the better. Lock them up until they see sense.

The story of the State of Israel is one of a phoenix rising from the ashes of europe. Anyone who questions the right of that nation to exist is either unhinged or unrealistic.

Anti-semitism always seems to lurk behind any discussions I have with friends and family about the Palestinians. Someone invariably starts talking about "the Jews" and there goes the debate because I start accusing them of being anti-semitic. So I am not blind to the endemic racism that still exists in AngloSaxon countries (UK here btw).

Saying that, Israel still needs to deal with the Palestinian problem and this is were I will annoy the f**k out of you. Israel should stop building the bloody settlements. It just smacks of a "Greater Israel" mentality and stinks of nasty nationalism.

What if Israel ends up in a war against Iran? We all know that wars radicalize populations and sooner rather than later you will see the Israeli government looking for ways to resolve their Palestinian problem.

Okay, so I am exaggerating. But I am just trying to point out that history's victims always seem to become future butchers. Just look at the Serbs - massacred by the Nazis and then the Serbs massacred the Bosnians.

So if Israel cannot solve the Palestinian problem peacefully then I dread to think where events will lead her. Israel should not let security concerns (especially nutjobs like Ahmajinedad) deflect her from the founding democratic principles.

Anonymous said...

Ron -

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN????

Welcome back - and no more year long plus Sabbaticals - PLEASE!

We've missed you and still need your voice.

Best,

Cincinnatus

RonMossad said...

Thanks for the support Cincinnatus. Unfortunately, my time for blogging is still rather limited these days...

Are you a regular reader/commenter? I don't think I remember seeing posts from you before?

Eddie Talens said...

Flopot comes the nearest to what thís Israel has to come up with: to come to terms with the Palestinians IMMEDIATELY. Using 181-II to start with, and forgetting about 'Oslo' 1993. Easy? Most certainly not, but worth while, for Jews and non-Jews alike.

Eddie Talens, Zutphen, The Netherlands

JP1000 said...

Excellent post Ron. I wish more people would wake up and realize that Norman Finkelstein needs his larynx removed.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ron, I hope you don't mind but I posted this letter on a discussion forum where a group of Israel haters are currently engaged in Finkelstein adulation. In case you have some free time, check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/forum/judaism/ref=cm_cd_et_up_redir?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx3GH4KC0VK3SAS&cdPage=1&cdSort=newest&cdThread=Tx1TCZBIE01ZIQZ&newContentID=Mx1H3H4RR5MUOO8&newContentNum=2026#Mx1SK59JVHU37I4

Anonymous said...

Finkelstein is a sick and disturbed man. He is unkind to women especially, likes to shame them. I can see why the man is a hermit and never got married- he is beyond rebuke. I have read vile things that he has said about people, and I truly believe he is a psychopath. Jerry M.

Renaud Hendrix said...

Finkelstein is a very confused man. He seems to be trying to make amends now after a lifetime of siding with the ultra left and the Arabs- Now he of late is offering up criticism re: BDS campaigns. yes even he is disgusted by this viral form of anti-Semitism. Hard to believe but true. Is he having second thoughts now?

However I remember him way back in the college days, I worked in the same university, which I will not mention. To his female employees, nice man to work for, rather crude and rude. A very unfriendly and twittish chap. He treated underlings with disdain and discourtesies . Now that he is coming of age, what 70? he appears to be coming to his senses, at least on the BDS campaigns. Perhaps the old boy, like his mentor Dr. Chomskie realizes that hanging with the enemy is not always a safe bet , not a guarantee from the eventual knife in the back. Even Norm knows in the end he is a Jew and that can and will be used against him by his l radical sheik friends.

Anonymous said...

The guy is a turncoat. A son of Shaoh victims, he shows no mercy for his fellow Jew. He made a decision long ago to hide behind the enemy lines. Any Jew that holds court with Hezbullah's Nasrallah is king of the putzs. What a shuck. He is a sadist as well, in fact he enjoys embarrassing people in public. I watched him once force a poor girl to tears at a speech he gave a few years ago He seems to get delight from making ladies cry. Sick sick man. One of my friends wrote him a letter, for private consumption, he took it and either he or a webs lave altered it and posted it for the web. How he ever got a job as a professor is beyond me but today he is unemployed and living like a pauper in Coney Island. I guess there is a God after all.

Anonymous said...

Norm the Jerk http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-jerk/

Anonymous said...

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=norm+crockodile+tears&qpvt=norm+crockodile+tears&FORM=VDRE

^ "Stormin Norman " puddng and pie kissed the girls and made them cry

Anonymous said...

jewelicious Rabbi Yonah post on our media darling, Stormin Norman Fkinkestelin and it is juicy!!! http://www.jewlicious.com/2008/04/norman-finkelstein-awareness-month/

Anonymous said...

UH OH NORM- CHECK THIS OUT, report from the esteemed organization CAMERA

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=985&x_context=8 Jeny T

Jill Lalmpert said...

norm is a loser who beats up Jewish girls at forums, who sits with Hezbollah and dines with them, plotting to destroy the Jewish state. What a piece of drek he truly is. Today is lives in a coney island one room apartment, and has to resort to Facebook and his blog to get the word out. I have watched him berate people at campus rallies, with a smb tone as if he is above reproach. He should be ashamed for being such a traitorous turncoat

Jill Lalmpert said...

Correction, when I say "beat up" I meant to say he picks on them and berates them Here is a video of hi picking on a poor Jewish student. MEAN!!!!! tearshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7tupJRSi7M

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7tupJRSi7M

Anonymous said...

Norm has a lot to think about when he lays his pillow upon his bed at night. If i were him I would apologiz, he has hurt many people with his diatribes and harsh manner. He is paying for his hateful demeanor now. I do not believe the man has ever been married, nor had a girlfriend. I can see why. He is a hateful human being.

Traitor hunter said...

On his blog he discusses , poor baby wiskers, his alienation from academia has forced him to look for a job in Turkey or Iran. He also offers his thoughts on his long-time friend, Noam Chomsky.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2014/an-alienated-finkelstein-discusses-his-writing-being-unemployable-and-noam-chomsky/

Anonymous said...

Dr Finkesltein is a wretched soul- he has been the most vitriolic and unabashedly filthiest man I have even met. He loves to ridicule people. He loves to embarrass people publicly, that is his special trait. He loves to single someone out and make mincemeat of them. He thinks he is a defender of the poor Arabs, but little does he know they would turn on him as soon as see him. He thought they were his buddies. Poor old Norm. He has made many a poor victim cry from his abusive mouth. His mouth is twisted. What a dirt bag with a mouth as foul as the the Ganges. He is profane and wicked man, and not a Jew by any standard. He has no morals, no scruples to speak of, and he will live his life out alone, a wreched piece of garbage.

Anonymous said...

Norm is using crocodile tears as well, check this out- and on top of it, yelling, and screaming and telling his audience to "shut up" Woah

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=norm+crockodile+tears&qpvt=norm+crockodile+tears&FORM=VDRE%20^%20%22Stormin%20Norman%20%22%20puddng%20an#view=detail&mid=EB3BF237A0E5CE9BBDDFEB3BF237A0E5CE9BBDDF

Anonymous said...

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2007/06/real-reason-finkelstein-denied-tenure.html

Anonymous said...

I feel deeply saddened by the stories of your family's suffering and anxiety post world war 2, it is horrendous. I don't think Dr Finkelstein is trying to minimise the holocaust though, his parents were survivors, what he hates, rightly so, is that very valid pain being exploited by a small number of people for either financial gain or to further a political agenda, which trivializes the whole thing for everyone. He is against the BDS now because he thinks they do not support a Jewish state. He has never been against a Jewish state, just the human rights abuses of the Israeli government in dealing with Palestinians. It is not cut and dry, you can disagree with certain things without being a traitor. There needs to be less polarity and more balance when viewing these things I feel.