[Peace-discuss] Finkelstein & Pearl at UCLA

[David Green]

For Pearl, see below. I wonder what the response would
have been if I had "quietly booed" Pearl during his
talk here last year. Is it more acceptable to boo a
child of holocaust survivors than a parent of someone
killed by Muslim extremists? Regardless, Finkelstein's
views are based in reality, while Pearl has exploited
his own son's death on behalf of Israel and the
neocons, stating that "anti-Zionism is worse than
anti-Semitism." Beyond that, he seems completely
confused, see his comments below.

Finkelstein at UCLA

UCLA calmly hears out controversial speaker

05.24.2006 | The Daily Bruin 
By Peach Indravudh, DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
pindravudh[at]media.ucla.edu

Despite the controversy leading up to Norman
Finkelstein's visit to campus because of his extremist
views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
Holocaust, the environment surrounding the event was
subdued, provoking little visible opposition from
students and faculty.

Finkelstein, who is a professor of history at DePaul
University in Chicago and has published several books
on Zionism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
Holocaust, said in his speech Tuesday night that the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a paradox – if one
studies the history of the conflict, of the human
rights situations and the diplomatic records, there is
little controversy to be seen.

"But when you enter the public arena, there is a major
conflict," Finkelstein said, adding that he believes
personal and religious sentiments have distorted the
resolution that he said has already been designated by
the United Nations.

The lecture was held as part of a week of events
called "Israel and Palestine: Obstacles to Peace,"
which is sponsored by Students for Justice in
Palestine and the Muslim Student Association, among
others. Organizers call the week an attempt to provide
students with perspective on the situation
Palestinians are currently facing in Israel.

Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, said most
of the origins of the conflict are "fabricated,
contrived and fake," used in order to divert attention
from the written record and to solve any confusion
about it.

As with all events supporting either Palestinians or
Israelis, Finkelstein's lecture was met with some
opposition, with students passing out fliers
criticizing Finkelstein's extremist views and some
audience members voicing concern over the accuracy of
his remarks.

Judea Pearl, a computer science professor, quietly
booed and showed his disapproval as the crowded
auditorium began applauding and showing its support
for Finkelstein's statement that U.N. Resolution 242
had said all territories belonging to Israel should be
returned to the Palestinians.

Pearl said though the resolution stated territory
should be returned, it only included the territory
Israel gained after 1967, not all territories.

Finkelstein also addressed various hypocrisies on the
part of Israelis. Referring to the violence between
Israel and Palestinians over the disputed territories,
Finkelstein said Israel calls Palestinian attacks
against Israelis terrorism, but does not abide by the
same derogatory label for Israeli attacks against
Palestinians.

Ghayth Adhami, a fourth-year biology student, said he
enjoyed hearing a professor who is critical of Israeli
policy but is Jewish, not Muslim or Arab.

Finkelstein's comments on Israel's treatment of
Palestinians was consistent with a message event
organizers have been presenting throughout the week.

"We're trying to stand up for their human rights.
Palestinians are living under occupation and they have
to deal with the brutality of the Israeli army," said
Adhami, who was wearing a green "Free Palestine" shirt
and an armband representing solidarity with
Palestinians.

Negeen Rivani, a first-year undeclared student, said
though she expected Finkelstein to be biased in his
argument, she believed his views to be too extremist,
even distorting and forgetting to mention parts of
history that have contributed to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"In his speech he doesn't mention the failed attempts
of Israeli and Palestinian negotiations. He only
mentioned what the Israelis haven't been doing and he
isn't proposing a solution," Rivani said. 


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