Norman Finkelstein

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Norman Finkelstein in 2005

Norman G. Finkelstein (born December 8, 1953 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American political scientist . So far he has written six books on the subject of Zionism , the Middle East conflict and commemoration of the Holocaust . In Germany he was best known in 2000 with his book The Holocaust Industry , which intensified a debate about the culture of remembrance of this event, its singularity and compensation for Nazi slave laborers .

Life

family

Finkelstein's Polish parents, Maryla Husyt and Zacharias Finkelstein, were persecuted and interned as Jews in the Third Reich . Both survived the Warsaw ghetto , the mother also the Majdanek concentration camp , and the father Auschwitz . However, all other relatives were killed. After the Second World War , Finkelstein's parents emigrated to the United States.

academic career

Finkelstein received his bachelor's degree from Binghamton University in the US state of New York in 1974 and then went to the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. 1978 and 1979 he was a professor at Princeton University in the field of Political Science , where he his 1980 master gained. From 1981 to 1982 he was a lecturer in political science at Rutgers University . In 1988 he received his PhD on a theory of Zionism from the Princeton Department of Politics . From September 1988 to mid-1992 he was an Associate Professor at Brooklyn College and from 1992 to 1998 an Associate Professor of General Studies at New York University . From 1992 to 2001, he was Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Hunter College, NY University. From 1998 to 2003 he was visiting professor at the Catholic DePaul University in Chicago, then as an associate professor in the field of political science.

According to Noam Chomsky , Finkelstein's professors at Princeton University blocked his studies because of the publication of his criticism of Joan Peter's book From Time Immemorial . This had a lasting negative impact on his academic career. Only after Chomsky Finkelstein had mediated the change to another faculty did he complete his studies there with the degree of Ph.D. from. Since Finkelstein rejected the following university vacancies that required him to end his "crusade", he first had to work as a part-time social worker.

Steven Plaut accused Finkelstein of having achieved nothing in the scientific field and of concentrating instead on his popular scientific works , as he had not yet published anything in scientific journals. In the same article, Plaut accused Finkelstein of inciting Jews, playing down the Holocaust, supporting Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism, intolerance and pornography.

In June 2007, Finkelstein's application for a chair at DePaul University was rejected, which he criticized as politically motivated. The university director Dennis H. Holtschneider finally rejected the charge of a politically motivated rejection of Finkelstein's application and expressed displeasure about public pressure from Finkelstein's opponents. He justified the rejection with Finkelstein's lack of respect for the need to freely question his advocates in the application process. The Faculty of Political Science had previously voted for Finkelstein to be employed.

Publications

Zionism theory

In contrast to many positive reviews, Finkelstein judged in his doctoral thesis the book From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters, published in 1984, as a largely false, only ostensibly scientific representation of the conditions in Palestine before and after the establishment of the State of Israel . His attempts to publish a review in the US media were initially unsuccessful; Finkelstein's article appeared in the small magazine In These Times only after Noam Chomsky stepped in . Initially, however, it was not noticed by experts or the press.

It was only after Peter's book was published in Great Britain and Chomsky had made Finkelstein's research known there that the reviewers became aware of him. As a result, From Time Immemorial received numerous negative reviews in Great Britain, including in the renowned London Review of Books and in the Observer . In the USA, too, the previously positive reviews were put into perspective.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In 1995 Finkelstein published his first book Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (German edition 2002), which dealt with the Middle East conflict , the history of Israel and again with "Jewish nationalism " ( Zionism ). In it he devoted a lot of space to the theses of Benny Morris , one of the “ New Israeli Historians ”. Morris argues that the Palestinian refugees before 1948 largely did not flee as a result of calls from Arab authorities, but were driven out or forced to flee in the war between the Arab states against Israel.

Finkelstein supported the Palestinians' right to nonviolent resistance and compared Israel's approach to them with methods of the Gestapo . Jewish organizations therefore accused him of anti-Semitism . He then referred to statements made in an interview by an Israeli military officer who had said that when storming densely populated refugee camps one had to learn from the methods of the National Socialists , for example in relation to the Warsaw Ghetto . As a Jew and the son of Holocaust survivors, Finkelstein often refers to his family background in order to reject allegations that he is an anti-Semite as absurd. Ludger Heid interpreted this as a problematic strategy to make his views appear more believable. Finkelstein sees himself as an advocate of universal human rights , who particularly criticizes the USA and Israel for their human rights violations and classifies their politics as imperialism .

In 2012, Finkelstein described the initiators of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel as a “sect” that was “not about the rights of the Palestinians, but about the destruction of Israel” and that received “their marching orders from gurus in Ramallah”. Finkelstein called their approach “silly and childish.” Regarding one of the key issues in the Middle East conflict , the Palestinian refugee problem , he said: “Will the public find it reasonable if six million Palestinians pour into a country that now has 1.8 million Palestinians and five , Has 5 million Jews? I don't think that can be conveyed. "

In 2008, Israel accused Finkelstein of having made contact with Hezbollah while on a trip to Lebanon and of concealing them upon entry, and imposed a ten-year entry ban on him.

Compare to National Socialism

In order to criticize Israel's reprehensible policy and to illustrate the intolerable situation of the Palestinians, Finkelstein often resorts to Nazi comparisons in his speeches and publications . The Israelis would do to the Palestinians exactly what their ancestors would have had to endure under National Socialism.

On his website, Finkelstein captioned reports on the Middle East conflict with fictional headlines in order to draw parallels to the history of National Socialism. He associated Israel with Hitler , the Palestinians with the Jews and the Gaza Strip with the Warsaw Ghetto. The Israeli domestic secret service Shin Bet brought Finkelstein into contact with the Schutzstaffel (SS). An official video from the Israeli military in which a spokesman wishes Muslim Israelis and Muslims around the world a blessed Ramadan - combined with allegations against Hezbollah and the affirmation of the military's readiness for action - was captioned by Finkelstein with the headline “Newly-discovered footage shows Hitler wishing Jews a Happy Passover ”(German:“ Newly discovered recording shows how Hitler wishes the Jews a happy Passover ”). For an article that reported how leading members of the Jusos and the Junge Union discussed the possibility of a pre-emptive strike in the event of a nuclear armament in Iran , Finkelstein chose the surtitle "Hitler Youth say Yes to Israeli strike on Iran" (German: "Hitlerjugend says Yes to the Israeli attack on Iran ”).

Goldhagen criticism

In 1998 Finkelstein's replica to Daniel Goldhagen's book Hitler's willing executors was published with the title One Nation on Trial. Goldhagen's thesis and the historical truth . He accused Goldhagen of falsifying historical facts and of adopting racist thought patterns with his declaration of German “eliminatory” anti-Semitism. Since Goldhagen saw a connection between the sadism of the concentration camp staff and anti-Semitic attitudes that were generally widespread in the population, Finkelstein accused him of inventing a new genre, "holoporn".

With an excerpt from his book against Goldhagen's theses, Spiegel had already made Finkelstein known in Germany last year. His anti-Goldhagen theses were received in a polarizing manner by the media and specialist historians in Germany in the heated Goldhagen debate. While on the one hand the book was rejected as irrelevant, Finkelstein served many anti-Goldhagen positions as a Jewish key witness. Finkelstein was accepted as an authentic ( Lars Rensmann ) representative of their own positions, especially by right-wing extremist groups .

Attacks on the Jewish Claims Conference

In January 2000, Finkelstein sharply attacked the Jewish Claims Conference (JCC) in interviews with German daily newspapers . An article appeared in the Berliner Zeitung on January 29, 2000 under the heading “The exploitation of Jewish suffering” in which Finkelstein claimed:

The JCC had already reached an agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany for Nazi forced laborers in the early 1950s. It provided for a small pension for imprisonment, a lifelong pension for damage to health from this period. Today the "same negotiations with the same people" would be reopened. After the first funds arrived, the JCC redefined their purpose. Not the guidelines of the Federal Republic, but the JCC alone is responsible for "that many victims, including the slave laborers, were never compensated." The JCC would now prefer to make its own detailed documents from the 1950s disappear. The Yad Vashem memorial was also financed by funds that were actually intended for individual Holocaust victims. The historian Saul Friedländer estimated the number of surviving concentration camp prisoners and slave workers at 100,000; of which a maximum of 25,000 are still alive. The JCC, however, is negotiating about an alleged 135,000 former Nazi slave workers who are still alive. She also deliberately inflated the compensation claims so that she  could keep half of them - five billion DM - for herself. Of this she wants to distribute a maximum of 30 million DM to the victims.

Karl Brozik , director of the JCC Frankfurt, responded to each of the allegations with a counter-statement: There was no agreement on the Nazi slave workers in 1952 and later. The JCC negotiators today are not identical to those of the time, with the exception of one person. The Federal Republic is ultimately responsible for the payment, since the JCC may not violate its guidelines according to the contract. The JCC has just commissioned the documentation of the negotiations then and now and also had the work of the historians Ronald Zweig and Nana Sagi translated into German. Funds intended for individual compensation were never misappropriated by the JCC. The number of surviving slave laborers of around 135,000 was based on the most reliable and best available sources. The JCC will only get a very small fraction of the five billion mentioned above and will pay it out in full.

In the Neue Revue , however, Finkelstein repeated his allegations.

In another interview with the Berliner Zeitung on February 4, 2000, Wolfgang Benz stated that the Luxembourg Agreement of 1952 was not about individual but global restitution of expropriated Jewish property (" Aryanization "), compensation for Jewish concentration camp victims and Development aid for the State of Israel has gone. The JCC only represented the interests of Jews who did not live in Israel. The subsequent payment and compensation for Nazi forced laborers was not discussed at the time. The Federal Republic has only in their field or in the West living former forced laborers under the Federal Compensation Act makes up for detention or health during incarceration, and not separately from other concentration camp prisoners. Subsequent wages for their forced labor had not been planned, and the surviving concentration camp prisoners in Eastern Europe had received nothing. This “screaming injustice” is no longer repairable. Because of the Cold War , the West had made the Federal Republic responsible, while the Soviet Union was supposed to stick to the GDR and former German eastern territories. The number of 500,000 surviving concentration camp prisoners cited by the JCC for 1945 is demonstrably still underestimated based on the proven figures for displaced persons . However, the number of those still living in 2000 is probably in the middle between 25,000 (Finkelstein) and 135,000 (JCC), i.e. around 75,000. As an interest group, the JCC has to act aggressively towards state governments in order to make a difference. The criticism of his officials 'salaries falls into the same category as that of too high politicians or managers' salaries. But they are necessary so that the victims' representatives can negotiate with those of the perpetrators on an equal footing. He does not believe that the JCC, which has a solid reputation, reallocated funds from the 1952 lump sum compensation. If money for the construction of Israel was also diverted for Yad Vashem , then this was legitimate and sensible in the interests of the overall memory of Judaism. He is waiting for Finkelstein's evidence to support his claim that the JCC has misappropriated individual compensation. However, the history of the compensation is insufficiently transparent. However, this cannot and should not influence the German negotiations on a compensation fund for former Nazi forced laborers, since 90 percent of these are non-Jewish forced laborers who were not mentioned at the time and which the JCC did not represent.

"The Holocaust Industry"

theses

The English-language original edition was published in the USA in July 2000 by a small left-liberal publisher. In it, Finkelstein claims, among other things:

  • American Jewry paid no attention to the Holocaust either during World War II or after. It had only discovered since the Six Day War in 1967 that it could be capitalized on.
  • It then created a "Holocaust industry" in order to enrich itself in the memory of the Holocaust and thus to blackmail more and more support for Israel in the Middle East conflict .
  • In order to market the Holocaust systematically, the claim of its "singularity" was created and the number of Jewish victims was exaggerated.
  • Much of the money earmarked as compensation for the victims was used by the JCC for other purposes; Jewish organizations in the USA in particular would benefit from this.

For these theses Finkelstein gave no new sources compared to his earlier interviews. He expressed his personal concern and emphasized several times that the JCC had not compensated his mother, a Holocaust survivor, who had died in the meantime, with $ 3,500. Other victims - "and many who weren't really victims" - would have received lifelong pensions of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Often he personally attacked certain - mostly Jewish - people whom he regards as representatives of the "Holocaust industry": for example Elie Wiesel , who enriched himself through his Holocaust lectures, Simon Wiesenthal , Edgar Miles Bronfman senior or Lawrence Eagleburger .

At the end of his presentation, Finkelstein draws the following conclusion:

“The incomparability, even out of history, of the mass murder of the Jews does not arise from the event itself, but is above all the product of the exploitative industry that developed afterwards. The Holocaust industry has always been bankrupt. All that remains is to say it openly. The time to take them out of business is long overdue. The noblest gesture towards those who have perished is to preserve their memory, learn from their suffering and finally let them rest in peace. "

- Norman Finkelstein : The Holocaust Industry

Omer Bartov sharply criticized the book in the New York Times immediately after its publication: he described it as a conspiracy-theoretical treatise that typically contains a few true elements, but has no value in the context of a fanatical overall view. The work was defended by Noam Chomsky . Raul Hilberg said the book was going in the "right direction".

Debate in German-speaking media

The German translation of August 2000 made Finkelstein known in Germany and sparked a debate there about the singularity of the Shoah, the commemoration of it and compensation for Nazi slave laborers. The first German review wrote Rafael Seligmann in the Welt am Sonntag of 23 July 2000. In his review he said the book the scientific, and made it clear that the JCC had not argued with inflated casualty figures, American Jews since 1933 well Exerted pressure on the US government to help the persecuted Jews of Europe, and that without pressure from American Jewish organizations, the East European slave laborers would not have been compensated. In addition, the Holocaust remembrance in the USA is not a conscious strategy of Jewish organizations. In addition, only Brigitte Werneburg from the Berlin taz joined this all-round devastating criticism. Rafael Seligmann stated, however, that “it would be wrong to dismiss Finkelstein's criticism as a destructive polemic. It is stimulating. Above all, it is necessary like a cleaning agent. "

The newspaper Die Woche presented long excerpts from the book and benevolent comments, such as by Noam Chomsky and Ernst Nolte . Chomsky had described Finkelstein's book as a well-founded treatise. She then brought negative short comments from Salomon Korn , Elie Wiesel , Simon Wiesenthal and Paul Spiegel, among others . Only Hans Mommsen was mentioned as a non-Jewish critic . This was followed by a long interview with Finkelstein and an article on Holocaust survivor Gizella Weisshaus , who also felt cheated by the JCC.

At that time , Reinhard Rürup pleaded for Finkelstein's objections to be examined with confidence. He came to the following conclusion: "The argument about Norman Finkelstein's pamphlet is not worthwhile, but it is about the important book by Peter Novick ." This US historian had recently published a book ( The Holocaust in American Life ) on a similar subject, the one - in comparison to Finkelstein - contains cautious criticism. Finkelstein referred to this book in parts and placed Novick's evidence in the context of his charges.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung let the author present his book himself on August 11th and stated his homepage. On the following day, Petra Steinberger presented him as a polarizing scientist, whose theses had to be a “technical debate”. The ARD Tagesthemen stated on the same day: "The book may contain errors, but also well-founded criticism."

FAZ editor Lorenz Jäger wrote that polemics had to come to a head in order to meet the truth.

Until the end of August 2000, none of the German reviews indicated that Karl Brozik , Wolfgang Benz and Rafael Seligmann , among others , had already rejected many of the book's theses as false and unfounded. Salomon Korn therefore criticized: It is not Finkelstein's theses, but the willingness of the German media to believe them unseen is the real problem.

Until then, the consensus of the German press under the opinion leadership of the SZ was that Finkelstein's theses had scientific rank and therefore had to be discussed openly and widely. According to Eva Schweitzer in the Berliner Zeitung, this is being ruthlessly prevented by the “Holocaust industry” in the USA. In her laudatory review, Schweitzer did not mention that she was involved in the creation of the book.

The weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit welcomed Finkelstein's book at the beginning of July. She repeatedly published detailed quotations from it. In addition, on July 28, 2000, she demanded under the title “The Billion Poker” that Finkelstein's book must be translated into German immediately. The reviewer Ivan Denes particularly approved of those passages in which Finkelstein questioned the singularity of the Holocaust.

Although the book had long been printed in English, the German translation had been prepared and it was already being discussed in Germany, Peter Sichrovsky , General Secretary of the FPÖ , declared in the "Junge Freiheit" on September 8, 2000:

“Only a few wise men should decide in Germany what the idiots are allowed to read and not allowed to read? Perhaps Salomon Korn and all the other agitators who want to withhold the book from the Germans can explain to us simple people how to become such a sage? "

This was seen by critics like Arne Berensen as a deliberate attempt to portray Korn as the representative of an arrogant minority who, as a secret puller, wanted to manipulate the German public. The fact that Korn found no support for his criticism in the German press was ignored.

The National-Zeitung - German weekly newspaper celebrated Finkelstein's book euphorically in a whole series of articles that appeared over a period of several months and claimed attempts to suppress German Jews. Some commentators in the regional press adopted this pattern: The “criticism of Jews” should not be “censored”. Those who rejected and criticized the book are helpers of anti-Semitism.

In the United States, right-wing extremists like David Duke took up the book positively.

Although Finkelstein publicly denied allegations that he supported Holocaust denial as lies of the "Holocaust industry", experts in historical revisionism in Europe and the USA - for example Martin Dietzsch and Alfred Schobert from the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance , and the American lawyer Alan Dershowitz  - did not just reject to neo-Nazi reactions, but also to conspiracy-theoretical and anti-Semitic motives in Finkelstein's argument that correspond to their thinking.

Regarding these right-wing extremist reactions and analogies, the historian Michael Brenner , Professor of Jewish History and Culture at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, remarked :

“But do established scientists and respected journalists have to enter into a dialogue with the author of such a pamphlet, or shouldn't he be left to his own kind? [...] Isn't it more effective if one of the knowledgeable revisionist colleagues gives him the address of the Elders of Zion in front of the camera while he is in Germany? "

He said the book was "a terrific pathological study - about its author".

Debate among historians

The Harvard historian Charles S. Maier replied to Finkelstein in the SZ from mid-August 2000 and referred to the actual context, which was already evident from the time the book was published:

“To what extent and for how long does a nation's responsibility for the atrocities committed on its behalf allow for reparation? The convenient but unworthy answer that one will read from Finkelstein's theses is: 'That's enough.' "

Finkelstein is damaging the factual debate about the compensation payments, the scientific - non-exculpatory - Holocaust research and the search for appropriate forms of Holocaust remembrance. He used a negligent language that could end up favoring prejudice and violence.

The Freiburg historian and expert on Nazi forced labor Ulrich Herbert denied central theses of Finkelstein:

  • Objectively, there is no causal connection between Holocaust remembrance and Middle East policy in the USA; this is conspiracy theory,
  • the singularity thesis is actually sometimes blown up into a kind of "sanctuary". However, this is not the case in the professional world, which Finkelstein had also attacked,
  • Finkelstein's own sources have largely refuted the allegation that the JCC had embezzled compensation funds,
  • Regarding the survivor numbers, he simply has no idea of ​​the facts,
  • he concealed the fact that the mostly non-Jewish forced laborers in Eastern Europe were now being compensated because of pressure from American-Jewish organizations.

Even Julius H. Schoeps expressed in the FAZ and stressed that Finkelstein wanted to attack the Middle East policy of the US. His criticism of Jewish victims' associations has a completely different effect in the German context than in the American one.

The Germany expert for the New York Times , Jacob Heilbrunn , called Finkelstein a “neurotic extremist who stylizes himself as a hero and wants to incite an artificial controversy” in order to make a profit himself, since he is a “nobody” in the USA.

In the Frankfurter Rundschau of August 22, 2000, Peter Longerich , Holocaust expert at the University of London , criticized the benevolent reception of the book in the German forest of newspapers, which was due less to the scientific quality of Finkelstein's book than to its penetrating emphasis on his identity as a son of Holocaust survivors. The book meets a "widespread, amorphous feeling of 'finally enough'". This endangers German democracy, for which Holocaust remembrance is a question of survival. The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC - whose political orientation and public funding Finkelstein had disapproved of in his book - did not establish the singularity of the Holocaust as a taboo, but instead established it as the result of sober comparative genocide research : it publishes the most important international specialist journal on this.

Marcia Pally , a professor at New York University, said the book was an insignificant part of a professional debate in the US about essentialists like Elie Wiesel and contextualists like Peter Novick. Finkelstein does not belong to the professional elite and is gaining attention in Europe as a substitute. - Novick himself rejected Finkelstein's book in Die Welt of September 4, 2000 as an “obsessive tirade” and contradicted the author on key points: The Jewish elite in the USA is heterogeneous and, especially with regard to the singularity of the Holocaust, different opinions. The Holocaust industry also called Novick an update of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for the 21st century.

The Dutch author Leon de Winter , son of Holocaust survivors, analyzed Finkelstein's reference to his mother, who felt cheated by the JCC: Finkelstein could not write the truth because he was obsessed with the idea of ​​justifying his late mother's views. He is in better hands with therapy than in the world press. But she is enthusiastic about his book because a Jew allows her to reformulate an old anti-Semitic thought, namely that Jews enriched themselves with the bad world conscience.

Raul Hilberg noted that Finkelstein criticized the American-Jewish community as an “outsider” and stated that the shock in Switzerland about the demands of the World Jewish Congress was due to ignorance of the American system of class actions. The compensation money was paid out delayed because of the ongoing complicated legal proceedings, which is why American and Israeli banks are now being sued. However, Edgar Bronfman could eliminate the poverty among Holocaust survivors from his private fortune overnight. The Holocaust Research is often a profiling area for budding historians without quality control. Hilberg agreed to some of Finkelstein's theses on the abuse of Holocaust memory in the compensation debate:

“... his book will certainly not become a best seller, but what it says is basically true even though incomplete. It is more a journalistic account than an in depth study on the topic, which would need to be much longer. [...] I agree with him that people overestimate the number of survivors and that the concept itself is ill-defined - it includes not only the victims of the camps - and it is true that there an exaggerated number of compensation requests are made. [...] The Jewish-American community is very prosperous and there is no reason for them to ask the Swiss for money. That seems obscene to me. "

“... his book will certainly not be a bestseller, but what it says is basically true, even if incomplete. It is more of a journalistic account than an in-depth study of the subject that should be much more detailed. […] I agree that people overestimate the number of survivors and that the concept itself is vague - it does not just include the victims of the camps - and it is true that there is an excessive number of claims for compensation. […] The Jewish-American community is very wealthy and has no reason to ask the Swiss for money. That seems obscene to me. "

Hilberg, who had also dealt with allegedly illegitimate compensation claims against Swiss banks, also appeared in later years as a prominent advocate of Finkelstein: Finkelstein's book and his own research would be based on the same sources and - albeit different in style - on the get the same results. Hilberg also speculated that a targeted campaign was at work to hinder Finkelstein's academic career.

On August 31, 2000, Salomon Korn criticized Piper-Verlag in the Jüdischen Allgemeine for the decision to publish the book in German:

“Piper-Verlag knows very well that this is a speculative book that serves certain expectations regarding anti-Semitic stereotypes hostile to Jews. In addition, he speculates that one would finally like to see the Jews not only in the role of victims, but also in the role of perpetrators - especially here in Germany. Piper-Verlag would have done better to first check this book thoroughly [...] If it was a question of real education, then Piper-Verlag should not have published such a book. Here is the cash register before the class. "

Ernst Piper himself criticized the current policy of his former publisher: Finkelstein's book is now being added to the publication of Ernst Nolte's “Historical Existence” and Horst Möller's “ Red Holocaust ” as “Trio Infernale”. This cannot be prevented, but neither can criticism be forbidden. He then published a paperback with collected articles on Finkelstein (see literature).

Apart from Ulrich Herbert, only foreign and Jewish specialist historians had commented. Hans Mommsen ("unusually trivial investigation") and Ernst Nolte had ordered short comments in "Woche", Reinhard Rürup in "Zeit". Wolfgang Benz, Johannes Fried and Eberhard Jäckel declined a public discussion of the book on the occasion of the German Historians' Day in Aachen in order not to upgrade it as a reference book. Michael Wolffsohn branded this in the press as "tabooing" the topic, which promotes anti-Semitism. Lorenz Jäger from the FAZ and Petra Steinberger from the SZ agreed.

Finkelstein defended himself in the SZ on September 9, 2000 under the title "The messenger is the guilty party": He does not pursue a conspiracy theory, but there are "people and institutions that forge intrigues and schemes". He named the CIA and affirmed that the Holocaust would only be generalized for US interests, but not for their victims. Of all the historians known to him, only Ulrich Herbert denied that the Holocaust had only emerged in the USA since 1967. He also pointed out that although Herbert's estimate of around 300,000 Jewish survivors in 1945 was correct (a number that Gunnar Heinsohn considered too high), Herbert's figure was 30-40%, instead of 25%, as a percentage who are still alive today is unfounded. The number of 700,000 survivors that the Claims Conference assumed would be beyond any factually explainable number, be it 100,000 ( Henry Friedlander ) or 50,000 ( Leonard Dinnerstein ) or 300,000 (Herbert). He now saw himself as a victim of the "Holocaust industry", which "ruthlessly targets its critics."

For the number of Jewish Holocaust survivors, he referred to the low estimates of the German negotiating delegation at the forced labor fund, without checking their sources. He saw his criticism of the compensation payments confirmed by the US attorney Gabriel Schoenfeld , who had criticized the form of the campaigns and the slow payouts. He did not comment on any further allegations of fact, but defended himself against the charge that some of his arguments for exaggerating the Holocaust victims were ammunition for Holocaust denial .

On September 13, Gabriel Schoenfeld's article appeared in German in the SZ for the respected Commentary , a newspaper of the American Jewish Committee . In it, he accused American-Jewish organizations of running compensation campaigns against Israel-friendly states for short-term benefits, but thereby endangering Israel's security in the long term. In addition, too much money would be spent on expensive Holocaust museums instead of impoverished Holocaust victims. In doing so, they made it easier for anti-Semites from all camps to claim that "as with everything that concerns Jews, it was ultimately only about money."

Cancellation of planned performances in Germany

Public criticism of Finkelstein's publications and statements on the Middle East conflict was articulated in February 2010 in the run-up to a planned lecture tour to Germany. For example, the Jewish Community of Berlin and the Federal Shalom Working Group in the Left Youth ['solid] protested against Finkelstein's appearance in Berlin, originally organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation , because Finkelstein represented anti-Semitic and historical revisionist ideas. The critics relied in particular on statements from an interview that Finkelstein granted the Lebanese television broadcaster Future TV on January 20, 2008. In it, Finkelstein had expressed his solidarity with Hezbollah and compared their fight against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon with the resistance to National Socialism in the areas occupied by Germany. According to Finkelstein, if Hezbollah were to lay down its arms, a war could be avoided, but the Lebanese would be "slaves of the Americans". Hezbollah, on the other hand, shows courage, discipline and self-sacrifice and has thus earned its respect. When asked by the television journalists whether there was an alternative to military resistance, Finkelstein replied:

“I don't believe there is another way. I wish there were another way. Who wants war? Who wants destruction? Even Hitler didn't want was. He would much prefer to have accomplished his aims peacefully, if he could. So I am not saying that I want it, but I honestly don't see another way, unless you choose to be their slaves - and many people here have chosen that. "

“I don't think there is any other way. I wish there was another way. Who wants war? Who wants destruction? Even Hitler didn't want a war. He would have preferred to achieve his goals peacefully, if he could. So I'm not saying that I want to, but I honestly see no other way unless you decide to be their slaves - and a lot of people here have made that decision. "

- Norman G. Finkelstein : Israel has to suffer a defeat. Interview with Future TV on January 20, 2008

In response to the criticism, the Heinrich Böll Foundation withdrew its support for the event. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation also revoked a temporary offer to let Finkelstein speak in its rooms. This then canceled his trip to Germany.

Before that, there had also been protests in Munich, where Finkelstein had planned lectures in the Amerika-Haus and in the Kulturhaus Milbertshofen , which ultimately led to Finkelstein's cancellation of both appearances. The association “Salaam Shalom”, which acts as the organizer of the lectures, accused those in charge of the America and Culture House of having bowed to the pressure of the “Israel lobby”. The spokesmen of both institutions contradicted this. They cited security concerns as reasons for the rejection in addition to new findings about Finkelstein's person, since right-wing extremists had advertised attending the events on their pages on the Internet.

Controversy over an invitation to the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle

In January 2017, the Department of Law and Ethnology at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology invited Finkelstein as a visiting scholar. A workshop by Finkelstein was announced under the title "Gaza: an inquest into its martyrdom" (German: "Gaza: An investigation into its martyrdom"). As a result, the institute was accused of providing a platform for relativizing the Holocaust and of inviting Finkelstein, a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah . In addition, the scientific nature of Finkelstein's theses was questioned. The invitation to Finkelstein in Halle led to protests from anti-fascist groups, the Jewish community and from politics, but not to a rejection. The Bundestag also dealt with the process in plenary. The federal government said it was “concerned if, in the context of controversial scientific discussions, a platform could possibly be offered to anti-Semitic theses.” The Süddeutsche Zeitung spoke of Finkelstein as an “Israel hater” and reported on a small request from the Greens about the incident. In its answer of March 27, 2017, the Federal Government distanced itself from the public presentation of the event by the Max Planck Institute. There was a lack of a “clear research policy classification”.

Works

A Nation on Trial (1998)

Books

  • with Ruth Bettina Birn : A Nation on Trial. The Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth. Henry Holt, New York 1998, ISBN 0-8050-5872-9 .
    • German edition: A nation put to the test. The Goldhagen thesis and the historical truth, with an introduction by Hans Mommsen. Claassen, Hildesheim 1998, ISBN 3-546-00140-0 .
  • Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict . Verso, London & New York 1st edition 1995, 2nd edition 2003 ISBN 1-85984-442-1 .
    • German edition: The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Diederichs, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7205-2368-3
  • The Rise and Fall of Palestine: A Personal Account of the Intifada Years. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2003, ISBN 978-0816628599 .
    • German edition: Palestine. A personal account of the Intifada. Adult and actual German version, Diederichs, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7205-2384-5 .
  • Beyond Chutzpah. On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History . University of California Press, Berkeley 2005, ISBN 0-520-24598-9 .
  • This Time We Went Too Far. Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. OR Books, New York 2010, ISBN 978-1-935928-43-0 .
    • German edition: Israel's invasion of Gaza. Translated by Maren Hackmann. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-89401-737-8 .
  • Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza. OR Books, New York 2014, ISBN 978-1522607014 .
    • German edition: Method and madness. The background to the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-944233-62-8 .

Newspaper articles

  • "They abuse the victims". The Jewish political scientist Norman Finkelstein raises serious allegations against the Jewish organizations (in conversation with Martin Suter). In: Sunday newspaper , March 5, 2000.
  • Casino of Compensations. In: The Week, July 28, 2000
  • Business with suffering? The Holocaust Industry. In: SZ , August 11, 2000
  • The messenger is the culprit. Conspiracy theories or breaking taboos? A response to my reviewers. In: SZ , 9./10. September 2000

literature

Books

  • Peter Novick : After the Holocaust. (Original title: The Holocaust in American Life. ) DVA, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-421-05479-7 .
  • Ernst Piper (Ed.): Is there really a Holocaust industry? Pendo Verlag, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-85842-403-X .
  • Petra Steinberger (Ed.): The Finkelstein Debate. Piper, Munich / Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04328-3 .
  • Rolf Surmann (Ed.): The Finkelstein Alibi. “Holocaust Industry” and perpetrator society. Papyrossa, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-89438-217-1 .
  • Martin Dietzsch / Alfred Schobert: A "Jewish David Irving"? Norman G. Finkelstein in the Discourse of the Right - Defense Against Memory and Anti-Zionism. Unrast, Duisburg, ISBN 3-927388-76-9 .

Newspaper articles

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interview with E-international Relations , November 4, 2013. In the interview, Norman Finkelstein also talks about his family history. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. ^ Curriculum vitae by Norman Finkelstein ( Memento from April 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Noam Chomsky: The Fate of an Honest Intellectual . In: Understanding Power , The New Press, New York 2002, pp. 244-248.
  4. ↑ Steven Plaut: The Finkelstein Affair  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (April 23, 2007).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.frontpagemag.com  
  5. ↑ New York Times 2007 , the New York Times literally writes, the university director thinks, Finkelstein is an excellent teacher and a nationally recognized public intellectual but does not “honor the obligation” to “respect and defend the free inquiry of associates.” .
  6. ^ Norman G. Finkelstein: A Spectacular Fraud: From Time Immemorial , In: In These Times , September 5, 1984, pp. 12-14.
  7. ↑ See Noam Chomsky: The strange case of 'From Time Immemorial', continued. Letter to the editor in the New York Times , March 18, 1986.
  8. ^ Ian Gilmour , David Gilmour: Pseudo-Travelers , in: London Review of Books , February 7, 1985. pp. 8f. Albert Hourani : An ancient war , in: The Observer (London), March 3, 1985, p. 27.
  9. ↑ Amir Oren: Article on Israeli military methods ( Memento of February 28, 2002 in the Internet Archive ). In: Haaretz , February 25, 2002
  10. ↑ To this end, Heid wrote in his review of Finkelstein's book Antisemitism as a Political Weapon : “Finkelstein's pointed assertion reads: Israel has an anti-Palestinian policy, practiced with the active help of the USA, which instrumentalizes the murder of Jews and thus justifies moral blackmail. Anyone who criticizes Israel should appear as a disguised anti-Semite, reports about the suffering of the Palestinians caused by the Israeli occupation should be taboo, because only Israel is entitled to the role of victim. […] The fact that Finkelstein is the son of survivors of the Warsaw ghetto does not make his antitheses any more credible. Conversely, one could rather say that he uses the same argumentative methodology that he accuses his critics of. And there is something else that should not go unnoticed, and here one should not be squeamish any more than he himself: Finkelstein seems to like himself in the role of a Jewish - and thus apparently unassailable - key witness - to the enemies of Israel and Jews (anti-Semitic / anti-Zionist) key words. ”Ludger Heid, key witness with chutzpah: Norman G. Finkelstein once again takes to the field against Israel. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 6, 2006.
  11. ↑ The video interview with Frank Barat from February 9, 2012 was later removed from YouTube by the latter - this was done at the request of Finkelstein, who said, “The video did some damage.” See documentation of the interview .
  12. ↑ A key witness falls over: Norman Finkelstein railed against the Israel boycott movement , Jüdische Allgemeine, March 8, 2012.
  13. ^ Israel denies entry to high-profile critic Norman Finkelstein , Ha'aretz, May 24, 2008
  14. ↑ Germany Uber Alles. The Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany. Article by Norman Finkelstein from January 16, 2009 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  15. ^ Hitler warns of humanitarian crisis in Warsaw Ghetto - Israel Warns UN of Imminent Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Strip. Article by Norman Finkelstein from April 10, 2017 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  16. Jump up ↑ Goebbels to teach Jews in Warsaw Ghetto history of German persecution by Mongols - Recognizing the Holocaust is often seen by some Palestinians as tantamount to acknowledging Jewish land claims. Article by Norman Finkelstein from March 25, 2011 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  17. ↑ Günter Grass demanded Hitler not to exterminate Jews without cabinet's authorization - Amoz Oz among top Israeli writers demanding PM not to attack Iran without cabinet's authorization. Article by Norman Finkelstein from August 15, 2012 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  18. ↑ Nazi SS accuses Jewish six-year-old of bullying - Shin Bet: Hamas workout Palestinian students in Malaysia. Article by Norman Finkelstein from April 29, 2015 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  19. ↑ Newly-discovered footage shows Hitler wishing Jews a Happy Passover Article by Norman Finkelstein from July 12, 2013 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  20. ↑ Hitler Youth say Yes to Israeli strike on Iran - Young Germans for military strikes against Iran's nukes article by Norman Finkelstein from April 5, 2012 on his website. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  21. ↑ Everything and nothing explained . In: Der Spiegel . No. 34 , 1997, pp. 56 ( online ).
  22. ↑ Cf. Rolf Surmann (Ed.): Das Finkelstein-Alibi. “Holocaust Industry” and perpetrator society . Papyrossa, Cologne 2001 - There, for example, Lars Rensmann ( excerpt ( memento of the original from October 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice . ), Wolfgang Wippermann: The Goldhagen criticism becomes obscene: "Holoporn" - The Finkelstein case . ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Jungle World , May 20, 1998 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nadir.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jungle-world.com
  23. ↑ Cf. Martin Dietzsch , Alfred Schobert (Ed.): A "Jewish David Irving"? Norman G. Finkelstein in the Discourse of the Right - Defense Against Memory and Anti-Zionism . Duisburg 2001; and Rolf Surmann (ed.): Das Finkelstein-Alibi. “Holocaust Industry” and perpetrator society . Papyrossa Verlag, Cologne 2001 - The articles in these volumes deal primarily with Finkelstein's Holocaust Industry and in many cases go into Finkelstein's anti-Goldhagen theses. (The Fritz Bauer Institute offers an overview of the literature in a review by Jens Hoppe: Review ), The true power of the Israel lobby - Prof. Finkelstein's new revelations . In: National-Zeitung , April 7, 2006
  24. ↑ The Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Norman Finkelstein accuses the "Jewish Claim Conference" of fraud against Nazi slave workers. In: Berliner Zeitung , January 29, 2000.
  25. ↑ "We still underestimated the number of victims". Conversation with Karl Brozik from the Jewish Claims Conference about the dispute over compensation payments for Jewish forced laborers. In: Berliner Zeitung , April 1, 2000.
  26. ↑ The historian Wolfgang Benz in conversation about the dispute over the use of the compensation for Jewish victims of National Socialism: reparations for the Jewish cause. In: Berliner Zeitung , February 4, 2000.
  27. ↑ See Norman Finkelstein: The Holocaust Industry. How the suffering of the Jews is exploited. Piper, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04316-X . Full text  - Internet Archive , pp. 88f.
  28. ↑ The Holocaust Industry. How the suffering of the Jews is exploited. Piper, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04316-X , p. 152.
  29. ↑ “A Tale of Two Holocausts”. New York Times, Aug 6, 2000, p. 8
  30. ^ FAZ.net / Holger Christmann February 17, 2001: Holocaust researcher Raul Hilberg defends Finkelstein's book
  31. ↑ Is there a "Holocaust" industry?
  32. ↑ In quality control
  33. ↑ http://www.zeit.de/2001/07/Umkaempfte_Erinnerung/komplettansicht Contested memory. On dealing with the Holocaust in the United States, In: Die Zeit 07/2001, February 8, 2001.
  34. ↑ FAZ.net February 7, 2001: The suffering, the kitsch and the money.
  35. ↑ PRESS: Praise from the surrogate mother . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2000 ( online ).
  36. ↑ Ivan Denes: The billion dollar poker . Norman Finkelstein's book "The Holocaust Industry" causes heated controversy. In: 31-32 / 2000, July 28/4. August 2000.
  37. ^ Finkelstein-Debatte, In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus , Volume 8: Supplements and Register, 2015, ISBN 978-3-11-037932-7 , p. 203.
  38. ↑ Contributions to Finkelstein on David Duke's homepage
  39. ↑ Interview with Finkelstein about Holocaust denial ( Memento from February 20, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
  40. ↑ Brigitte Bailer-Galanda et al .: "Revisionism" and the Mauthausen concentration camp (PDF; 51 kB)
  41. ↑ Martin Dietzsch, Alfred Schobert (Ed.): A "Jewish David Irving"? Norman G. Finkelstein in the Discourse of the Right - Defense Against Memory and Anti-Zionism
  42. ↑ News from the far right - February 2001: Finkelstein's "Holocaust Industry" and anti-Semitism
  43. ^ Alan Dershowitz: Would You Invite David Duke to Your Campus? . In: Huffington Post , March 3, 2007
  44. ↑ Ernst Piper (Ed.): Is there really a Holocaust industry? Pendo Verlag, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-85842-403-X , pp. 206f
  45. ^ Charles S. Maier: The game of dark powers? A reply to Norman Finkelstein , In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 16, 2000.
  46. ↑ Ulrich Herbert: Rash enthusiasm. A book worthy of criticism, a useful provocation: On the theses of Norman Finkelstein. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 18, 2000. Full text
  47. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 18, 2000, No. 191, page 8.
  48. ↑ Cf. Axel Schmitt: The future of the present of the past is history. The polyphony of speaking about the unrepresentable in the Finkelstein debate and in more recent publications on the Holocaust , contribution from August 1, 2001 on literaturkritik.de.
  49. ↑ See Norman Finkelstein: The Holocaust Industry. How the suffering of the Jews is exploited. Piper, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04316-X . Full text  - Internet Archive , p. 78ff.
  50. ↑ welt.de Peter Novick: Hate tirades of a possessed. In: Die Welt, September 4, 2000.
  51. ↑ Leon de Winter: The Son's Resentment. In: Der Spiegel, 35/2000, August 28, 2000.
  52. ↑ Raul Hilberg in an interview with Valor (Brazil), August 4, 2000. Documentation of various interviews with Raul Hilberg on normanfinkelstein.com ( Memento from March 27, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  53. ^ Raul Hilberg in an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now , May 9, 2007.
  54. ^ "Holocaust Industry": Trio Infernale , In: Tagesspiegel, October 9, 2000.
  55. ^ Petra Steinberger: Disturbance Theory. Finkelstein's contention: What does the debate bring? In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , 2./3. September 2000.
  56. ↑ Norman Finkelstein: The messenger is the culprit. Conspiracy theories or breaking taboos? A response to my reviewers. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 9, 2000.
  57. ↑ Finkelstein's response to allegations of Holocaust denial (English)
  58. ↑ Gabriel Schoenfeld: Time of reflection. The Holocaust compensation scandal is growing. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 13, 2000.
  59. ↑ See press release of the Jewish Community in Berlin, February 23, 2010: Anti-Semitism debate in Germany and press release of the Federal Shalom Working Group, February 22, 2010: Norman Finkelstein successfully prevented.
  60. ↑ Documentation of the interview with Future TV on Norman Finkelstein's website ( memento of April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) - no longer available.
  61. ↑ Video document and the transcript of the interview on the pages of the Middle East Media Research Institute .
  62. ↑ Cf. Linke argues again about Israel. In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 25, 2010.
  63. ↑ See undesired appearance. Israel critic Finkelstein cancels lectures in Munich. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 24, 2010, p. 41.
  64. ↑ Benjamin Weinthal: German research institute trivializes Holocaust to attack Israel. In: jpost.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017 .
  65. ↑ Benjamin Weinthal: Outrage over German institute's hosting of pro-Hamas, Hezbollah speaker. In: jpost.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017 .
  66. ^ Alan Posener : Max Planck Institute offers Israel haters a podium. In: welt.de. January 3, 2017, accessed January 24, 2017 .
  67. ↑ Michael Wuliger : Wuliger's week. Post factual in Halle. How Norman Finkelstein's conspiracy theories are academically ennobled by the Max Planck Institute. In: juedische-allgemeine.de. 19th January 2017.
  68. ^ Central Council of Jews in Germany Kdö.R .: Wuligers Week: Post factual in Halle | Jewish general. Retrieved March 4, 2017 (English).
  69. ↑ Norman Finkelstein: Max Planck Institute Halle allows Israel opponents to appear - WELT. Retrieved March 4, 2017 .
  70. ↑ mdr.de: University of Halle: Debate about the appearance of Norman Finkelstein | MDR.DE . ( mdr.de [accessed on March 4, 2017]).
  71. ↑ DNN-Online: Anti-Semitism - Protests against controversial political scientist Finkelstein in Halle - DNN - Dresdner Latest News. Retrieved March 4, 2017 .
  72. ^ Müller: Stenographic report 214th session. In: S 21427. German Bundestag, January 25, 2017, accessed on March 4, 2017 .
  73. ↑ Oliver Das Gupta: Appearance of Israel-Hasser has parliamentary aftermath . In: sueddeutsche.de . ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on March 26, 2017]).
  74. ↑ Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question of the MPs Volker Beck (Cologne), Kai Gehring, Maria Klein-Schmeink, other MPs and the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN - Drucksache 18/11459.
personal data
SURNAME Finkelstein, Norman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Finkelstein, Norman G.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American political scientist and author
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City