| American political science professor Norman Finkelstein accuses the Israeli government of using the Holocaust to justify war crimes and human rights violations against Palestinians.
For Israel, Finkelstein says the Holocaust "turned out to be a very useful… ideological weapon to immunize Israel from any criticism… (the Holocaust) was wielded as a club to silence any criticism of what Israel was doing."
Finkelstein shared his controversial message with a crowd of more than 800 people at the University of Calgary on April 3 at an event presented by the Palestinian Canadian Students Association.
Finkelstein is often accused of being an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier for his views, and his personal website contains hate letters from around the world. However, Finkelstein rebuffs those accusations partly by pointing to his heritage – he’s Jewish and the son of Holocaust survivors.
Finkelstein says Israel’s justification for actions against Palestinians is that "nobody in the history of humanity had suffered as the Jews had" and therefore the Israel should be entitled to "special moral dispensation" to protect its interests.
Finkelstein also made the controversial claim that the Israeli government committed "genocide" against Palestinians in 1948.
"Basically it was ethnic cleansing," says Finkelstein. "It was a premeditated, calculated expulsion of Palestinians from their homes."
He compares the Palestinians at the time to Native Americans when Europeans first showed up in North America.
"The Palestinians feared that if the Zionist enterprise were to succeed it would be at their expense," he says. "It’s perfectly understandable and comprehensible why the Palestinians resisted."
Finkelstein, however, also had harsh words for Palestinians. He says he remains hopeful that peace in the region can be achieved, but due to "tactics on the Palestinian side," the views of moderate Israelis are hardening.
"Once you adopt the tactics of terrorist attacks… everyone will dig in their heels and it’ll be a tribal war," he says.
Finkelstein says the current "security fence" that Israel is building, supposedly to protect its borders from Palestinian terrorists, is designed to protect illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, not to protect Israeli’s borders.
"It’s not about defending Israel. It’s about incorporating large parts of the West Bank into Israel."
He describes the recent assassination of Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hamas, as illegal under international law.
"Israeli’s policy of political liquidation, targeted assassination… is illegal and immoral," he says.
He offered a sobering message to about the current conflict.
"We’re getting close to the point of no return… the conflict is rapidly degenerating into a tribal war where it’s simply tit for tat. You kill six of ours, we’ll kill six of yours," says Finkelstein. "If we move in that direction it’s hopeless." |
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