DePaul, Finkelstein, Israel, Free Speech and Academic Freedom

A spirited debate has broken out in a separate thread. Given the interest in the subject, I thought I'd front page this. This may be of little interest to many of us in the 50th, but for many Jews and those who have connections with DePaul or academia or even just a general interest in Free Speech, this seems to be what people are talking about.

I've been criticized for allowing people to defend Norm Finkelstein here. Yes, I believe in Free Speech. That's a central tenet of America. But given the kind of repressive nature of political debate in the 50th Ward, what is more important is to increase awareness that we are not monolithic in thought here. It seems to me that this is a highly polarized ward, largely due to the divisive leadership of Ald. Stone. While other wards have increased community input dramatically, we have to fight with the alderman for every nugget of information, every bit of participation in our local government.

Stone's tenure in the 50th has devolved into almost a Stalinist-era dictatorship. Free speech is not only discouraged, it is actively attacked. We have witnessed that here. Often. So I am not inclined to curtail comments about Finkelstein.

A rabbi, a teacher, once told me one of the great lessons from the Holocaust was that we have to speak out early, speak out strongly, in the face of evil. While I might not agree with everything that Finkelstein says or writes, I certainly believe in his right to say it, even if he's wrong. I'd rather have the debate out in the open than in private, where lies fester and can destroy the consciences of good people.

Another underlying theme in this debate is Israel. Israel exists in a very dangerous neighborhood. I have learned over the years that American Jews and Israelis see things very differently. I've been to Israel and continue to have good friends there. One of them I met while he still lived on the kibbutz. His military commitment having turned into a career, he would laugh at the debate over Finkelstein. We regularly have conversations about the tough issues facing Israel: the two-state solution, the challenge of "occupation" (his term), his perception that American Jews are far too conservative and paint Israel into a corner in the pursuit of a permanent peace. He argues that Jews in America not only don't understand Palestinians, they don't understand Israelis either. "We don't have the same (national) interests," he likes to say.

Another friend of mine in Israel is not a native Israeli. She immigrated to Israel from Romania when she was a young girl. Her family were economic refugees, and they came to Israel because they could. She just started college, having completed her military commitment. She finds the debate over Finkelstein silly. "We don't ned talking," she writes, "Israel needs hope....this problem solved."

My friends in Israel are disappointed in America because we have done nothing to advance the cause of peace there in the last few years. When I try to explain to them that we cannot help them because we aren't seen as an honest broker, they interpret that as a lack of will. To me, the debate between Dershowitz and Finkelstein is meaningless. They talk in terms of black and white while people are held hostage.

I don't completely dismiss the views of Finkelstein. I don't disagree with his thesis that a Holocaust Industry exists. So? He argues that this perpetuates the Holocaust. I don't agree. I think the Holocaust is more central to the thoughts of older Jews than younger Jews. It traumatized Jews who lived through it, and challenged the moral integrity of those who followed. But people my age (and younger) seem to have normalized this, recognizing that man's inhumanity to man has a very long history. The question that is relevant to me is: will we stand up to inhumanity when we see it? This is relevant not only to our neighborhood, but to the debate over Norman Finkelstein, Darfur, etc. It's easy to talk about this from afar, which is all that Finkelstein and Dershowitz do. But it doesn't solve anything.