[Peace-discuss] Democracy Now! & the Israel Lobby

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Matthew Rothschild, editor of "The Progressive" [sic], appeared on DN! on 
Tuesday, and what was amazing was what wasn't said.  Two letters on the subject 
below. --CGE]


Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:19:30 -0800
From: ehtesham74[at]yahoo.com
Subject: On Matthew Rothschild
To: amy[at]democracynow.org
CC: normangf[at]hotmail.com

Dear Amy,

I was both amazed and amused to see Matthew Rothschild on your show on Monday, 
February 11. Amazed because this is the same Matthew Rothschild who, supporting 
his fellow editor Ruth Conniff of The "Progressive", called Professor Norman 
Finkelstein a Holocaust denier and an anti-Semite. Amused because he practically 
joined the campaign to suppress Norman his right to tenure and yet he writes a 
book titled "You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression."

So called liberals like him have their "Progressive" magazines to vent their 
hypocrisies. But now they are asked to appear on DN too? If you want to find out 
what this guy really said about Norman, you can follow the link below and see 
for yourself. I just don't feel like regurgitating the filth he spewed.

All the best,

Ehtesham.
Ottawa, Canada.

Link to Rothschild's lies:

http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=67
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Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:06:45 -0800
Subject: Matthew Rothschild on today's DN!
To: amy[at]democracynow.org
CC: normangf[at]hotmail.com; aaron[at]democracynow.org

Dear Amy,

I'm a little confused by your segment with Matthew Rothschild on Democracy NOW! 
today. Were you not aware that he helped destroy the academic career of Norman 
Finkelstein?

Rothschild has agreed with statements made by others that label Finkelstein a 
"Holocaust denier," and Raul Hilberg and Finkelstien's late mother "Holocaust 
minimizers" (http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=67).

In spite of his "twenty-eight years" as an editor, he participated in the Alan 
Dershowitz/David Horowitz (FrontPageMag.com) smear campaign against Norman 
Finkelstien which resulted in Finkelstein's denial of Tenure at DePaul
(http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1070).

When Finkelstein requested that Rothchild provide evidence to support these 
claims, Rothschild emailed him the same out-of-context quotes used by Dershowitz 
to carry out what Noam Chomsky called, on YOUR SHOW (April 17, 2007), a "jihad" 
against Norman Finkelstein. In his response to Finkelstein's request Rothschild 
stated that he carefully checked the facts before writing the letter
(http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=67).

After Rothschild helped destroy the academic career of Norman Finkelstein he sat 
there on your show and said things like "it's really frightening what's 
happening to our democracy here, Amy."

I guess, it's possible for someone like him to be right about the civil 
liberties issue of the public at large and wrong about other, more specific 
issues of liberty of speech, but I feel like you didn't do your job as a 
journalist -- you didn't question him about it. I've come to expect more from you.

I realize that you're busy organizing a Gala with Willie Nelson and Danny 
Glover, but it'd be nice if you guys didn't do that at the expense of the 
research you do for shows.

Since you demanded of Lou Dobbs (December 04, 2007) to pay more attention to 
whom he's quoting on his show, I think it's only fair for you to have to pay 
attention to whom you're quoting on your own show. Rothschild didn't bother 
doing so in the case of Finkelstein's tenure, but I expect more from a reputable 
journalist such as yourself.

Thanks for doing what you're doing and I hope stuff like this won't continue to 
happen on your show,

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