Finkelstein Recap

Posted March 11, 2008

On a recent Tuesday morning a JDL contingent led by chairman Shelley Rubin traveled to Cal State Northridge to confront the notorious self-hating pseudo-scholar and ex-professor Norman Finkelstein. The event was not well attended. JDL disrupted his speech at various times and in the process discovered something key about Finkelstein mindset: At one point early on he asked the crowd "What should we do with them?" in a way that implied he secretly desired that JDL be phyiscally disposed of. "Quite frankly, it was very difficult to resist the urge to rush the podium and get directly in Finkelstein's face, phyiscally disrputing the event," Ari Rubin, JDL vice president, remarked.

Upon viewing Finkelstein's lecture for more than a few minutes, here are some notable points: Finkelstein delivers his drivel in an exceptionally, mind-numbingly boring manner; he enjoys dropping names of his few allies incessantly and using grandiose terms and references in a transparent attempt to make his ridiculous arguments appear more credible; Finkelstein waxes indignant over people calling him names (names he richly desrves) yet he relishes in despicable ad hominems against his opponents, such as Nobel Laurete Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel; whenever confronted directly on his self-hatred, Finkelstein resorts to proclaiming his parents "suffered in the Holocaust," a response often heard from him; Finkelstein not only passionately hates Israel, he passionately hates America (e.g. Finkelstein's endorsement of a fellow traveler's line that all American presidents should be classified as war criminals); he loves those countries pledged to the destruction of the West.

A blogger with the Jewish Journal took note of JDL's presence: "The crowd of just over 50 contained mostly faculty and students, many of whom were Jewish, but the real attraction was Shelley Rubin, head of the militant Jewish Defense League. . . . But when he walked to the lectern, Rubin, who was joined by a young religious man with a video camera and an elderly man with a fanny pack, pounced. 'You should be ashamed of yourself. You should really be ashamed of yourself,' she said. 'Don't call yourself a Jew. You're a sick puppy.'"
Interestingly, it took Norman several direct challenges from JDL to disclaim an apparent alliance between himself and the Institute For Historical Review, which has attended his past lectures and sold his books for him. Norman Finkelstein is an intellectually and morally bereft communist-lover, a most despicable and discredited individual whose self-hatred is so deeply engrained that he is, in a very real sense, truly a Jew-hater - no less than any Gentile Jew-hater out there. On a positive note, JDL has found an unexpected ally of sorts in the very man who invited Finkelstein to speak at Northridgfe, Dr. Harry Hillenbrand. We'll let you know more about that in the coming weeks.

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