Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History
by Norman G. Finkelstein
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Book Summary Information
Author: Norman G. FinkelsteinEdition: Paperback
Published: 2008-06-02
ISBN: 0520249895
Number of pages: 488
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History
Book Review: meticulously documented
Summary: 4 Stars
Norman Finkelstein can be accussed of many things: being a pedant, using strident sarcasm in his writing, having a large ego. One thing, however, that no serious scholar would accuse him of is sloppy scholarship. Finkelstein does not go half way; he goes all the way. The products of his obsessive, "forensic" scholarhsip are highly informative, moarlistic, hard to read books.
Beyond Chutzpah is more of the same. The only difference in this book is that the reader can feel more Chomsky in the acrid, dry humour of Finkelstein. At least the guy is blunt and pulls no punches. The book focuses on two things: part 1 debunks the idea that their is a new antisemitism in the air. According to Finkelstein, this idea serves as a distracting technique to keep serious citizens from questioning Israeli policy. On this score, he is right on. Their is no doubt that this is the case. Part 2 uses the meretricious book, The Case For Israel, by Alan D. as a prop to set straight Israel's human rights record. Along the way Dershowitz is ground into the dust like grain under a milstone. More importantly, after reading this section the reader will hardly be able to believe that Israel's human rights record should serve as a beacon to other nations. If anything, it is a blight on the massive page of the follies, crimes, and misfortunes of mankind.
Beyond Chutzpah ends with technical appendices challenging the veracity of Dershowitz's scholarship. I won't get into this here (see my review of The Case For Israel if you are interested) since it would spoil the most entertaining chapters of Finkelstein's book.
Overall, this book is a meticulously documented, scrupulously honest account of Israel's record and the cynical nature of Israel's "friends." As a reader deeply involved in the issue of Israel/Palestine, I deeply respect the scholarhsip of Finkelstein. Yes, one can regret his pugilistic tone, but, more important than such quirks are his virtues. After this book, you will never take anything Alan Dershowitz says seriously, and this is a good thing.
Summary of Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History
Meticulously researched and tightly argued, Beyond Chutzpah points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Norman G. Finkelstein exposes the corruption of scholarship and the contrivance of controversy shrouding human rights abuses, and interrogates the new anti-Semitism. This paperback edition adds a preface analyzing recent developments in the conflict, and a new afterword on Israel's construction of a wall in the West Bank.In this long-awaited sequel to his international bestseller The Holocaust Industry, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an iconoclastic interrogation of the new anti-Semitism to a meticulously researched expos? of the corruption of scholarship on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Bringing to bear the latest findings on the conflict and recasting the scholarly debate, Finkelstein points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record. Why, then, does so much controversy swirl around the conflict? Finkelstein's answer, copiously documented, is that apologists for Israel contrive controversy. Whenever Israel comes under international pressure, another media campaign alleging a global outbreak of anti-Semitism is mounted. Finkelstein also scrutinizes the proliferation of distortion masquerading as history. Recalling Joan Peters' book From Time Immemorial, published to great fanfare in 1984 but subsequently exposed as an academic hoax, he asks deeply troubling questions here about the periodic reappearance of spurious scholarship and the uncritical acclaim it receives. The most recent addition to this genre, Finkelstein argues, is Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz's bestseller, The Case for Israel. The core analysis of Beyond Chutzpah sets Dershowitz's assertions on Israel's human rights record against the findings of the mainstream human rights community. Sifting through thousands of pages of reports from organizations such as Amnesty International, B'Tselem, and Human Rights Watch, Finkelstein argues that Dershowitz has misrepresented the facts. Thoroughly researched and tightly argued, Beyond Chutzpah lifts the veil of controversy shrouding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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