Finklestein in his writings and speeches is clearly anti-Israel. In 2000, he published a polemic, The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitations of Jewish Suffering, which posited that the Zionist narrative of the Holocaust is used to justify Israeli violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
He has villified Israel often and regularly. For example, last year he said:
“Israel is a dirtier place than the South was during the Jim Crow era”He told an interviewer in Lebanon:
I was of course happy to meet the Hizbullah people, because it is a point of view that is rarely heard in the United States. I have no problem saying that I do want to express solidarity with them.So there should be no doubt where he is coming from. Moreover, his reliance on the ICJ Advisory opinion, The Wall Case, as if it was binding, is simply wrong in my view, and according to the principles of international law. Resolutions of the General Assembly that he cites are not law either, unless adopted by state practice.
In any event, the video is good watching. I recommend it for the brief moment where one unexpected sees fit to reveal underlying truth against those mainly of his own persuasion. He states, explicitly, that if BDS is a rights based organization, it must recognize ALL rights, including Israel's rights as a state to exist under international law. But BDS refuses to do so, among other things, and the message he conveys corroborates all those who claim BDS is extremist and out of touch with reality.
UPDATE: The original YouTube was removed, but here is a copy of the highlights:
I was actually kind of flabbergasted when I saw this.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to see people defy expectations, even Finklestein, who I am sure that you can imagine is not one of my favorite people on the planet.
It was pretty amazing and revealing that even he can see through the bankruptcy of the BDS movement, which he still supports in theory.
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