alt.politics.economics

On Sep 10, 9:54 pm, "inkybla...@ "
wrote:
> /articles/ap/2007/09/05/america/NA-GEN-US-Controver...
>
> Embattled US professor who accused Jews of using Holocaust to stifle
> criticism agrees to resign
>
> The Associated Press
> Wednesday, September 5, 2007
> CHICAGO: A Chicago university professor who has drawn criticism for
> accusing some Jews of improperly using the legacy of the Holocaust
> agreed Wednesday to resign immediately "for everybody's sake."
>
> DePaul University officials and political science professor Norman
> Finkelstein issued a joint statement announcing the resignation, which
> came as about a hundred protesters gathered outside the dean's office
> to support him.
>
> Finkelstein, who is the son of Holocaust survivors, was denied tenure
> in June after spending six years on DePaul's faculty. His remaining
> class was cut by DePaul last month.
>
> His most recent book, "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism
> and the Abuse of History," is largely an attack on Harvard law
> professor Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel." In his book,
> Finkelstein argues that Israel uses perceived anti-Semitism as a
> weapon to stifle criticism.
>
> Dershowitz, who threatened to sue Finkelstein's publisher for libel,
> urged DePaul officials to reject Finkelstein's tenure bid.
>
> Finkelstein said in the statement that he believes the tenure decision
> was "tainted" by external pressures, but praised the university's
> "honorable role of providing a scholarly haven for me the past six
> years."
>
> The school denied that outside parties influenced the decision to deny
> Finkelstein tenure. The school's portion of the statement called
> Finkelstein "a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher."
>
> Finkelstein called that acknowledgment the most important part of the
> statement.
>
> "I felt finally I had gotten what was my due and that maybe it was
> time, for everybody's sake, that I move on," he said at a news
> conference that followed a morning rally staged by students and
> faculty who carried signs and chanted "stop the witch hunt."
>
> Finkelstein said "DePaul students rose to dazzling spiritual heights
> in my defense that should be the envy of and an example for every
> university in the United States."
>
> The professor would not discuss financial terms of the resignation
> agreement, which he said was confidential, but noted that it does not
> bar him from speaking out about issues that concern him, including
> "the unfairness of the tenure process."
>
> He also said he does not know what he will do next, but came to
> realize before Wednesday "that the atmosphere had become so poisoned
> that it was virtually impossible for me to carry on at DePaul."
>
> "The least I could hope for is to leave DePaul with my head up high
> and my reputation intact."
>
> Dershowitz was critical of the school. "DePaul looks like they caved
> into pressure," he said in a telephone interview. "The idea of
> describing him as a scholar trades truth for convenience. He's a man
> who is a propagandist and is not a scholar."
>
> Still, Dershowitz said, "I'm happy he's out of academia. Let him do
> his ranting on street corners."