Amidst the controversy over whether or not Norman Finkelstein, author of The Holocaust Industry and foil of Alan Dershowitz, will receive tenure at DePaul or not, the professor travelled to the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday to deliver a lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His lecture titled, “Palestine and Israel: roots of conflict, prospects for peace,” was centered on Israeli treatment of Palestinians as being the primary obstacle to peace in the region, the distortion of the conflict in the media and the manipulation of Anti-Semitism.

Finkelstein repeated throughout his lecture that there was little controversy to the issue.

…According to Finkelstein there is no controversy to the issue of Israeli occupation when seen through the prism of international law.

“Why is it that when it comes to these questions that are called so controversial, there is absolutely no controversy in the ruling of the world court?” he said.

Finkelstein cites the takeover of Palestinian land by Israel in June 1967 as a violation of law, stating it is inadmissible to acquire territory by force. Finkelstein said that the proposal of a two-state settlement has been on the table at the United Nations for almost 30 years, and the vast majority of the members each year vote in support.

“Israel has been the primary obstacle to a peace agreement,” said Finkelstein.

Finkelstein cites the decision of the world court ruling unanimously that the Israeli settlements are illegal.

“It is difficult to find a conflict in history where there is that level of accordance,” he said. “It is remarkably uncontroversial.”

Responses to Finkelstein’s lecture ranged from flyers handed out by the Student Alliance for Israel and an op-ed in the Daily Collegian student newspaper denouncing his speech. Inside the auditorium, Finkelstein faced criticism from a Holocaust survivor who attended the lecture.

At the entrance of the lecture were representatives from the Student Alliance for Israel, who handed out flyers questioning Finkelstein’s academic integrity and pointing out his opinions as fodder for anti Semitism and Neo-Nazi propaganda. Matt Hoffman who is with the SAFI said, “Finkelstein asserts that Jews are exploiting the holocaust to put us in an unfair position of power.”

At the lecture was Henia Lewin, who is a child survivor of the holocaust was born in 1940 in Lithuania and lived in the Jewish ghetto in Kaunas.

“Finkelstein says that the [Palestinian] refugees have a right to go back to their homes, after the holocaust we couldn’t go back to our homes. Some people tried to go back and were killed. The only reason Jews had a home to go back to was Israel, ” said Lewin.

Lewin believes that Finkelstein is exploiting the holocaust for his own career benefits.

The following from the aforementioned op-ed:

Finkelstein argues that criticism of Israel is immediately met with charges of anti-Semitism, and he has a legitimate point to a limited extent. But being intellectually dishonest about the similarities and differences between Israeli and Arab policies because of a personal vendetta against Jews and the United States invariably constitutes anti-Semitism. Failing to distinguish clearly, as Finkelstein does not, that Muslim terrorist organizations specifically target innocent Jews because of their religion, while Jews do not intentionally target innocent Muslims because of their religion, is not only anti-Semitic. It is also tarnishes and undermines the reliability of scholars when they allow personal grudges, for whatever reason, to supersede efforts to be accurate and objective.