Customer Reviews

Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, Updated Edition, With a New Preface

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The only criticisms of this work I have seen are personal attacks against Mr. Finkelstein himself and not the scholarship itself. Is Mr. Finkelstein "anti-Semitic", a "self hating Jew", "crazy" or an "Arab apologist? Well, I don't the know man. He very well could be all these things and more, but is that really a cogent dissection of the themes, scholarship and the over all efficacy of the work? To that question I would answer no.

Finkelstein set out to enumerate the techniques used by Israeli apologists, and to that end I found Beyond Chutzpa to be beyond reproach. He sets out to use Dershowitz and other propagandist's own works to show how they go about disseminating falsehoods, exaggerations and lies to obfuscate the reality on the ground to the detriment of both sides. As for Dershowitz's works, Finkelstein devotes much of the book to systematically tearing down each of his arguments and shining a bright light on the shoddy scholarship used by Dershowitz. By using Dershowitz as an example case, he lays waste to the arguments that Israel is a humane and just nation that deals with all peoples, including the Palestinians, on an equal basis.

Mr. Finkelstein uses two world renowned human rights organizations, (and also Palestinian and Israeli organizations) Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to document the numerous humanitarian violations committed by the Israeli government. He uses copious amounts of documentation from these organizations to rebut claims made by Dershowitz. He also points out Dershowitz's lack of reference to these organizations. This is a glaring omission since many times these organizations are the only groups to have neutral observers on the ground to witness and document what is happening in places like Gaza and the West Bank. How could anyone writing a book about this area not use these organizations as source material?

This conflict is a very divisive issue for anyone who delves even skin deep into this topic. We all come to the table with built in biases and well formed opinions, but we must sift through these "opinions" and figure out what is fact before there will ever be a peaceful conclusion. What we have now is not only killing Palestinians and Israelis, but in a wider context, destabilizing the entire world. Believe it or not many of the terrorists that have attacked the U.S. did not commit these acts because "they hate our freedoms" but rather is directly attributable to their belief that the U.S. is no longer an honest broker in the area, and when a UN vote in regards to Israeli policies comes up and the vote ends up being the entire world voting yea and the U.S., Israel and the Marshal Islands voting nay I believe they may have an argument.

People like Dershowitz do not help anyone when they obscure the reality of the situation. When someone from such a prestigious university says that Israel is wonderful place that has a wonderful record on human rights people here believe him. Then that means that the crazy hate filled Arabs are just racists who have a great life but just want to kill Jews anyway. We here in the U.S. must become the honest brokers that the citizenry believes we are, but to do that we have to have the blinders removed. So once again, if this book is a lie then attack the scholarship and expose it, but do not simply spout that he's a racist and expect me to dismiss this book.

Because I am Jewish, and because of my very real and painful connection to the Holocaust- my maternal grandmother is a living survivor of the Nazi camps- I take discussion of the Holocaust very seriously, and I take discussion of the Palestine-Israel conflict very seriously. This book by Norman Finkelstein speaks to both of these issues. I therefore read the book very carefully and critically, as I read all non-fiction books, whether written from a conservative or a liberal perspective.

I did not enjoy reading the Introduction, except for the last paragraph of the Introduction, where the author finally declares his purpose in writing this book. I am a practical person and I like to get right down to substance. I felt the Introduction explored arguments and concepts of an intellectual, abstract and often academic nature. I hold a masters degree in international affairs and I have considerable experience digesting abstract theory; I just happen to prefer dealing with concrete facts in the real world. My own advice is to skip the Introduction altogether. After finishing my copy of Finkelstein's book I gave it to a friend interested in the Palestine-Israel conflict and I said the same thing to him- just jump right into Part 1, where the book really begins. You can always come back to the Introduction when you finish the book itself.

And once you begin the book itself you immediately realize that the controversy surrounding the publication of this work and the angry statements going back and forth between the author, Norman Finkelstein, and the celebrity, Alan Dershowitz, actually occupy a very insubstantial part of Finkelstein's work. This book, "Beyond Chutzpah," has in my opinion virtually nothing to do with Alan Dershowitz, a man who many people for many years (myself included) have in any case seen as being nothing more than a clever but obnoxious media hack. My point is that "Beyond Chutzpah" is a book that addresses issues and movements far more significant than either of these personalities, Dershowitz or Finkelstein. If what you seek is mud slinging between these two men, then don't buy books from either author. Instead, simply visit the authors' respective websites, where you can relish the personal attacks and save yourself both time and money.

What is "Beyond Chutzpah" about? Well- have you ever had the impression that American Jews have, on an individual basis, and through some of America's Jewish groups, used the horrible experiences Jews have endured- like my grandmother- as a means of discouraging criticism, particularly criticism of the policies of the Israeli government? If you are American, and non-Jewish, in fact of any race, background or religion- have you ever felt you had to steer clear completely, or tip toe around, any discussion of Israel's military occupation, or of Israel's assassinations, or of any of Israel's policies whatsoever, for fear that you would be violently attacked as an anti-Semite? If you have- or if you are a non-American wishing to gain insight into the American political climate in relationship to the Palestine-Israel conflict- then you must read this book, "Beyond Chutzpah." With the greatest sobriety, in the clearest and most direct words, with no games or fanfare, Finkelstein- both of whose parents were survivors of the Nazi camps- describes how things in America have come to be this way.

Nobody outside of America can possibly begin to imagine the extent to which hysterical and fanatical Jewish Americans and hysterical and fanatical Jewish groups in America have successfully created through great effort over time a climate of moral, political and psychological blackmail. Even I, a Jewish man whose grandmother is a camp survivor, a Jewish man who has personally visited camps in Germany, Holland and Poland, and who has read endless books on the Holocaust, and who holds an extremely deep concern for Israel's safety and security, and has so held for years- even I cannot dare to raise my voice in criticism of Israel, or even address some of the blindingly obvious facts, for fear of an instantaneous and abominable backlash and assault. In "Beyond Chutzpah," Finkelstein explores this reality. Finkelstein goes to the very heart of the matter. And it is absolutely devastating.

By page 85, in the chapter titled "Crying Wolf," Finkeltein's words read like a revolution, some kind of an unbelievable feat. I deeply believe that this page in this book marks the beginning of what is going to be a sea change, a real movement, long overdue, toward honesty and gradual purification in relation to how Jewish Americans, my own peers, have misused anti-Semitism for political ends. What has been done is a sacrilege, and it is at long last going to be exposed- through this very book. I truly believe that this book will occupy that place in modern American history. Only by presenting some unbelievably ugly truths could any book written by any person at any time anywhere in this world ever even hope to encounter the level of hysteria and opposition that this book has faced. That right there tells you something.

The second major concern of this book is the origin, development and current status of the Palestine-Israel conflict. On this subject I have read countless books over many years- and Norman Finkelstein's exploration is unbelievably, and devastatingly, head on. In saying this I am including Finkelstein's materials in Appendix II. Appendix II is virtually a stand-alone presentation on the Palestine-Israel conflict. If your primary or even exclusive interest is the Palestine-Israel conflict, then "Beyond Chutzpah" is a book worth owning for Appendix II alone.

Earlier in the review I stated that "Beyond Chutzpah" was not about Dershowitz. Yet in the second part of "Beyond Chutzpah," Finkelstein makes reference after reference to the claims and conclusions in Dershowitz's book, "The Case for Israel." Finkelstein also dedicates some limited space to showing, embarrassingly well (and embarrassing not just for Dershowitz but for Harvard too) how Dershowitz engaged in plagiarism when writing "The Case for Israel." Still, I say that "Beyond Chutzpah" is not about Dershowitz. I say this because in fact Dershowitz is just a symptom of a far deeper malady, an interchangeable spokesperson for American Jewry gone mad- and as a Jew, it has taken me years of painful self exploration to come to terms with this ugly state of affairs. Again- Dershowitz is insignificant; yes, he's been embarrassed and exposed, but his replacements will line up to keep up the senseless, self-conscious and ultimately devastatingly-damaging-to-Israel campaign. Not only will Dershowitz be replaced, but the false and occasionally outrageous claims that Dershowitz has made in his book, The Case for Israel, are basically the same claims that Jewish American fanatics have been making all along. Truly, "Beyond Chutzpah" is not about Dershowitz, and it's not about Finkelstein either. I'm a middle aged cynic and yet still I deeply believe that Finkelstein's book marks the turning point, a signal that American Jewry is as a whole going to look at itself in the mirror now and begin refraining from this despicable dishonesty and unforgivably ugly hatred and intolerance of a weaker, desperate and humiliated group of people that in the end simply want a land that they can call their own.

This is a brilliant book. In a gross miscarriage of justice, DePaul University has denied its author tenure.
As the Chronicle of Higher Education says:
Mr. Finkelstein's case has excited widespread interest, in part because of the involvement of Alan M. Dershowitz, a professor of law at Harvard University. The two scholars have sparred repeatedly in public. Last fall, Mr. Dershowitz sent members of DePaul's law and political-science faculties what he described as "a dossier of Norman Finkelstein's most egregious academic sins, and especially his outright lies, misquotations, and distortions." Earlier Deroswitz had threatened to sue the U.C. press, the academic press that published the book.
UC press is one of the most prestigious university presses. Finkelstein's book was peer reviewed. His Department and Dean recommended he be awarded tenure. So much for free speech and academic freedom.

It was largely hearing about Dershowitz's heavy-handed attempts to suppress this book (including letters to the governor of California) that stimulated me to buy it. As a long-time supporter of free speech, this sort of thing always raises my antennas of suspicion. And it's clear after reading it just why he didn't want us to see it! Harvard should be embarrassed to have Dershowitz on its faculty (and in a named professorship, at that). My only reservation about Finkelstein's book is that it sometimes seems like overkill. From time to time I felt like holding up my hand and shouting "Enough already! You've proved your case".

I read Dershowitz's book (The Case for Israel) when it came out and am embarrased to have found it convincing at the time. Since than, I've done a little fact-checking of my own and found the book wanting in ways that Finkelstein doesn't even discuss: specifically the matter of land-purchases in the pre-1948 period. While technically, a good deal of land was (as D. maintains), purchased by Zionist settlers from its owners, he fails to point out the trickery and manipulation of absentee landlords which was involved in this. Ouch!

It's somewhat unfortunate that much of the interest in this book has been created by the conflict between Finkelstein and Alan Dershowitz about the alleged plagiarism of Dershowitz. That subject is certainly well covered. See Appendix I. But as Finkelstein says his primary intent is to use Dershowitz' claims as a peg to explore crucial aspects of the Israel-Palestine conflict which he does brilliantly and exposes Dershowitz shoddy scholorship along the way.

Part I of the book deals with the latest campaign by Israel's dogged supporters to convince us that the world is awash in a "new anti-Semitism" which turns out to mean any criticism of the Zionist state. The evidence is...nothing. Finkelstein shows that this a regular practice whenever Israel is forced to come close to actual peace.

In Part II Finkelstein deals with Dershowitz' attempts to paint Israel as not only innocent of human rights violations but as a paragon of virtue ("generally superb") in the face of unanimous opposite conclusions by every international body dealing with the subject. I would recommend that any reader first read Appendices II and III before the rest of the book to get an appreciation of Dershowitz' appalling misrepresentations. To make his case Dershowitz is compelled to denounce every human rights organization and the International Court of Justice. The latter not only found Israel's recently constructed "wall" built in the occupied West Bank illegal but also confirmed once again that the Israeli "settlements" - all of them - were likewise illegal, so the violations were not only offensive in themselves but were committed in illegally occupied territory. This book effectively exposes Dershowitz' claims which have been promoted by the Israeli government as "among the most spectacular academic frauds ever published on the Israel-Palestine conflict." Only a skillful and courageous Jew like Norman Finkelstein could have written and published this book.

This book is a must read for every person interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It breaks through the artificial complexity and explains the core problems (occupation, expansion and human rights abuses) in a simple and direct manner. The book is a powerful blow to the "pro-Israel" forces that approve of Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. It demonstrates pretty well the consensus among human rights organizations about Israel's widespread abuse, torture and war crimes. It also exposes the fabricated smoke screen stirred in the US to divert attention away from Israel's atrocities.

In a more professional academic environment than the current one, this book should end Alan Dershowitz's career, as it systematically exposes Dershowitz for the deceptive, hypocritical, incompetent fraud he is.

Besides being informative and saturated with evidence, Beyond Chutzpah is also light and enjoyable to read. It turns out Norman Finkelstein has a sense of humor. Read it!

In this book, Finkelstein extends his seminal work on the Holocaust Industry to encompass (what he considers to be) the uncritical support for Israel regardless of (what he contends to be) her repeated criminal acts against the Palestinians. For example, he discusses the decades-old massacre of Arab civilians by Israelis at Deir Yassin as well as larger, lesser-known Israeli massacres of Arab civilians in the early days of the State of Israel (Lydda, 250 victims; Ad Dawayima, "hundreds"; p. 263). Unlike most other reviews, however, this one focuses on Finkelstein's latest views on the Holocaust Industry.

Is anti-Semitism in the eye of the beholder? Finkelstein recurrently states that charges of anti-Semitism have been frequently leveled in order to silence valid criticisms of Jews in general and Israeli policies in particular. These charges revolve around the unspoken premise that Jews can do no wrong (e. g., "Holocaust Industry dogma a priori rejects this hypothesis: animus towards Jews can never spring from wrongs committed by Jews." (p. 78)). Furthermore: "It is even doubtful that agreeing with the statement `Jews have too much influence in the world' proves, as the report claims, anti-Semitism...--anymore than agreeing with the statement `White people have too much influence in the world' or `Males have too much influence in the world' proves, respectively, a racist or sexist cast of mind." (p. 75). Finkelstein rejects Abraham Foxman's contention (that the supposedly Jewish-controlled movie industry, inexplicably, seldom acts on behalf of Jews) with the following retort: "Is that why Hollywood has produced a mere 175 films on the Nazi holocaust since 1989?" (p. 83).

Finkelstein re-affirms his repudiation of the notion that the Holocaust was "singular, universal, and unique", comparing it with "the uniqueness and universality of Marxism-Leninism" (p. 49), and dismissing it as follows: "Beyond its repellent chauvinism, this intellectually hollow doctrine of uniqueness serves the useful ideological function of allowing Israel to claim unique moral dispensation: if Jewish suffering was unique, then Israel shouldn't be bound by normal moral standards." (p. 62). Furthermore, he writes: "[There is]...an ADL [Anti-Defamation League] poll of the European Union showing that nearly half of the respondents agreed with the statement `The Jews still talk too much about the Holocaust.' Indeed, the wonder is that the percentage of Europeans resenting chauvinistic incantation and political instrumentalization of The Holocaust isn't much greater." (p. 74).

Finkelstein asserts that his claims of a Holocaust Industry have never been refuted, at least in writing (p. 67), and he cites Raul Hilberg's supportive statements towards the same. Finkelstein then repeats his scathing denunciations of the Holocaust Industry itself: "Under the guise of seeking `Holocaust reparations,' American Jewish organizations and individuals at all levels of government and in all sectors of American society entered into a conspiracy--this is the correct word--to blackmail Europe. It was on account of `Jewish money' that the Clinton administration went along with this shakedown operation, providing--even to the detriment of U. S. national interests--crucial support for it at every juncture." (pp. 82-83). "And just as the Clinton administration promoted the Holocaust reparations scam to get Jewish money and Jewish votes, so the Bush administration undoubtedly supported the new anti-Semitism scam with the same calculations in mind." (p. 61).

Throughout his book, Finkelstein has strong words against certain individuals. He repeatedly accuses Alan Dershowitz of making false statements on behalf of Israel, and refers to Elie Wiesel as part of the "anti-Semitism circus at the UN (p. 62)". He accuses the ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) of slandering him by calling him "a known Holocaust denier". (p. 73). He charges Abraham Foxman of the ADL of attempting to censor his book for criticizing Daniel Goldhagen (p. 55), whom Finkelstein elsewhere called a "Holocaust Industry guru" (p. 79). Finally, Finkelstein believes that certain prominent Jews have actually behaved in accordance with the worst anti-Semitic caricatures of Jews: "Yet if Jews act out a Jewish stereotype, it plainly doesn't follow that they can't be committing the stereotypical act. Can't they commit a vile act even if it conforms to a Jewish stereotype?...Should people like Abraham Foxman, Edgar Bronfman, and Rabbi Israel Singer get a free ride because they resemble stereotypes straight out of Der Sturmer?" (p. 83).

Recently, Jan Thomas Gross has gotten a great deal of media adulation for his FEAR, in which he alleges that postwar Poles were anxious to rid themselves of all remaining Jews out of guilt over the acquisitions of post-Jewish properties. Finkelstein demonstrates how very shoddy books (which Finkelstein compares to the latest publications of the Flat Earth Society) can even become national best sellers as a result of favorable media coverage (p. 17). Although he does not mention Gross, Finkelstein does expose the absurdity of the bizarre arguments that Jan Thomas Gross has recently resurrected and placed into a Polonophobic context: "Not only Germans but all Europeans, according to Rosenbaum, were Hitler's Willing Executioners...Imposing on Jews a state apart, Europeans conspired to `get the surviving Jews--reminders of European shame--off the continent, and leave the European peoples in possession of the property stolen from the Jews during the war.'...Before Rosenbaum came along, who would have guessed that the main impetus behind Israel's creation wasn't Jews longing for a homeland but Europeans longing to expel them--and to keep their stolen property, no less?" (p. 43).

Norman Finkelstein can be accussed of many things: being a pedant, using strident sarcasm in his writing, having a large ego. One thing, however, that no serious scholar would accuse him of is sloppy scholarship. Finkelstein does not go half way; he goes all the way. The products of his obsessive, "forensic" scholarhsip are highly informative, moarlistic, hard to read books.

Beyond Chutzpah is more of the same. The only difference in this book is that the reader can feel more Chomsky in the acrid, dry humour of Finkelstein. At least the guy is blunt and pulls no punches. The book focuses on two things: part 1 debunks the idea that their is a new antisemitism in the air. According to Finkelstein, this idea serves as a distracting technique to keep serious citizens from questioning Israeli policy. On this score, he is right on. Their is no doubt that this is the case. Part 2 uses the meretricious book, The Case For Israel, by Alan D. as a prop to set straight Israel's human rights record. Along the way Dershowitz is ground into the dust like grain under a milstone. More importantly, after reading this section the reader will hardly be able to believe that Israel's human rights record should serve as a beacon to other nations. If anything, it is a blight on the massive page of the follies, crimes, and misfortunes of mankind.

Beyond Chutzpah ends with technical appendices challenging the veracity of Dershowitz's scholarship. I won't get into this here (see my review of The Case For Israel if you are interested) since it would spoil the most entertaining chapters of Finkelstein's book.

Overall, this book is a meticulously documented, scrupulously honest account of Israel's record and the cynical nature of Israel's "friends." As a reader deeply involved in the issue of Israel/Palestine, I deeply respect the scholarhsip of Finkelstein. Yes, one can regret his pugilistic tone, but, more important than such quirks are his virtues. After this book, you will never take anything Alan Dershowitz says seriously, and this is a good thing.

Professor Norman Finkelstein is a Class A academic researcher. This book essentially exposes many parts of the Jewish/Israel lobby. Jews need to wake up to the fact that Israel is an illegal country... a land grab in 1948 (at the expense of Arabs living there for centuries). Israel continues it's illegal occupation of the West Bank, and sad to say, at the long term expense of worldwide Jewry; Zionist actions since '48 have done immeasurable damage to the repuation of Jews worldwide. Congratulations to Dr. Norman Finkelstein for his outstanding book.

Finally, here is a brave, honest and true to the letter book for serious readers who want to really solve the problem in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. I also advise readers to read or listen to the debate between Dr. Finkelstein and Shlomo Bin Ami who was an Israeli minster of defence during the Camp David negotiations between Barak and Arafat in 2000. Dr. Finkelstein's accurate analysis and writings about the Holocaust Industry are unmatchable in this world.