The End of Palestine? An Interview with Norman G. Finkelstein

[Jefferson23]

US Secretary of State John Kerry was in the Middle East again this week, conducting intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials and other regional actors. His aim, it has been widely reported, is to reach a "framework agreement" as a prelude to a final settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Norman Finkelstein is the co-author, with Mouin Rabbani, of How to Solve the Israel-Palestine Conflict (OR Books, forthcoming). I spoke with him about the significance of the negotiations, as we enter what may be a decisive phase in the Palestinians' long struggle for self-determination.

You’ve been warning for some time now that the Israeli-Palestinian talks being brokered by Secretary of State Kerry might, unlike many prior rounds of negotiations, actually produce a deal to end the conflict. Its content would amount to Israel’s long-standing terms of settlement. What’s your assessment of where the diplomatic process is currently at?

A “framework agreement” will shortly be reached, and a final settlement will probably be signed in the last six months or so of President Obama’s term in office. When the Kerry process was first announced I was virtually alone in predicting that it would actually go somewhere; now, it’s widely assumed. Many respected Israeli commentators now take for granted that an agreement is just a matter of time.

remainder in full: http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/the_end_of_palestine_an_interview_with_norman_g._finkelstein

[oberliner]

1. "A huge, sprawling superstructure has been built on the Israel-Palestine conflict..."

"All those UN special sessions and special committees; all those Ramallah-based NGOs, Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, and conflict-resolution getaways; all those IMF, World Bank, Crisis Group reports; all those academic programs—Israel Studies, Holocaust Studies—which sprung up to justify Israeli policy (none can lay a claim to intellectual content, and most have been subsidized by wealthy right-wing Jews); all those film festivals, scholarly studies, memoirs and “poetry”; all those Washington-based Israel “think”-tanks; all those Palestine solidarity activists, groups, websites, researchers, and analysts (present company included)..."

That's a really interesting component of all this. Especially coming from Norman who has built essentially his entire career on this superstructure.

[Jefferson23]

2. No, he lost his tenure due to McCarthy type tactics, very different. He has also

been shunned by many BDS proponents and his ability to secure an income is
quite limited.

Finkelstein calls it as he sees it, always did, regardless of who agreed with him or not.

[oberliner]

3. He has written numerous books within this "superstructure"

And he's made quite a good deal of money off them, by his own admission.

Not sure who his allies are these days (beyond Hilberg and Shlaim), but he would be the first to admit that his entire career as an author is centered around the "huge, sprawling superstructure...built on the Israel-Palestine conflict."

Indeed he has written a book a year for the last three years around said superstructure.

[Jefferson23]

4. Then link where he ever said he made quite a good deal of money off his books...that is

complete bullshit as I understand it.

I do believe what is lost to you on his remarks is not surprising...scholar level work versus
what he points out in the OP...different on several levels.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

11. What is lost to you...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=56158

[Ken Burch]

5. If he has made money from his books, so what? does that discredit the guy?

Are critics of Israeli security policy obligated to go hungry as a gesture of good faith?

It's not as if the I/P hawks have taken vows of poverty. They have made far more money off of the "superstructure" than Finklestein did.

Besides, Finklestein backs a two-state solution, so why are you attacking the guy? Do you approve of the tactics Alan Dershowitz has used to hound Finklestein out of academia?

[oberliner]

6. Not at all

Not an attack - just an observation.

[Ken Burch]

7. An observation meant to get us to dismiss what Finklestein has to say, it appears.

It doesn't matter if he's made money from his books. Anybody who writes on the I/P issue will sell books...simply because a lot of people are interested in the subject. It's not as if the profitability of the topic matters. Finklestein would still hold the views he holds even if nobody had ever bought a single copy of his books...Just as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn would still have held THEIR views no matter what.

Do you feel we shouldn't read what Norman Finklestein writes? If so, come up with a better reason than the fact that people ARE reading it.

[oberliner]

8. No, quite the opposite

In fact, I think it confirms his point that I highlighted from the interview.

Namely, that there are a lot of people who are resistant to the idea of the I/P conflict being resolved for a variety of different reasons.

[Ken Burch]

9. Finklestein isn't one of those people.

The fact that he has sold books on the conflict doesn't make him complicit in the conflict's perpetuation.

It goes without saying that Finklestein wants this war to be ended. He's not a war pimp.

[Jefferson23]

10. He is resistent to this proposal because it sucks...and he never made money in any

great capacity...quite the opposite.

[Scootaloo]

12. "Just an observation" - where have I seen... OH!

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/JAQing_off

Pretty much the same damn thing.