The Many Faces of Norman Finkelstein

Norman Finkelstein

In an interview with Middle East Eye, controversial former DePaul University professor Norman Finkelstein--now teaching international law at Sakarya University in Turkey--described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “an obnoxious, Jewish-supremacist leader"; Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas as “an imbecile"; Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah as “among the shrewdest political thinkers in the world today"; Hamas’s “notion of a successful armed resistance” in Gaza as “a complete disaster"; the BDS movement (which, in 2012, he called a “cult”) as “tireless, resourceful, and well organised"; and Iran as “an important regional partner” for the U.S. One thing’s for sure: Finkelstein, who has managed to alienate both the pro- and anti-Israel camps throughout his strange career, covers all his bases.

Cinnamon Stillwell analyzes Middle East studies academia in West Coast colleges and universities for Campus Watch. A San Francisco Bay Area native and graduate of San Francisco State University, she is a columnist, blogger, and social media analyst. Ms. Stillwell, a former contributing political columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, has written on a wide variety of topics, including the political atmosphere in American higher education, and has appeared as a guest on television and talk radio.
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